There must be a lot of people who want to support Drafts financially but have an aversion to a subscription method of payment. I understand why the subscription method is the desired option for developers, but I suspect app developers who only have a subscription compensation choice are missing out on a significant compensation source, a segment of Draft users who would accept a one time purchase fee rather than an annual subscription?
Surely I am not the only Drafts fan who feels this way? Could the developers not work out what they average over all for income from subscribers visa vis how much per year, and for how many years subscribers maintain their subscriptions, give a reasonable discount for one up front immediate payment which takes into account he developer being able to get interest on the up front money, and come up with a reasonable one time only charge for their app? BTW, I believe the app IS MORE THAN WORTHY OF its due compensationā¦great appā¦well done! Doug D.
As aroufg estimate I could assume a good 10-20 years of subscribing for many of us, so at Ā£20 per year thatās Ā£200-Ā£400. Say a 10% discount, that would be Ā£180-Ā£360.
But who knows how long things will remain viable as they are. Who knows, maybe Greg will build web, Windows and Android versions one day (Apple permitting)? Maybe there will be new devices to deploy to like glasses, cars, etc? Then there could be things like inflation to take account of.
Iām not really sure the calculations would be quite so simple. Particularly as Greg has changed his business model from major version purchase to an all platforms and versions subscription. The change in model is what has enabled him to develop Drafts as it is today versus what is was for V4 and earlier.
Changing the model could have impacts weāre simply unaware of.
Assuming a subscription fee of 23 pounds thatās about $40 CDN or $400 Over 10 years plus interest amounts to about a $450 to $475 outlay. I actually do believe the app IS WORTH THAT FUNDING, but I also believe there are many ālong term investors ā out there that would not consider doing this, but would be willing to pay say $50 CDN for a one time purchaseā¦(sorry I changed the currency from the previous post.please change it back.) of course maintaining the subscription option for people who prefer the āinstalmentā route. I think Agile Tortoise might be missing out on a significant revenue source? All this said there is no doubt the developers who depend on their business model for livihood will have a far different outlook on this issue than the user who might be thinking of his or her sole short term interests. Please understand that my raising this issue in no way is meant to imply that Drafts is not worth every penny spentā¦it is a unique app and more than deserves its usersā financial support. No doubt many developers have to struggle with this issueā¦and only each developer is able to conclude what will work for them and keep them viable! Why not try it for a year then revert back to subscription only if it doesnāt work in terms of sustainability? Doug
Certainly the things you touch on are things I have considered. At this time I feel like the simplicity of the currently available subscription levels are the right fit for the app and the vast majority of users.
Additional options are often a bit paralyzing, and not āfreeā to setup and support in the app long term. Even offering the option on a trial basis creates levels of legacy code to maintain forever - and though I know users exist that would prefer the option, Iāve not seen evidence that the number is significant enough to warrant the complexity.
Iām not sure you are seeing some of the downsides that occur with these models as well - like the users who dive into the lifetime purchase, then decide the app is not for them 2 months later and demand a refund (which I canāt even do if I wanted to in the App Store). Just one example.