The odds of creating a successful app are long, but the rewards are great, as developer Carlos Ribas can attest.
Ribas's app, HoursTracker, has been available in Apple's App Store since 2009 but it's still bringing in five figures a month. The income is more than Ribas says he can make from a full-time job and he works just 20 hours a week at his former gig, as a .Net developer.
As Ribas recounts in a Medium post, in early 2009, his former boss cajoled him into creating an iPhone app. The boss, who is unnamed in the post, had just read about Ethan Nicholas, another developer, who struck it rich by releasing a lite version of his game, iShoot.
"Part of me wondered about my boss telling me I should quit my job, but I really appreciated the encouragement to try new things," Ribas recalls. Ribas then read up on Objective-C, the iPhone SDK and Apple's design guidelines. Ribas had a flip phone at the time, but he borrowed his wife's iPhone. Browsing the App Store, he saw that there wasn't a decent app that would let her keep track of her hourly job.
On July 12, 2009, Ribas released HoursTracker, a sort of virtual punch clock. The app got a positive write-up in Lifehacker. Apple then created the video below for HoursTracker and for a while it was more popular than even Angry Birds.
While Ribas's story is unique, he offered a few pointers for aspiring app developers. Ribas views advertising as a necessary evil. The free version of HoursTracker has ads, which bring in 10% of the app's revenues, but that situation isn't ideal. "
I know I’ve done a great job when the user spends the least amount of time in my app and yet still tracks their time accurately. That’s not good for an ad-supported product. So, if I’m trying to make more money from ads, then I’ll be working against my customer’s needs and thus my own best interests.
Reasoning that ads or lack of ads don't spur upgrades, Ribas prompts consumers to pay for the premium version by offering more functionality. With the free version, you can track up to three jobs and 21 days of entries. A message on HoursTracker tells users than can store up to five jobs with the Personal version ($4.99) or an unlimited number of jobs with the Pro version ($8.99.)
The message tells users they can erase their existing data to start the 21-day cycle again and "continue to use the free edition until you're ready to buy." As he explains, "this language creates an understanding that you’re expected to buy the app if you’re satisfied with how it works for you."
Some people install the app, experiment with it briefly, and know pretty quickly if it suits their needs or not. Others choose to live with it for a few weeks and make their decision slowly, often trying several apps simultaneously. The goal is to make sure the app is a known quantity, just like that morning coffee, before making a purchase decision.
Ribas also advises to experiment with pricing. "Try a price reduction promotion to see if a lower price yields more revenue. If you can stomach it, let the discounted price stand long enough to get a feel for network effects. Try the opposite — check if increasing the price works better."
While Ribas claims the success of HoursTracker flies in the face of claims that no one makes money off apps anymore, some commenters on Hacker News pointed out that Ribas had a huge advantage because he released the app in the early days of the App Store. "Yes, it is still possible to make money, even a lot of money, writing an app but that doesn't mean early adopters didn't have a big advantage," wrote one. Others pointed out that HoursTracker shows up high in App Store searches, giving it a leg up over new competitors.
"I have a similar app, onsite time tracker, and it makes way less. like a few hundred dollars per month," wrote another. "I have always been curious how much Hours Tracker makes. It dominates the app store searches."
2014′s @appfigures summary says it was a pretty good year for my apps. Bring on 2015! pic.twitter.com/imoEEEHfT9— Carlos Ribas (@cribasoft) January 1, 2015