5 hours ago I put a new beta app ( free ) on the market for internal testing, and it’s been downloaded 16 times already. I didn’t expect that. Would be great if there was a way to limit access to your app on the market to a select list of registered devices.
I just wanted to experiment with in-app products & how updates might affect sqlite databases in the live environment. [import]uid: 4596 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37070[/import]
One of the issue with the Android marketplace is the ability to search and locate apps. Plus there are no sites that tell you that so and so game is now free on the Market Place. Then some apps do not work with certain devices, due to the OS variants or the screen dimensions or purely on the hardware availability.
I know of the game Labyrinth that on a Telstra Touch Tablet (Huwei S7, I guess) has the accelerometer bug, in the sense, when you tilt the device down, the ball goes up and so on.
THe Android platform though seemingly a potential is in reality not a potential platform, I am surprised when people claim there have been million downloads of an app on the Android!!
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[import]uid: 3826 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37079[/import]
Maybe some of the tablet apps will do better? I mean, you buy a tablet to do things other than making phone calls. [import]uid: 39859 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37080[/import]
My experience with Android has been horrible as well. Most Android users do not intend to spend money on apps. I have seen many people pay for download, then cancel within 15 minutes, still manage to keep rating/reviews.
Android Market is a like jungle. There is absolutely no quality control. Google had done absolutely nothing compared to what Apple had done with the app store. I hope Amazon can change that a little bit. [import]uid: 19297 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37366[/import]
I recently put a game Hairy Legs on the Android Market and Amazon. It has done very well on Apple App Store. Android Market has not done near as well. Here is the HUGE shocker for me.
The original Hairy Legs was made with a awesome language called GLBasic. GLBasic can compile for iOS and many others, but not Android. They recently added support for webOS. So I figured what the heck. All I need to do is take the same program and take 1 minute to re-compile it and put it on the webOS market. To date, the webOS sales have out done the Google Market big time. That was totally unexpected. HP waives the first year developer fee so I figured if it got 10 sales in a year it would be worth it.
I never thought webOS sales would be so far ahead of my Google sales. It is not near as good as Apple, but much better than Google and as of right now not near the hassle Google is. Corona is not to the point yet that you can implement all the features and expect it to work on iOS and Google.
I’m torn what to do now. The plan was Apple and Google (probably best bet down the road), but sales much better on webOS right now. WebOS people are hungry for things to do. Google is full of people who just wanted a cheap phone and hackers who only buy an app to put it on their website for others to download.
One other mention. No advertising at all on any platform. A site called Pre Central lets you submit your app to them and they put it in a rotating banner for free on their site, so I guess that is advertising, but no cost. They do it to help developers get recognized since they are THE site for webOS people. [import]uid: 8533 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37394[/import]
…and I fail to understand why iOS developers are dragged down by the features not being available in CoronaSDK just so that some android user *may* buy an app someday.
I have not seen Android good for anything as yet. I’d rather buy a WP7 than an Android. The one I purchased is a waste of money.
If the new Samsung Android device is anything to go by, the one that outbeats iPad2 (interesting, would want to see that) then I might get to the Android bandwagon, other than that, I guess it is not a priority.
However iOS is…
cheers,
? [import]uid: 3826 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37453[/import]
@Mediakitchen Have you seen an increase in sales since first posting this? Just curious.
In regards to publishing on Android, if you have a handset to test on already I guess the investment is not as bad however I don’t have a handset and on top of that would have to purchase the android Corona license and the developer fee. Reading everyone’s comments has been very helpful so far. Anyone else want to share their story? [import]uid: 31262 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37463[/import]
@aaaron - not a single additional sale. Still just 2 downloads.
As I am getting downloads every day for the iPhone version, it seems really bizarre but from what I have read it may just be the difference in the 2 markets.
If anyone would like to try and buy the game to test it is possible I would really appreciate it. It will not let me buy it as I am the developer. I don’t know anyone with an Android phone. I believe you can get a refund if you remove the game within 15 minutes. [import]uid: 7863 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37465[/import]
I have an Android phone and I was able to find your game and could have purchased it. I do not have my payment setup through Google to buy, because the phone is just a tester. The only things on it are what I put on it.
I have had Hairy Legs and the Hairy Legs Lite on Android Market for about 2 weeks. The paid version has sold 28 and the free version has done just over 2100.
These numbers are beaten by the Apple sales in one day.
