Not quite a development topic, but how is everyone pricing their TV apps? I have a fun little utility app that's useful for certain party activities, and I keep vacillating between Tier 1/99¢ ("it's a simple app!"), Tier 3/$2.99 ("but it's three feet tall and in a small App Store!"), and occasionally even Tier 5/$4.99 ("just go for it!"). So what is everyone else planning?
I'm going for the 1.99....see how it goes for the first month option
Good question. The new Apple TV is a different animal. My Samsung TV has Apps, but I don't pay for them. Does a "big screen" deserve a "big price"? Probably not. The iPhone and iPad pricing mentality will probably carry over to the Apple TV. I was tempted to raise the price because the market size will be much smaller, but that's a seller's viewpoint. From the buyer's viewpoint, they will expect the prices to be similar to those for iOS. I'm starting out with the same price as my similar App on the iPad ($1.99).
Assuming you're doing Universal Purchase, remember that the customer is getting both the iOS and Apple TV versions of your app for the single price. This may or may not be something to consider when pricing 🙂
I think a TVOS app as being universal, and essentailly a giveaway is absurd. Why do all the work if it gets thrown in the pile with family sharing and all those giveaways that developers have had forced on them. Don't sell yourself short. If you're going to make any money at all it won't be because they get other free copies on other devices.
BTW, this TV device is way different... it has yet to be determined if people care about anything that anyone might create as an app--- other than tv shows. Most of the pay tv shows on the ATV Box are priced in outer space. At best, ATV becomes a gateway into Netflicks, HBO, & Showtime.
Let's see if anyone cares that there is an app store here. Good luck, everyone.
I think that depends. My app is not yet universal, but I've certainly thought about adding that in the future, becuase a companion iOS app would make the TV app hugely more useful. In that kind of situation, I think charging one price for all of them together might be the right move. (But of course if the combination is so useful, that one price shouldn't be bargain basement...)
I think of it as more them purchasing my game for the iOS/tvOS platform so they can play on either. It also allows me to take UI elements that would be impractical for the Apple TV version of the game (such as track and car editing in SlotZ Racer) and have them only in the iOS version and use it as a companion app.
Pricing of course is according to what we think people will pay. We've got a minimum price and no sales ever policy, which is a bit different to the typical App Store pricing model now, so we'll see what prices things settle at 🙂
We have both iOS and tvOS versions of all of the apps, and since the customer is getting more value we've increased the price on 3 of the 5 games we're releasing. In all, however, our apps will range from $2 to $4.
-Brian
My take on it might differ from many here. As I see it, if your TvOS app is similar or
an extension of sorts of the iOS app, then users will expect it to be priced comparably
to other similar iOS apps in it's category. If your TvOS app on the other hand is a major
step above the iOS version and frankly there is zero reason it should be considering
iPhone and iPad tech currently is beyond that in the new Apple TV, then the TvOS
version would be expected to be more expensive. The catch is, iPhone/iPod Touch/
iPad users aren't necessarilly going to have or care about the Apple TV so, price it
too high and you'll be losing sales.
Price does matter, even in the Apple playground.