May 4, 2009
Developpers complain ranking system favors cheapest apps
IPhone application developers say a problem with Apple's online application store means they are feeling the pinch. stuff reports.
Layton Duncan, director of Christchurch application developer Polar Bear Farm, says the store's ranking system unfairly favours the best of the cheapest applications.
"The rankings are based on download numbers. There is no accounting for the revenue applications are making, and that makes it harder for higher priced applications to come up the rankings and have visibility in the store.
"There are 30,000 registered application developers and about 200 new applications a day, and the iTunes store is the exclusive distribution model for these applications, so visibility in the store and being highly-ranked is critical to your success."
The store's bias towards free and cheap applications means developers are under pressure to slash the price of their applications, he says.
Polar Bear Farm doubled the price of one application to $2 and experienced a 60 per cent drop in downloads.
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