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Independent iPhone Apps Suffer 80 pct Piracy Rate
Techtree News Staff, Oct 28, 2009 1220 hrs ISTDespite of most of them being cheap
Apple has been boasting that its App Store has gifted fame, work and money to several independent iPhone platform developers. But ever since the iPhone jailbreaking started, usage of pirated (read: hacked) applications has gone up. Tap-Fu game developers Smells Like Donkey pointed out that about 80 percent of Tap-Fu game users submitted scores with the pirated copy of the game. The game is available for mere $1.99 but is still pirated a lot.
Smells Like Donkey developers were surprised to discover how easy was it to get pirated apps and install them. Device ID and other information about the Tap Fu app were gathered to derive statistics. About 80 percent of users had pirated the app which was released on October 16.
The developers also complained that Apple has been "fairly slow to respond" to the issue. Just like Microsoft has done with Xbox LIVE, the SLD developers suggest giving away basic app for free and then charging for the downloadable content.
Every pirated copy is a loss for independent developers. However, there are people who pay for getting legitimate copy for themselves. And even if they had to reset their phone, they can download the app again for free, if purchased earlier. SLD predicted methods to intimate users for purchasing a legitimate copy like giving pop-up messages et al. Also, having DLC content or in-App purchases would make the app difficult to be pirated.
Apple would surely be looked upon to take decisive steps against App piracy. The piracy is not only affecting independent developers but also the reputation of App Store which Apple boasts about.
Smells Like Donkey developers were surprised to discover how easy was it to get pirated apps and install them. Device ID and other information about the Tap Fu app were gathered to derive statistics. About 80 percent of users had pirated the app which was released on October 16.
The developers also complained that Apple has been "fairly slow to respond" to the issue. Just like Microsoft has done with Xbox LIVE, the SLD developers suggest giving away basic app for free and then charging for the downloadable content.
Every pirated copy is a loss for independent developers. However, there are people who pay for getting legitimate copy for themselves. And even if they had to reset their phone, they can download the app again for free, if purchased earlier. SLD predicted methods to intimate users for purchasing a legitimate copy like giving pop-up messages et al. Also, having DLC content or in-App purchases would make the app difficult to be pirated.
Apple would surely be looked upon to take decisive steps against App piracy. The piracy is not only affecting independent developers but also the reputation of App Store which Apple boasts about.
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bert
,waterloo, on Oct 29, 2009 11:28 PM
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