The problem of free iPhone apps
So I have been thinking about the changing landscape of iPhone development lately. Everyone was all excited when Apple announced the SDK, and said that they wouldn't be charging any fees for free apps to be distributed through the store.
While that is great and all, the fact remains at this time, all developers who wish to distribute apps, whether free or pay, must pony up 99.99 for the privilege. This might not be too much of an obstacle for some individuals, but I am pretty sure that this is going to kill some of the apps that we all love.
I am encouraging the makers of such great free iPhone/iTouch apps as Books, Terminal and Services to set up a paypal account, if you don't already have one, and let us start donating money to get you the developer license fee.
I for one would love to kick a little green to the developers of these apps. And I am betting that there are more than 99 other people who would too.
What we really need is a simple solution for users to get their cash to developers. We need a developer fund website... maybe DevFund? Yeah, look for this new project to launch in the next couple of weeks.
Like I didn't have enough to do.
Stroll on over and visit Jiahadye
March 12, 2008
I'm all for coughing up a little dough for nifty Touch/iPhone apps, but do developers have to use iTunes Store at all? I'm guessing after development you're left with a single executable or something similar; can't developers just distribute these on their own websites?
But then I guess that would mean Apple loses a little more control, and in turn money...
Stroll on over and visit Newton Mota
March 12, 2008
Hey Chris... I'm back, reading again your genius silllyness. Love the DevFund idea, and if you need some help you can count on me.
Stroll on over and visit Chris J. Davis
March 12, 2008
Jiahadye,
The only legal way, at this time, to load apps onto the iPhone or Touch is through iTunes. There are rumors of the 2.0 has been jailbroken, but this is not a supported configuration.
Newton,
Hey man, welcome back to Sillyness! I am counting on everyone to turn out and make DevFund a success... so thanks!
Stroll on over and visit James
March 12, 2008
DevFund sounds like a great idea! With all of the low-budget, yet surprisingly useful and "polished" software coming out lately, we really need a community where interested users can see how even the smallest donations impact the "big picture".
Stroll on over and visit Jiahadye
March 13, 2008
Ah, I haven't got wi-fi set up in my apartment yet, so I completely forgot about the iTunes store ON the Touch/iPhone. And I guess the lack of 'drive mode makes iTunes the only means of getting anything on there anyway.
I should probably get a 'Tunes Store account then, I guess. :D