Are We Burnt Out On Apps?

There’s no longer gold in them thar iTunes hills

According to a new longread in the Verge:

In 2011, 63 percent of apps were paid downloads, selling for an average of $3.64 apiece. By last year, a mere 27 percent of downloads were paid, and the average price had fallen to $1.27. Today, profiting from the App Store most often requires a mix of in-app purchases, subscriptions, and advertising.

Meanwhile, a fatigue is setting in among customers. There are now more than 1.5 million apps in the App Store (Android users have 1.6 million to choose from), but by 2014, the majority of Americans were downloading zero apps per month.

Fatigue? I think I speak for all of America when I say it’s not that we’re out of energy, necessarily; it’s that our 16 gig phones are out of memory. And maybe we’re also out of money money. At least, we’re out of cash that we’re willing to spend on games that are more expensive yet less absorbing than Neko Atsume; or maybe we squandered all our cash playing Kim Kardashian’s Hollywood.

I mean, when was the last time a paid app really improved your life, even $1.99’s worth? Even the most useful, practical, highly recommended money-tracking apps are available in some version for free.

Anyway, sorry, wanna-be developers. Guess you’ll have to find a new way to get rich quick.

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