How to: Create and sell a successful smartphone application or game

What's the alternative though? If you send out a fully working paid-for version to purchasers, these files will just as easily get onto the warez networks....

Maybe the best option would be to do what R66 and some others have done and to implement an activation by SMS scheme, with unique one-time-only codes. it's a hassle for those often changing devices though....

Steve

I think the alternative they have in mind is sending out a fully working version locked to a particular IMEI, after that IMEI owner has paid for the software. Of course it'll end up being cracked sooner or later, but I get the impression this is preferred by the developers I spoke to.

Personally I think the whole problem can't be tackled through extra security, the pirates will always find a way through whatever measure you introduce and it only takes one of these idiots to put a cracked copy out there.

I think a better solution is to simply write off those who know how to obtain pirated software as lost customers, they know how to get hold of stolen software and have no qualms about doing so. They will never pay for your software's development, so why should you develop software with them in mind?

A developer still need customers, so they ought to go after those more casual users who don't know or care about pirated apps, but at the moment those customers are almost all Java users who buy games and other software as direct downloads rather than messing about with a PC.

The more difficult and technical you make the process of buying Symbian apps, the fewer actual customers you will have. Those who are technosavvy enough to cope with complicated download procedures and entering IMEI codes are probably those who know where to get the cracked software instead.

I've said this before I know, but if Symbian software was as easy to buy and install as Java software, there would be a lot more people willing to pay for it.

Nokia used to runs a scheme called Try&Buy, with specially prepared apps that could be bought by sending an SMS. That's about as easy as it can get, IMHO. One of the problems was that you couldn't trasnfer larger sums (the GBP 20 Ewan mentions). But even then, I don't believe this scheme is a massive success.

Installing a sis file is pretty obvious too. There is little the application programmer can do about the number of dialogs it shows, but a properly created sis file is easy to install.

Further, both these things do not explain why UIQ users traditionally bought lots more software than S60 users, even thoug buying a UIQ app is as hard as buying a S60 app, and installing the apps is equaly hard (easy) as well. What I am also interested in is whether users of the business-user targetted Nokia Eseries buy more apps than the consumer-targetted Nokia NSeries.

Sander van der Wal
www.mBrainSoftware.com

Very interesting point about UIQ... I suppose that must point to some kind of demographic difference between a typical UIQ owner and a typical S60 owner?

"Installing a sis file is pretty obvious too. There is little the application programmer can do about the number of dialogs it shows, but a properly created sis file is easy to install."

SIS files seem easy to us, but they're not for someone who sees an advertisement and wants the game or app straight away, the way they do with Java software.

SIS requires you to be at home, find the app on the internet, pay for it, download it to your PC, install it with PC Suite or transfer it and install it manually. It's actually quicker and easier to download pirated SIS files than legal SIS files.

SMS requires you to send a text and just click yes on whatever appears. You don't even need a PC, you don't need to be at home. And, crucially, it's easier to buy software by SMS than it is to get the pirated versions.

This is the golden rule I guess: make it easier to go legal than to go illegal.

The SMS scheme run by Nokia might not have worked, but that was probably because no one had heard about it. If it had been advertised as much as that really annoying Jamba/Jamster is nowadays, I'm sure they'd have had a lot more customers.

I believe UIQ users are more like PDA users, while S60 users are a very different kind of people. That's why I am vey interested in S60 3rd ed Eseries users as I expect these people to be a lot like PDA users as well. Especially the E61 users, given the E61 screen is a usable size for a PDA, while the standard S60 screen is just too small.

Also the move of UIQ 3.x toward the S60 space will be interesting to watch. Will the new UIQ 3 user be more like a S60 user or like a PDA user?

AFAIK, a sis file can be downloaded OTA just as a midlet, and installed too, but this isn't something I have tried myself. Some aggregators are offering OTA with sis files, so I expect this to work.

The Try&Buy Scheme had apps preinstalled on the memory card. That's as easy as it can be, I think. The wrong apps could be on it, though.

Sander van der Wal
www.mBrainSoftware.com

Hi

There can be little/no difference in complexity downloading Java or Symbian apps directly to the phone. Both use the same mime type based OTA technology. S60 phones recognises symbian app mime types as easily as the java app mime types. User does not have to know anything about jad/jar/sis etc.

The 'Content Discoverer' app - called 'Catalogs' on many devices - is a built in app on many S60 devices - particularly 3rd edition. These are basically wap browsers that allow you to browse for apps + purchase them OTA (over the air) directly from your phone - definately NO PC required. Developers supply e.g. Handango and/or Nokia Software Market with apps which usually have to be Symbian Signed + possibly have extra testing by Handango etc such that only reasonable quality apps get presented. Who defines what 'reasonable quality' is another issue - but basically if you have a sensible working relationship with your account manager at say Handango you should at least be able to get apps considered.

Numerous other web sites provide direct downloads of Symbian apps to phones - driven by phones if required.

Some interesting research recently strongly suggested that about 50% of people wanted downloads via OTA and 50% via a PC. Typically the more tech savvy wanted to download via a PC so they automatically had a backup + didnt burn GPRS.

OTA has indirect costs. Java apps tend to be smaller than S60 native apps especially 3rd edition apps that have multiple scn sizes to support so higher GPRS costs get incurred making the overall puchase cost higher. S60 native games are heading towards 500K to 1MB. (However smaller also tends to mean less functional + almost all Java apps fail to accomodate the larger S60 scn sizes fully - they were never designed to support such devices so its not that surprising. )

Demographics plays a huge part in what people are prepared to pay and how they are prepared to obtain apps. If I were to summarize our Symbian sales then anyone with a device whose scn is less than 240x320 does not buy add on apps. All others appears to be either ex PDA owners or new 'PDA' owners - basically power users of some description - who both expect to be able to add apps AND know enough about how to go about doing such things - like using the Catalogs app (not necessarily going to web sites).

The above covers all S60, UIQ and S80 variants. As such its not entirely surprising UIQ attachment rates are massivly higher than S60 2nd edition rates - and indeed S80 is typcially higher than S60 2nd edition !!.