Google is kind of falsely important. The high market share makes people think it is the market to be in, but how they got to that market share is the concern. When people buy an iOS device they intend to buy it for what it can do and what they can access. So many Android sales were simply just the newest or cheapest phone the clerk showed the customer. The market proves this. iOS market makes 40-50 times the amount of money in 1 month. (That is based on a CNET story I read)
Like I said, I am selling more on webOS than Android. webOS doesn’t even make a slice on a pie chart of market share. I really think webOS and Win7 has potential because of the limited apps available. A [import]uid: 8533 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37525[/import]
I’m having reasonable success on android. The key seems to be to post on as many forums as possible (in the relevant section that allows you to post about your game). This will give you a massive boost, and get you visibility.
For the same period (first 2 months), I had about 400 sales on android, and about 600 on iOS. The game is only just taking off and downloads and increasing much more rapidly. I note that there are about 4 times as many free downloads on android tho. If you’re using ad support its definatly worth adding android.
Having said that i have a CTR of over 1% on iphone, and around 0.5% on android.
I am using admob now on both iOS and android.
singh206: I posted about how to use admob in the other thread, If you’re having problems jump in irc.freenode.net #Corona and i’ll help u! You can check out how well its working by downloading ‘walkabout lite’ on either the android market or app store! [import]uid: 8872 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37622[/import]
Oh, and you should definitly not drop 2.1 support. I have my app built for 2.0.1 upwards. (1.6 still has issues with droid, so its not possible to support those yet - its only 3% tho). Also you should edit the manifest to support large screen devices like the xoom. [import]uid: 8872 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37623[/import]
Yeah my android sales are about 100x lower than iOS , as well as the comments above , there is zero quality control so your app is battling against spam sex apps and illegal copyright infringing ringtone apps that just wouldn’t be allowed on the iPhone. So as an android user u don’t want to take a risk i guess and they are dead tight with their money! [import]uid: 11459 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37669[/import]
One other thing, when you update your app you get put in the ‘just in’ category. This will get you a few sales/downloads.
Also there are third party stores:
mobihand (also puts it on some operator stores)
androidpit (used heavily by people who cant buy from market due to country restrictions)
amazon (just starting and doesn’t have many apps, so a good time to get in!)
these are all free, and take no more off sales than the 30% google take. [import]uid: 8872 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37688[/import]
Thanks for all the excellent advice.
I finally found someone who had an Android phone who agreed to purchase my game.
Unfortunately they had real problems doing so and in the end I determined it was due to them having Android 2.1. Apparently they had only had the phone about 6 months so they were quite surprised my game was not compatible.
Out of interest, if I did want to roll back my game so it would work on Android 2.1, what version of Corona do I need and how do I get it? Will publishing with the older version cause much functionality to break?
Thanks
Paul [import]uid: 7863 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 37779[/import]
First post…so be gentle =)
I am loving lua, and developing my first app. As most of us…I have high hopes for my app…but know it may never really take off.
kam187 mentioned some great tips on trying to get an app noticed…one of which is by posting on as many forums as possible.
Question is, is there a specific topic/thread on this forum that allows this…and any suggestions on other forums that have a section for this purpose?
Thanks in advance. [import]uid: 39506 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38059[/import]
Welcome! You can advertise your new apps in this forum here:
http://developer.anscamobile.com/forum/15
Do a google search for others and you will find many, probably the biggest being pocketgamer. [import]uid: 31262 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38070[/import]
Actually I have done some checking and it it is probably due to corona that the sales are low, ie people cant install your game, or it doesnt run.
I just checked my stats and I have 2 native android apps that are free and have been downloaded about 15000 and 30000 and times each or there abouts. However my 4 corona apps have been downloaded only a few hundred times even thought they are free too! [import]uid: 11459 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38165[/import]
Interesting! What do you think is the cause? CoronaSDK’s Android OS version limit? [import]uid: 4596 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38171[/import]
@maxbarrow - I have the same feeling. Partly it is because of Corona’s inability to support many devices in the market, and partly because of the nature of Android devices. There are way too many junk, cheap devices in the market. It is practically impossible to test even on 5-6 devices. Everyday I am hearing about crashes on many devices which I could not test. Most of them are 2.2 (or more) with ARM7. I just do not know why the app fails on certain devices and runs on the others even when the devices are very similar (manufacturer, OS version, CPU type). It is very frustrating. I am thinking of not spending any time for my next app on Android. It has been a disastrous experience and a bad investment. [import]uid: 19297 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38174[/import]
ckausik, your right im finding Android development to be a waste of time from a financial point of view. From the cost of the device 600 bucks, plus 35 dollars registration and my own time.
I think i have made about $100 from the android market before costs in 6 months! So a total loss of about $535.
I don’t think it is Ansca’s fault there is just to many devices to test as you mention! [import]uid: 11459 topic_id: 10072 reply_id: 38215[/import]