Mibõl éljen az appfejlesztõ?

What should earn the bread
of an app developer?

Well, not app development. :)
(95% of the time)

A mai mobil app fejlesztés
olyan mint a rock&roll:
megélni nem lehet belõle -
de legalább menõ!

Application development nowadays is like Rock & Roll -
it's cool, but you can't really get a living out of it.

Winning the
App Lottery

App development is a lot like playing the lottery – as long as there is a chance to win big, people will play.

The vast majority of app developers struggle to make a living.
7 out of 10 don’t earn enough to sustain full-time development.
Vision Mobile - Winning the App Lottery

Why bother?!

Firefox OS is different

I hate to break it to y’all but most #mobile users download zero apps per month. http://t.co/meZCvKB22q pic.twitter.com/qt99ZRJEx9

— Joshua Kaufman (@jmk) 2014. augusztus 26.

Smartphone users download zero apps per month

On Firefox OS there are

• No walled gardens for Open WebApps
• You bought it - you have it. Forever.
• And on every device (that supports Open WebApps)
• Firefox OS is young! Be there early!
• Familiar: It's just the web. 

Paid Apps

This is the INTERNET

• Bring your own solution!
• Subscription or one time payment?
• Use the services the web could offer!
• PayPal checkout? Stripe payments? No problem!
• You could use the Firefox Marketplace
• ...or build your own marketplace entirely!

Bring your own solution

• Integrate WebPayments into your site/app
• Verify receipts in a few lines of code: 

(function() {
    installPrompt = mozmarket.receipts.Prompter({
        storeURL: "https://marketplace-dev.allizom.org/en-US/app/private-yacht/",
        supportHTML: '<a href="mailto:kumar.mcmillan@gmail.com">email kumar.mcmillan@gmail.com</a>',
        verify: true,
        verifierOptions: {onlog: mozmarket.receipts.Verifier.consoleLogger}
    });
})();

Gotchas

• Securing your app's code might be a challenge.
• Itt will be hard to get paying customers in some areas.

Freemium Apps

Free to use App
with paid bonus features

• In-app payments to the rescue!
• Use the fxpay library for added convenience:

// First, let's test with some fake products.
fxpay.configure({fakeProducts: true});
 
fxpay.getProducts(function(error, products) {
  if (error) {
    console.error(error);
  } else {
    products.forEach(function(product) {
      addBuyButtonForProduct(product);
    });
  }
});

// Restore product on app initialization
fxpay.init({
  onerror: function(error) {
    console.error('init error:', error);
  },
  onrestore: function(error, product) {
    if (error) {
      console.error('onrestore error:', error);
    } else {
      console.log(product.name + ' restored');
    }
  }
});

Gotchas

• Even harder to secure your bonus features
• More attack vectors, Apple should know this
• Privileged apps only, experimental

Ad-supported Apps

Embedded ads

• Keep your app/content free, and still earn a few bucks
• This is just the web - all techniques should work all right
• Create a text ad - in 2 minutes

Gotchas

• Restrictions on embedding (CSP, privileged apps communication etc.) might give you a headache
• Privacy compromise - depending on the ad library you use.
• Requires data connection on the end user's device!
• You will inconvenience (and/or annoy) your users:
  20M daily users of AdBlock+ only on Firefox Desktop

Donations!

If you like it – support it!

Users tend to support
awesome software they like.

• Step 1: Create awesome software! (le Mostest Importantest!)
• Step 2: Embed a donate button (PayPal?)
• Social micropayments? (Flattr?)
• Gather community support! (Indiegogo?)

Gotchas

• Difficulty Level: rock & roll
  (shouldn't expect to make a living out of this)

Firefox Marketplace

Sell your apps to
the local community!

• No hassles, easy to use
• Carrier billing!
• Even very low price points (<$1)
• 70/30 split: 70% (after taxes) is yours
• Terms & conditions vary by region!