Today we released an updated version (0.5.2) of TapMini, our automated sales report downloading tool. The update repairs a connection issue with iTunes Connect after Apple changed parts of the interface. If you don’t already have TapMini you can download it here.
TapMetrics got a fresh look last night with a new design to the dashboard and analytics views. We added more information to the dashboard so you can get the 30,000 foot view of all your apps immediately. Additionally, we added a feature that will notify you if we think Apple is testing your app. If you are using our analytics service, the new “Active Users” display shows how many people are using your app right now.
Our automated sales retrieval application for Mac OS X, TapMini, has been very popular. We’ve gotten a few questions, though, about why we don’t just take your login information through our site. Other sites may take your login info but we don’t for two reasons. First, we understand this to violate Apple’s Terms of Service for iTunes Connect. You aren’t supposed to reveal your information to anyone and we aren’t allowed to take it. Second, we want you to be comfortable with the security of your info. With TapMini, we never see your login ID or password and none of it ever runs through our server. TapMetrics only processes the sales reports that you choose to upload to your account. By using a menu bar application we also save the reports to your hard drive, backing them up for you locally. If you don’t want to use TapMini, you can still upload reports to your account manually. We want to give you options and peace of mind.
We have a number of additional features that are being tested and should released in the coming days.
You can also check out our help forum to answer any questions you have. Users can help each other out on any topic and we check these boards frequently to make sure your question gets answered. Please bear with us if you have an issue while we are still in beta. Let us know and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Thanks for using TapMetrics.
TapMetrics is happy to announce we are sponsoring iPhoneDevCampDC on July 31 and Aug 1 in Falls Church, VA. We’re eager to get out and meet some developers from the area, talk with devs about their thoughts on mobile, and show some people what we have been working on.
1000+ Apps in the iTunes Store. Like throwing dirt at a fence?
There are several tactics for generating revenue from the iTunes store, be it the ever-popular freemium model, advertising dollars from a free application, or in-app content sales. An interesting model we explored this week is what we like to call the “Dirt at the Fence” approach. If you throw a bunch of dirt at a fence, some of it’s going to get through. If you throw enough apps at the iTunes store, you’re going to make some sales. In case you may be wondering, as of a couple weeks ago the vendor with the largest number of apps for sale in the store offered 1616 applications (about 10.8% of the TOTAL store inventory). That’s a wee bit above the average of 3.79 apps per publisher.
More than a few people have figured this approach out, with the numbers 2 and 3 spots occupied by vendors offering 1061 and 928 apps in the store, respectively. Twelve other vendors each display more than 200 applications for download in the iTunes Store, pricing them generally at the $0.99 or $1.99 levels. Many of these vendors have created a simple framework and generated numerous apps with slightly different content. For example, a book reader app that contains a single novel, or a news aggregator with each individual app focused on a different major city or sports team.
A publisher that offers that many applications for sale is bound to make some money. Even if the leader here is selling just 1 of each app per day, that yields over $1100 in revenue, and that’s after Apple takes its cut. Selling 1 unit a day from just 100 of those apps probably brings in enough to pay rent for the month, and that is less than 7% of the vendor’s inventory. Under the same assumptions, pricing an app at just $1 more could bring in nearly $40,000 per month in revenue. One of the vendors we are referencing here has set the price of an app in his model at $4.99. We’re guessing he codes from his yacht in the Caribbean and submits to iTunes Connect via satellite.
So our belief is that there is a way for some people to make money selling iPhone apps. We hope, however, that this model doesn’t overwhelm the iTunes store so that generating cash comes before providing an incredible user experience. For the sake of the store, we wish that developers continue to find rewards for creating engaging software apps to keep us sane in airports and lines at the DMV. TapMetrics helps developers make their apps better and, as a result, reap their rewards.
TapMetrics is software suite that helps iPhone developers make their applications better.
Bitfire Systems, the company behind TapMetrics, was created to develop iPhone applications. We started coding some apps, got them into the App Store and then we were confronted with the mess that is iTunes Connect. We used Excel to track our downloads by importing the CSV files and read through the reviews page by page, it became tedious and a huge waste of our time. So I began coding up some quick and dirty solution that we lovingly called Yeti.
So as our consumption of data about our iPhone applications grew, so did Yeti. As we showed it around to some of our developer friends, they wanted to get their hands on it. Sadly, I didn’t think ahead and there wasn’t even multiple user support, let alone multiple account support for our friends to use it.
So I sat down, threw out all the old code and started again with a greater focus on what problems Yeti was to solve. That was the birth of TapMetrics and in making that decision, we became dedicated to finding the simplest, most hassle free and productive ways to enable developers to understand their users and improve their applications.
So in a nutshell, here is what TapMetrics can do for you as a developer.
We got a lot of other really great stuff that we’re working on for you including an iPhone application and API to both TapMetrics and our other related services that we’re announcing at launch.
We’re still in development, working to try and get it right the first time. If you want to know when we’re ready for you, head over to our website and enter your email address.
- Nolan
I’m at 360iDev this week and Chuck Smith was kind enough to let me demo TapMetrics towards the end of his great presentation about iTunes Connect.
For all the people at 360iDev, we’ll be handing out cards to let people sign up for TapMetrics before we release it. If you get one of these cards, you’ll get TapMetrics free for 6 months, so be sure to come and find me.
- Nolan
We’re hard at work getting ready for an beta launch. If everything goes right, I will be handing out some beta access cards at 360iDev, so make sure you come and find me.
-Nolan
