Why there are no paid updates in App Store

Why there are no paid updates in App Store

Software as a service usually means a server somewhere maintained by a company that allows you to do the job. Let it be wasting online time (like Facebook) or managing tasks (like Trello).

But that’s not all. Ever wondered why Apple doesn’t give developers any way to charge for upgrades? I was stumbled by this and I was thinking why those smart people from Apple didn’t think about such a crucial thing?

And believe me that’s a crucial thing - after you establish relationship with your software customers you really want to charge them again. Software development costs and producing and releasing a new version costs. So having customers paying for updates from time to time is crucial.

This model is executed flawlessly by smart folks at Atlassian that will charge you every year for an ongoing relationship/maintenance.

So, why Apple didn’t allow developers to do the same? If you’ve ever been interested in software development for Mac/iOS you probably noticed angry folks arguing that Apple should allow them to charge customers for updates.

Guess what, I think Apple is smarter than us. And I learned this recently. I think they want to introduce a new model of selling software - Software as a Service.

I see that some folks selling apps already learned this too. You should charge customers for additional features and ongoing use.

That’s why there’s so many options for In-App Purchase.

And it’s good for developers too. Ever wondered creating your application which are the most useful features, where’s the core of your product.

Now you can know for sure just ask customers to pay for some features and they’ll vote with their money. So you’ll know for sure what’s important for them.