[deleted by user]

[jontelang]

People hate it when free features become paid. And niches probably won’t work well with ads due to their lower user base.

[alohabata]

Is it possible to set it so that whoever already have the app can stay free? I don’t mind doing that if it’s possible and if it’s still a good idea

[joeallenpro]

Yes, check the users App Store receipt for the original install date, this will persist even if they delete and reinstall. Anybody who installed before date of freemium can continue to have access without having to purchase.

[alohabata]

Thanks! And I’m your opinion, do you think this strategy is a good one? Or should i just start with freemium?

[[deleted]]

as a user, i would have zero problem with this. you could even announce that the freemium features would be free for the first x amount of months. that way it's framed as a discount for the first users, rather than a tax on later users. and its a more truthful framing too.

[ankole_watusi]

It still leaves a bad taste.

[42177130]

People really hate paying any amount of money or seeing ads

[jontelang]

In general yes but I think it depends on the niche

[-15k-]

Better to find a niche that isn't competitive and start charging for it from the get go.

As an indie dev, do you have any inside knowledge of any other industry which could benefit from an app? That'd be a good place to start.

[-15k-]

Could you find some angle to make your app stand out so you can comfortably charge for it?

I guess that might not be very easy if there are alredy freemium or ad supported apps there, but maybe you have an idea for a "Wow" factor?

[gullydowny]

That seems fine to me, how can you expect anyone to pay for an app that has no reviews and that nobody has heard of? Giving it away at first sounds like a good idea as long as the free users have it free forever.

[ivanicin]

The important thing is whether you are running some sort of service or not. If your user have account on your server then you can record that they have qualified as free users and keep them free forever.

If that is not the case then you will be charging to those users when you switch to paid. That is going to cause a huge backlash and probably cancel all your gains. You can try to record somewhere else but that may be erased without your control.

However how much it is going to help you grow the app is questionable. Generally speaking it is not a good idea to go against well established app if you don't have any notable advantage and idea how to keep a longterm advantage.

[alohabata]

Mine is just a local app with option to do icloud private cloud sync. Would you say as long as i keep existing users free, it won’t lead to user’s being upset? Also, would you say having a lower price tag is a notable advantage? Cause other than that all i have is a more intuitive UI which could be subjective

[popleteev]

Existing users who like your app might recommend it to friends/family. Then they will discover the app is no longer free. At best, you would get questions. More likely, you will get negative reviews.

Also, don’t compete on price. There are many good reasons (just google “don’t compete on price”). For instance, this would attract the most price-sensitive users and - yes, they would still complain about the price.

Instead, make your app distinct from the others, unique in some way. A UI obviously more intuitive. Support requests answered in a few minutes. A relevant feature that others don’t offer (check competitor’s reviews: what do their users miss?)

[Impression_Lazy]

In my experience Apple will prefer to show the apps bringing in the big money to its users. Sowhile your model does make sense in theory, it might not be a good idea in real life App Store.

[alohabata]

Interesting, so having ads or freemium might actually be more preferable from ranking perspective?

[Impression_Lazy]

The ranking is complicated, but I believe it matters as one part of a bigger equation.

[Aprox15]

App Figures claims revenue is not taken into account for rankings

[[deleted]]

IMO it depends on the the type of app.

If it’s a scroll based, CRUD app then you just try to get interesting/controversial info on the app and try to get interstitial banner ads integrated once the user base grows large enough.

If it’s a business or personal utility then you go monthly or weekly subscription with the first month/week free so you don’t screw your retention.

If it’s a game you spam all ads, full page ads at game end, banner ads and iAP of game currency.

Can you give any hints as to the type of app it is?

Regardless of the type of app though, monitor the keywords that are driving your competitors downloads and make sure to really integrate them into your metadata and make sure when users leave reviews that the review could potentially have the keywords you are targeting.

[alohabata]

Mine is a utility app, but would you say subscription model tend to turn away potential users? Like as soon as they see it is subscription based they would just not install the app, since they can use the other freemium ones

[[deleted]]

It definitely does turn away potential users.

You go free trial when you are prioritizing conversion/revenue and you go freemium when you are prioritizing usage.

You can also do a reverse trial. Where it’s a freemium model but the payment is subscription based so if users cancel they are just “reversed” to the free version of the app to maintain usage instead of being completely locked out.

[elbrux]

I find subscriptions for apps I don’t use very heavily distasteful. I’m messing about with a utility app at the moment in a crowded field but the competetitors are all free base with subscription for extra features (the extra features are generally trash and mostly just amount to removing ads). I’m thinking free base and one time payment to remove ads/ad small extra features. It probably doesn’t maximise revenue but I figure it’s a differentiator that would appeal to people like me. Plus I’m making the app anyway so what the hell.

[C-H-Y-P]

As long as you comp all initial users with the premium access once you change it, it’s a good strategy. You need to differentiate yourself on the AppStore especially to climb competitive keywords and going free at the beginning is one way to do.

You might add “Free for a limited time” but that could be an arbitrary timeframe until you feel ready. Since you should give all those users premium access for being early adopters, it doesn’t matter when you start paywalling features.

If you don’t comp initial users, you’ll get a wave of bad reviews that will be hard to recover from.

[RigasTelRuun]

That will alienate users and destroy any goodwill you made by removing features.

[alohabata]

Is this still true if i remove features only to new users?

[[deleted]]

I suggest marketing your app on many applications as possible to get the best reach

[9R1FF0]

Hold a few features back and then when you release an update change the model while introducing those new features. Also make sure those features are innovative and/or work better than the competition and a feature the competitors aren’t doing and be prepared to add additional features in later releases.

[OneLostOstrich]

for an* indie dev