Update #2: My eBook has been released! You may get it from this link "Make Money on Android". Comments to this post has been closed!
Old post:
In most of my posts I am just sharing information about Android, my online income and Android market revenue. I am giving you a lot of information. As some of you have sad in your comments some are inspiring and some are just useful. This post is other than the rest. This time you won't learn anything new. This time I will ask you about something. But I will give you something in return as well. I will give you free copies of my new ebook about making money with Android (with free apps!).
So what I want from you? I will want you to ask me a questions (in the comments to this post - so do not forget to give me your email) about building income with free applications for Android. In return I will give 3 copies of my ebook about building my Android market revenue to authors of first three questions that I will decide to be included in the ebook! (one copy to one person, multiple questions allowed - I will pick the best ones).
My ebook is almost ready and I will give three free copies as soon as it will be finished. For others that won't be so lucky to have their questions included or to those that just want the ebook about building passive income stream with Android free apps without asking any questions - it will be available very soon via this blog.
As soon as the contest will be finished or the ebook available - I will announce it as an update to this blog post. So give me your questions now (please)!
Update 25.02.2011:
Questions that has been answered in the eBook (or described in the comment and with annotation about it as an answer):
- How much time it take to support the users of your free apps in a month? (by lexandro)
- How much time it take to maintain/improve your existing apps in a month? (by lexandro)
- What is the maximum amount of apps that can be maintained/and supported by one person? (by lexandro)
- What is the average time when you turn an idea to the product? (by lexandro)
- What advertising tools/platforms/socials/etc used to increase the popularity (and income) of your apps? (by lexandro)
- In terms of integrating ads in to a free product, what are the different ways of going about it and what seems to work well? I’ve noticed certain games try to put ads in places you’re likely to click accidentally, this strikes me as a good way of annoying users and advertisers (by Curious)
- What is your strategy about updates? 1 or 2 in month are good? (by Paweł Białecki)
- Where to look for ideas for new apps? Should we try to solve some points or think of new games? What works best? Solving a problem or fun apps? (by App Junkie)
- How much time is need to write your first app? (by rg)
- How much knowledge or programming experience is needed to write your first app? (by rg)
- Do any of your apps failed so much that you gave it up? (by David Erosa)
- How does one go about the process of discovering what products have the highest likelihood of being downloaded and generating income? (by Matt Urbanski)
- How much time do you spend learning new things that aren’t directly connected with your current apps…but might be at some point?! (by Alistair Collins)
- How can you provide in-app purchases to increase profits and side-step Android’s new in-app business model? (by Royce Haynes)
- How do you measure the amount of active users? (by Royce Haynes)
- Do you conduct a research on existing applications which in likelihood may be the same as what you are planning to build? (by Angelo)
- How much Ads can be included in the Free version of the App.
(It should have say more than 1 strip of Ads at bottom or top, or Can have 2 strips, More Ads might tick a user off) (by Vineet Dhanawat) - How much time did you spend to learn the android API ? (by LazVegaz)
- Are your android apps fresh ideas or do you improve existing popular apps. In other words, how do you cast good ideas ? (by LazVegaz)
- How do you track user downloads given that Dev Console does not update real time? With minimal additions to your code? (by Redxeth)
- How do you determine if your new app idea is worth pursuing? Do you perform market research after coming up with an idea, or do you research the market to find good ideas? (by BJCubsfan)
- Developing new apps vs. maintain existing apps. – what is more profitable: to provide constants updates for existing apps or to use this effort to build new apps. (by Peter)
According to our little contest free eBook copies will go to:
- lexandro
- Curious
- Paweł Bielecki
I will contact you guys very soon!
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How much time it take to support the users of your free apps in a month?
What is the average time when you turn an idea to the product?
How can you forecast the income from your existing money making app to the next few months?
How much time it take to maintain/improve your existing apps in a month?
What advertising tools/platforms/socials/etc used to increase the popularity (and income) of your apps?
How much money is needed for advertising (cash/%)?
What is the maximum amount of apps that can be maintained/and supported by one person?
:)
Wow, thanks for a lot of good questions and congrats of being first. If other questions won’t be much better – and I think it will be hard to beat all of those – you almost have a free ebook copy ;)
A couple of questions:
1) What are the best ways of separating out features for free/premium apps?
2) In terms of integrating ads in to a free product, what are the different ways of going about it and what seems to work well? I’ve noticed certain games try to put ads in places you’re likely to click accidentally, this strikes me as a good way of annoying users and advertisers.
3) How do I avoid the “first review, 1 starred and nobody ever downloads again” problem?
