This article discusses the state of the iOS App Store and where the money is and is not. Long story short, you're unlikely to make money any the best bet is to create apps for clients. Fred http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/05/ios-app-success-is-a-lottery-and-60-of-developers-dont-break-even.ars

well yea its kind of like any other product out there also as long as you have something that no one has, or something addictive im sure you can do good interesting article though

Interesting the guy who wrote the article based his findings on a survey. Who did he survey? :) The "Lottery" is a lot greener on iOS than other platforms.

ehhh, not sure about that android platform is flourishing

@ceerup is flourishing in what way? I should do a survey...:) I say 90% of Devs dont break the $25.00 on Android :)

its a bigger marketplace than apple, thats how its flourishing

@ceerup: quantity vs quality though, that doesn't mean its flourishing. If Dev's are not making money, they will not stay around. It aways come down to green.

In my opinion, the best strategy to make money in the iOS app store (at least for buzztouch users) is to make your app based on what's popular. We have the convenience of not having to bother with surveys or market research - simply tap your app store icon and look at the top 100. A month ago I noticed there were apps for the boy band "One Direction" popping up everywhere. I made a simple buzztouch 1.5 app called "One Direction Fan Club" with some news feeds and an image gallery that users could upload to - it probably took about 4 hours max. So far it's made about $300 in two weeks - not jaw dropping numbers, but for 4 hours of work that's pretty awesome. I think it comes down to viewing the app store as a business. You have to look at what everyone else is doing and figure out how to do it better, or at least how to market it better. I'll admit it would be much more gratifying coming up with an original idea and seeing it take off, but currently I don't have the time or money to invest into something original.

absentia, thats also a great strategy, 300 dollars for 4 hours of work is fantastic, great job

Thanks...I should clarify I'm not at all boasting about my numbers, I just wanted to get the point across that this strategy works surprisingly well. I wouldn't share my numbers anywhere else but here - without buzztouch I wouldn't be making a cent in the app store.

i didnt sense any boasting, but that is a brilliant idea, even if the app doesnt last a long you made enough for 4 hours of work

@Abstentia, thanks for the post, additional info such as yours is needed by Buzztouch users. Fred

Hi @Absentia Really interesting. I think that the advice to make apps that are popular rather than ones based on ones own niche interests or knowledge is very good. Thanks for sharing. Two questions- I have downloaded the One direction app and it is free and there there don't appear to be any ad's. How are you making your money with this one? Also did you have to purchase or get permission to use the photos of the band in the app (not the photo gallery but the background and icon pics etc)? Thanks again for sharing. It is very helpful to hear about success stories such as this.

Over the past 3 years of developing advanced games and native apps i have come to realize that the money is not in the app store, the money is in making apps for clients & businesses.

@ sepala I only made it free two days ago, so it isn't making any money right now. As far as I know, app store rankings are based almost entirely on downloads so I'm trying to crawl up in the rankings - right now if you type "One Direction" into the app store search bar my app is the 18th result, but it's been moving up a couple spots every day since it went free. It's amazing the jump in downloads going from 99 cents to free - it was averaging maybe 30-40 downloads a day at 99 cents...in the last two days since I made it free it's gotten about 3500 downloads a day. As for getting permission, no I didn't. I'm not sure what is legally right or wrong in that area...I simply went by the fact that there are thousands of apps based on musicians - I can't imagine every single one of them got permission from the artists. If anybody did take issue with your app you would probably just get an e-mail from apple telling you that your app is infringing a copyright...I've gotten one. :P They'll make you take the app down within 5 days if there is no resolution, but it's not like you're just gonna get sued outright. Anyway I'm pretty much positive that this isn't an issue with musician based apps...the app I received the infringement complaint for was a walkthrough that I made for a popular app.

As @Absentia noted you maynot be sued for use of copyrighted photos and icons, but yes it's still copyrighted. Best not to do so. Fred

Yes, I wouldn't argue against that advice The thing is, when doing a google image search on a ridiculously popular topic such as "One Direction" you are going to get so many results. Unless the photographers name is stamped on the bottom, It's pretty much impossible to figure out what website an image originated from or if it was copyrighted at all to begin with.

Great advice- thanks! @Absentia with 3500 downloads a day you could make some money out of sticking some ad on it no?

I've thought about it...I might keep it free and make it link to a paid version with more features

i'd be curious to her if you run into any copyright issues going forward. i think you have the right idea, i just think that lawyers are out there waiting to make money protecting that kinda stuff. I'd love to make some apps based on music - but don't necessarily want record companiues knocking on my door. they are still salty about the whole mp3/peer stuff....i'm hesitant. I hope they sit there and quietly make you a small fortune!

@ATRAIN53, You can do so if you create your own content. To better understand read Copyright in my guide (it's rough but it contains good info). If you violate copyright and make a small fortune there's a high likely hood that the lawyers will come calling. Just think of it as working to make money for lawyers. Fred

Interesting article. There are many clients looking for apps to be developed.