{"id":22730,"date":"2018-09-11T15:52:47","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T19:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=22730"},"modified":"2018-09-13T15:42:14","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T19:42:14","slug":"apple-video-recommends-app-subscriptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/11\/apple-video-recommends-app-subscriptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Video Recommends App Subscriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple<\/a> (via Apple Developer News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The developers behind Elevate, Dropbox, Calm, and Bumble share how they create great customer experiences by continuing to provide value throughout the subscription lifecycle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Juli Clover<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“The value for a user is that you’re not just buying this one thing at this one point in time, you’re actually buying something that’s evolving,” said Elevate developer Jesse Germinario.<\/p>

“If you’re a subscription business, your incentives are actually perfectly aligned with your customers, because they need to continue to get value out of the product in order to keep subscribing, which means that you have to continue making the app better,” said Calm developer Tyler Sheaffer. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Ben Lovejoy<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The appeal for developers is obvious: subscriptions generate the holy grail of tech businesses, recurring income. But users appear less convinced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Mark Munz<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Apple wants developers to move to subscriptions. Three problems that I see right away:<\/p>\n

1) implementation of subscriptions is A LOT OF WORK… esp. for indie developers.<\/p>\n

2) based on feedback, most customers DON’T want it<\/p>\n

3) it doesn’t make sense for all kinds of apps.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Colin Cornaby<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

I think the thing people underestimate about subscription apps is the significantly higher hurdle they create for getting them purchased in a corporate environment.<\/p>\n

There’s this weird disparity where subscription software that every last person in the org needs (like Office) is easy. Software that only a few people need? A nightmare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

I don’t think subscriptions are a good fit for all apps. But since subscriptions are the only sustainable business model that the App Store offers, why make them so difficult to adopt? Even putting the substantial implementation work aside, it’s a big risk because Apple doesn’t let customers keep what they’ve already bought:<\/p>\n