4) Are there any methods for increasing your positive reviews from current (happy) users?
Good questions – thanks. It will be very hard to choose the best ones ;)
Hello Chris ;) I have a few questions.
1. I’ve read your post “Android developer income report”. You earned 5$ in your first month. How much time did you spend on android deleopment in your first month? I’am actually in my first month and I have 25$ after publish my first real app (Jedi Light Saber) thhree days ago (only ads, I’m from Poland too).
2. Is your MAIN part of income come from 1 or 2 apps, or from all?
3. How much time you works daily of android apps?
4. What is your strategy about updates? 1 or 2 in month are good?
5. Is there any good alternative to Admob?
6. Do you think that ebook will be more profitable that new app? ;)
I’m waiting for your reply, thanks.
$25 in first three days seems really good. I am sure that this app will be profitable for you. I will keep the rest of the questions as those are really good. Thanks you Pawel for reading and for the comment.
Where did you put your app on? We cannot (Poles) sent app to AM so? I am beginner in this branch, in fact, i’m totally beginner, i do not even know Android SDK at all but want to conquer the market in couple of months :D
(Właściwie mogłem po polsku) <– Well, I could write this in polish.
We can send free Android apps to Android Market. They do not allow us to publish the paid ones only.
I was looking at registration form and as far as i saw there wasn’t there any information about nationality or something.
@KreCi “They do not allow us to publish the paid ones only.” Us?? So where do U live?
I have not seen your whole blog through yet, but if U could, tell me one think, is it a hard way to earn money on mobile phones apps development. How it looks for someone who didn’t have much contact with this kind of craft. I have a little practical knowledge in programming (just now pure c++ and a little bit of some graphical APIs) but vast general knowledge about IT and programming technologies. I think Android has great potential and soon or later will beat IOS.
Where to look for ideas for new apps? Should we try to solve some points or think of new games? What works best? Solving a problem or fun apps?
Thanks for even more good questions!
1. it is hard to get your first app started?
2. IS there a best way to write an app for both Android and iOS?
3. how much time is need to write your first app?
4. how much knowledge or programming experience is needed to write your first app?
Thank you
It will be hard to answer the iphone part now – but I already bought a MAC. So who knows in near future ;) Thank you for your questions!
Hi Chris.
I can’t ask better questions than the previous ones, but I’d like to know how’d you deal with a fail? In my case, I made a big mistake in my first app that f*cked up a good idea. I corrected the error, but I think that was too late. Would you start over with a new app/ads campaign, etc? Or would you try to push up your current one? Do any of your apps failed so much that you gave it up?
BTW, the mistake I made was assuming every mobile had a camera button like my old phone had… Asmy app was a camera one, nobody could take photos. I fixed it providing a shutter button, but the momentum was lost :/
Thanks!
Thanks for a good questions. Unfortunately not all apps must be successful… There are a lot of factors that it depends on. I think I will try to touch this case in my ebook. Thank you David.
1. How good is Android development in comparison with iOS?
As I mentioned before it will be hard to answer as I am not iOS programmer (yet).
As a writer who covers a lot of iOS topics, and a non-developer who would like to eventually write apps for mobile platforms, I do have a few questions I’d love to have an Android developer answer:
-Do you believe that the Android platform can sustain as high quality of apps as the iOS store, or do developers need to focus on quick-to-make, lower graphics quality apps? The iOS App Store of course has tons of low quality apps, most of which are entirely a waste of money and time. Tons of others, though, are even more graphically polished than similar PC or Mac apps. Do you think we’ll eventually see this on Android, or are there already competing apps that are as intricately designed on Android that just don’t get as much press? I’ve only used Android in the PC emulator, so I really don’t know.
-I personally prefer paid apps that don’t have ads. Do you think the Android Marketplace will end up growing enough to support for-pay development as good as the iOS App Store?
-Also, how will tablets change the development landscape? Do you forsee iPad’s iWork type of apps on Android tablets, or are there similar competitors already? QuickOffice on iOS simply doesn’t measure up, and I don’t know if it’s better on Android or not.
Thanks in advance! I hope these questions don’t seem to froward; I genuinely would like to know, and don’t have enough experience with Android right now. Thanks for your time, and best wishes on your upcoming book!
Very good questions. But those are not ones that might fit my ebook. Anyway those seems so good topics for my future posts. Hope you do not mind if I use them on my blog. Thanks Matthew!
Sure, no problem! Sounds great :)
How does one go about the process of discovering what products have the highest likelihood of being downloaded and generating income?
How do you decide which features of your application will be paid features and which will be free?
