Posts in Linked

AppStories, Episode 5: App Subscriptions→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, John and I covered how app subscriptions work, the pros and cons for consumers and developers, and examples of apps using creative subscription models. After some research, we discovered more indie apps that have added subscriptions over the past year than we initially imagined.

You can listen to the episode below, or jump directly to the app examples (and download them from the show notes) using this Overcast link.

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Rejected Apple Intern Applicant Reimagines the Music App→

Jason Yuan, writing for Medium’s Startup Grind:

Earlier this year I applied and interviewed for a graphic design internship at Apple Music (an opportunity of a lifetime), and was turned down with a very kind letter stating that although they liked my work, they wanted to see more growth and training.

At first, I was frustrated — Northwestern University doesn’t offer any sort of undergraduate graphic design program, so whatever growth they were looking for would have to be self taught…

…but as soon as I came to this realization, I became inspired to embark on what became a a three-month long journey to the holy grail — the iOS app that Apple Music deserves.

We don’t often link to concept pieces, but Yuan’s work is well worth a look. Besides the clean, elegant visual updates found here, one of the most interesting segments in the piece concerns a proposed new music discovery method called ‘My Sampler.’ The idea is that users can sample short clips of songs and either swipe down to add a song to their library or swipe up if they don’t like it. Yuan does a great job of showing how this type of gamification through gestures could be a welcome addition to the iOS Music app.

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Beddit Sleep Tracker Acquired by Apple→

Beddit, which makes a sleep sensor that collects sleep and other health data and sends it to companion iPhone and Apple Watch apps, was acquired by Apple. According to Beddit’s privacy policy:

Beddit has been acquired by Apple. Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy.

Since the introduction of the Apple Watch Series 2, Apple has placed renewed emphasis on the health and fitness tracking features of the Watch. One notable hole in Apple’s lineup of built-in health and fitness apps has been the lack of a sleep tracker. With Beddit, Apple fills that gap and presumably adds a team of engineers that can help it develop additional sleep tracking capabilities in-house.

The Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor is available on Apple’s online store.

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Connected, Episode 141: The Espresso Debacle→

The band is back together just in time to talk about Federico’s new iPhone case, the Echo Show, Phil Schiller’s comments on App Store upgrade pricing and more.

We’re all back on Connected this week with a variety of topics, including Amazon’s latest addition to the Echo family. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Incapsula: Secure and accelerate your website. Connected listeners get one month free.
  • Away: Travel smarter with the suitcase that charges your phone. Get $20 off with the code ‘connected’.
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Apple Announces Date and Time of Its WWDC Keynote Event→

Following the announcement in February of WWDC’s dates and location for this year, Apple today has notified members of the press that the conference will kick off with a keynote event, as has become tradition. Jordan Kahn writes for 9to5Mac:

The keynote is scheduled for 10AM PT on June 5, the first day of the conference, and will likely play host to new product unveilings as well as our first previews of Apple’s operating systems, iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, as well as new developer tools to go with them.

June 5 is coming up quickly, and our team will be present in San Jose to witness Apple’s announcements firsthand. We’ll provide all coverage from the keynote, as well as the conference as a whole, on our site here.

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AppStories, Episode 4: App Discovery and the iTunes Affiliate Program with AfterPad’s Kevin MacLeod→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we talked about the iTunes Affiliate Program and its importance for app discovery and independent curation with Kevin MacLeod of AfterPad. The episode was recorded before Apple’s clarification of changes to the program.

Sponsored by:

  • SQLPro Studio – A simple, powerful database manager for macOS. Download a 7-day free trial and use promo code APPSTORIES at checkout for 20% off.
  • CardioBot – use heart rate data captured by your Apple Watch to improve your health.

You can listen to the episode below.

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Phil Schiller on App Store Upgrade Pricing→

Gadgets 360’s Kunal Dua interviewed Apple’s Phil Schiller last month and, among questions about voice-only assistants, he also asked about upgrade pricing on the App Store.

Gadgets 360: With all the recent changes in the App Store, can developers expect to see upgrade pricing next?

Phil Schiller: The reason we haven’t done it is that it’s much more complex than people know, and that’s okay, it’s our job to think about complex problems, but the App Store has reached so many successful milestones without it because the business model makes sense to customers. And the upgrade model, which I know very well from my days of running many large software programmes, is a model from the shrink-wrapped software days that for some developers is still very important, for most, it’s not really a part of the future we are going.

I think for many developers, subscription model is a better way to, go than try to come up with a list of features, and different pricing for upgrade, versus for new customers. I am not saying it doesn’t have value for some developers but for most it doesn’t, so that’s the challenge. And if you look at the App Store it would take a lot of engineering to do that and so would be at the expense of other features we can deliver.

For example, the App Store has one price for an app, when you see it, you see if there’s a price on it, that’s the price. It doesn’t have multiple prices for multiple tiers of customers so to engineer that in, it’s not impossible, but a lot of work for a small segment of software that we hope for many of them, subscription pricing is a better model, the one where the customers are comfortable with. So we’ll keep talking to developers about what’s most important on their list, we want them to keep telling is if that [upgrade pricing] is high on the list or not, and we’ll keep an open mind to it, but it’s harder than people realise.

Schiller’s point makes sense – rather than retrofitting the App Store for old software pricing systems, Apple has found success with a new, simpler model. It’s also true, however, that upgrade pricing has worked successfully for developers that have never sold “shrink-wrapped software” – companies that want to retain their most loyal customers without forcing them to sign up for a subscription. You don’t need to sell software on physical discs for upgrade pricing to make sense.

It’ll be interesting to see how developers – especially on iOS and the iPad (if WWDC brings new incentives to the platform) – will continue to adapt and try different strategies. We’ve seen some signs of this over the past year, with The Omni Group shifting to In-App Purchases and productivity apps relying on subscriptions, and I hope Apple will add even more flexibility to these new models at WWDC.

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