06/12/2008, 12:10pm, EDT
Thursday, June 12th
Native iPhone apps to have size, price caps?
Certain unannounced limitations have been imposed by Apple on developers for the App Store, sources claim. People uploading content to the store are expected to have a maximum possible file size of 2GB, which while more than enough for most applications, may restrict companies and individuals that need sizable integrated data sets, such as high-resolution sound and graphics. Apple has not specified whether this is a technical or a business necessity.
For those apps that are not free, prices are said to be organized into Apple-dictated tiers based on sales regions. In the US apps may be sold for as little as 99 cents, or as much as $999.99, the latter suggesting that Apple expects enterprise-level software to be sold alongside mass-market programs.
When adding games to the App Store, developers are being encouraged to use iTunes-specific content descriptions, including "realistic violence," "horror/fear themes," and "graphic sexual content and nudity." The last is notable in that Apple has specifically forbidden "adult" content from the store, but may in theory allow games which feature sex and nudity as part of a normal plot.
Developers can also allegedly indicate compatibility with the iPod touch, and which countries an app will be available in, ranging from the entire world to as little as one.
Apple's submission tool, meanwhile, is said to hint at the release date for the iPhone 2.0 firmware update necessary to support the App Store. When selecting a launch date for software, the tool is said to default to July 11h, also the launch date for the iPhone 3G. Apple initially said that the firmware would be available in late June, but has more recently indicated early July.
Filed under: iPhone, gaming, software, developer, Apple
Other story tags: App Store
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Damn!
There goes that 3GB game I wanted to sell for $32.68
Application vs Data
Don't confuse application size with data size. For example, iTunes on my Mac is only 121MB, but it manages a library of 30GB of data.
As long as there is a way for data to be transferred to applications on the iPhone then an application which requires a large data set should be able to transfer that data over after the application is loaded.
And, I think most users would prefer this. For example, rather than loading 3GB of maps which are hard-coded into a GPS app it makes a lot more sense to allow the user to load the maps they need or to download maps on the fly. That way a casual GPS user could make do with a smaller base map, while a hardcore user could load as many detailed maps as they need. Rather than burdening every user with several GBs of data they may or may not need.
Plagiarize?
C'mon MacNN, if you are going to plagiarize someone else's work, at least do it accurately. You tooke AppleInsider's:
"pricing is described as a tiered system rather than an arbitrary price point"
And came up with:
"prices are said to be organized into arbitrary tiers"
There is nothing arbitrary about the tiers. At least read the article you are copying your's from. Or is that just what Word's AutoSummarize function came up with?
Plagiarize?
C'mon MacNN, if you are going to plagiarize someone else's work, at least do it accurately. You took AppleInsider's:
"pricing is described as a tiered system rather than an arbitrary price point"
And came up with:
"prices are said to be organized into arbitrary tiers"
There is nothing arbitrary about the tiers. At least read the article you are copying your's from. Or is that just what Word's AutoSummarize function came up with?
LOL
"Or is that just what Word's AutoSummarize function came up with?"
ROTFLOL -I think you nailed it!
pricing problems
So, apparently you can't charge what you want, but what range apple will let you. But can't apple think different and just go with REAL prices, and not the stupid "REAL PRICE - 1 cent" crap we've put up with for years in every segment of selling (because I'd pay $4.99 for an app, but someone wants $5? That's insane!).
But, more to the point, notice that Apple has a fixed price for the different countries, regardless of the current market forces. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do a real-time currency conversion or something. So those in Europe will have to pay more for a particular app than someone in the US.
I guess Apple feels they've screwed over the likes in those countries already, what's a little more!
sales tax
Anyone know how Apple is handling sales tax? Are they passing it on to the developer to report. Are they reporting it themselves? Are they supplying the developers with a report that details all sales tax paid, so that they can use it to cover themselves on their taxes?
Pricing problems?
But can't apple think different and just go with REAL prices, and not the stupid "REAL PRICE - 1 cent" crap we've put up with for years in every segment of selling (because I'd pay $4.99 for an app, but someone wants $5? That's insane!).
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Well, if every single study didn't show higher sales at 1 penny less, then I guess selling for $5 makes sense. However, if dropping the price by a penny increases sales by 20% you can be darn sure stores are going with 'funny pricing'