Do you feel having a social aspect to free applications is necessary/warranted in most cases? I see that many apps seem to have pointless social networking features that merely distract from the core uses.
Thank you for your questions Matt. Will be hard to choose the best ones…
1) What are the best/biggest mistakes you made that we could learn from?
2) How much time do you spend learning new things that aren’t directly connected with your current apps…but might be at some point?!
3) Who do you get inspiration from? (Whether for apps, for business, for you as a person?) And how does that affect how you work?
Keep on going for it – really enjoy reading your blog, and hope that it will inspire me this year to try and do something more than just “play” with Android!
Those questions need to be answered soon. On ebook or just on the blog. Thanks!
From your experience so far, which ad networks are best suited in terms of $/click for niche apps?
Thanks!
Hi, I have worked on couple of Android applications and not many of them reached reasonable amount of attention I was hoping for.
Now, whenever I want to get hired by freelance contractor, they first ask for my portfolio and professional history. Many times, me as ex-C++ programmer, have the problem to explain that altough I’ve worked with different language than Java, am good at solving problems and comming to solutions quite easyly than the others. C++ shaped me up. On the other hand, I have my sources on github, and they can easily check my code style and architecture of the apps I am developing.
To be precise, what I wanna do sounds very simple, go out there, find client, work for him. Everyone not involved in IT would say that. But for me this seems hard to realize (27y old): I want to quit my current job, start home freelance business (which at the moment I cannot afford due to the barrier of not having any savings aside), and then found a company that would outsource resources abroad. Does this idea seem realistic and what are the pros/cons of the whole process? I would put emphasis on the fact that if I have enough time i.e. work from home and have no other full-time job, can deliver excellent results. Excellent. Sorry if I sound too ego-centric, but I’ve proven this to myself and now I trust that feeling more than ever. Ain’t no mountain high enough! What can go wrong and how to use this moment where what my intuition is telling me to follow my dream and start my own business. Wanna start small, but again, I try to be as precautious as possible.
Thanks for the post and sharing of your experience.
1. How can you provide in-app purchases to increase profits and side-step Android’s new in-app business model?
2. Data is the new oil. What data would be useful to Android carriers?
2a. What are ways you can monetize data?
3. Generally, most apps that sell on Android market are B2B or Games. Specifically, how can you sell an Android app that is neither B2B or Games?
4. What are the top 10 business tactics of proven successful android apps? Context: Successful means the android app has tons of users and made a profit consistently.
5. How do you measure the amount of active users?
Thanks,
Royce
1. How do you find the motivation and drive to build Android applications, if for example, conditions are not as favorable for you to do such (day job, parental duties, weekend gatherings, etc.)?
2. People will always have a lot of ideas for new applications. How do you determine which ones to do first and which ones would become an income-generating project?
3. Do you perform any market research prior to developing the applications on the type of users you would have for the application?
4. Do you conduct a research on existing applications which in likelihood may be the same as what you are planning to build?
5. Have you considered making applications that peruse other established entities (sports, media, business) that in all probability would become the property of the entity and they would simply pay you for the idea and the product? How would you present it to them?
1. Apps developed should be free or paid? Many developers claim they earn almost equal with ADs version of same app.
2. Comparison of Different AD networks / options available for Android Apps !
3. How much Ads can be included in the Free version of the App.
(It should have say more than 1 strip of Ads at bottom or top, or Can have 2 strips, More Ads might tick a user off)
Some real stats of Apps earning from Ads , if included will help new developers !
If you want someone to proof-read your ebook, feel free to send it to my email. I normally catch grammatical errors/typos pretty quickly and I get annoyed when I see publications with errors. PS. I also get the final free copy, right?
1. How can you make android users generate content other than facebook or tweet updates?
2. Why do app when you can provide the same thing through a web app?
3. Can you create free apps for business users? Will advertising annoy them off?
Hi Chris,
It’s not easy to post after a lot of good questions, but I’ll try :
1. How much time did you spend to learn the android API ?
2. How long did you take to release your first application on the android market ?
3. In your case, how long did it take to live from your apps revenues ?
4. Do you use specific tools/softwares/plugins/tricks that help you to develop and promote your apps ? I mean other than Android API and eclipse ?
5. Do you market your apps and how ?
6. Are your android apps fresh ideas or do you improve existing popular apps. In other words, how do you cast good ideas ?
7. Which advertising platform is the best from a developer point of view ? Is there a comparative statement with the principal advertising platforms like AdMob ?
Thanks for your answers, even if they won’t appear in your ebook.
Is it better to use the dual app approach (one free app that has ads, another that is full) or the new upcoming “in app sales” model?
How much credit do you get to another source for the idea for your app, i.e. if you port an existing iOS, Palm, WM7, blackberry? What if you get your idea from a web app?
How do you best use open source code in an app giving you revenue?
How do you share revenue with others in a code development team? Do you write up a legal agreement?
How do you track user downloads given that Dev Console does not update real time? With minimal additions to your code?
Paid apps still several orders of magnitude fewer downloads than their free cousins due to an apparent $1 barrier. How do you overcome getting users to switch from a free version to a paid version?
How do you keep in touch with users of your app?
Dan
Why don’t you release your ebook free as you’re making a lot of money with your apps? xD
(Sorry for my english, i’m from Uruguay)
Because he is earning on his knowledge in many ways :)
Hi there,
First of all, thank you for sharing your numbers and your progress in such an open way. I find it inspiring and most of all, it shows that one should not underestimate the possibilities of ads as (only) revenue stream.
E-book or no e-book, I have a couple of questions that I’d like to here your thoughts about:
1) With phone apps, just as any web app, I believe the biggest challenge is not to build it, but to get them known. I’ve myself done the mistake of spending years developing an app and then fail to make it known to the public. Hence, I’d be interested in hearing – what are your 5 best tips for marketing and spreading your apps?
2) I’m not an Android developer myself, but I imagine if I put enough hours and sweat into it, I would be able to produce an app that is more or less text based – i.e. that gathers information and presents it in a fairly attractive way. To this kind of apps I count news readers, or why not the likes of Gowalla, Foursquare, sleeq etc. But let’s say I want to take a step further and create a game. In your opinion, how big is the step from creating a “text based” app to creating a game with moving objects, Artifical Intelligence for computer opponents, collision detection and so on? I’m not talking about a 3D shooter, but let’s use Doodle jump or a turn based role playing game as an example? Is that doable without years of development experience or considerable amounts of funding (e.g. to set up a bigger team)?
Would really appreciate your feedback!
Thank you and keep up the good work!
Mike
Could you write a brief explanation how to pay taxes here in Poland for those people who wre doing freelance and Android apps?
I have left it to my accountant – she tells me how much and what should I pay according to invoices I make every month. Most generally I am paying ZUS (health insurance – etc), income tax and VAT if applicable to country of they buyer.
How do you determine if your new app idea is worth pursuing? Do you perform market research after coming up with an idea, or do you research the market to find good ideas?
BJ
Is there going to be your Income report in February?
I’m really curious does your income were stable or dropped more than 10%.
It will be published closer to the end month.
Hi there,
I’m really impressed by you achievements on the android development business. Despite of a weak Java background and lack of application selling option in android marked you decide to jump in this – respect.
I was considering the android platform, but the lack of application payment suppressed me (i’m from Poland too…). Now after reading you blog, I’m strongly motivated to jump into this water.
According to the post topic, here is a my list of questions:
1) What is the most efficient strategy in building the applications portfolio? Please consider following:
a) quality vs. time to marked – on what stage is the best to publish the application
b) full feature apps vs. beta release – beta release gives an opportunity to use the customers feedback
c) developing new apps vs. maintain existing apps. – what is more profitable: to provide constants updates for existing apps or to use this effort to build new apps.
d) one type of applications vs. variety of application types
e) how many application should be in portfolio?
2. How to find the gap in android market? (you sources of inspirations)
3. What about the multi-language support – is it wort to provide in applications, how it can increase download rate?
Additionally from my point of view, it will be very interesting when you describe in details your path (history of all applications, downloads rates, revenue history, how much time you spend developing, etc.).
Thanks for sharing you experience and motivating me,
Peter
Since you develop entertainment apps you get a much wider audience and since you cannot sell from Poland only alternative seems to be Ad-based which generally depends on eyeballs, I for once develop focused apps for a group in which case ad-based income is really low( I have $0.75 with 5000 impressions) since if you cannot sell (I am from India) it becomes a number game, for which type of app would really matter(games entertainment, everything else is out of question) could you suggest any alternative to ad-based support for these kind of apps. and btw I am also sailing solo after leaving my awesome job last month and will be publishing my income report next month.
how are u Sir
I am still in High School, and i am interested in the development of phone applications for androids, I believe they are the next best thing in technology. My question is how do i market the apps once i have developed it, because i really think the is alot of money in this especially in my country(South Africa)
there are so many free apps in android maarket
how the developer of the app earn the money from free app
does google give something for download app????
Nope, check my ebook that is already released for the details (link on the bottom of this post – over the comments).