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Apps are the new black, or so it would seem if you are to believe people in the industry. It's the bread and butter of thousands and thousands of people all over the world since 2008, all focused on writing apps for our mobile devices. Compared to the software economy that was before it, they are fighting a whole different fight though.

It used to be all about fighting off the pirates and the competition, the other guys who made something similar to your product.

Pirates just took your wares and distributed them online without you seeing a rotten lingonberry for your effort. Most of the time your product would be defiled with credits for the crackers and spreaders, specially if you employed some nifty little countermeasure for their piracy. In the case of the competition, it was all about who figured out something awesome, implemented it and shipped it fastest. Sometimes the competition also nabbed your stuff, but that was more about your ideas and concepts, rather than the whole kit and caboodle.

Nowadays, it's a different game to play.

The pirates are still very much there, taking other people's work and distributing it for download outside of the established spheres, like the App Store and Google Play. Make something that gets even a little bit recognized, and you can bet your jeans on that it'll be in pirate sights before long. No real change, in that aspect.

The competition is even more vicious than before, and you really need to be on the top of your game if you want to make any money. If it was a fast game before, it's at least ten times worse now. Bet on the next guy having something awesome cooking and get going on your own stuff as fast as you can.

One third troublesome group has appeared, and that's the customers themselves. I can't imagine it's easy to be a developer when most of the people apparently feel that all app prices are too high, or in some cases almost all the customers don't want to pay anything at all. Some take the turn down app piracy avenue, while others just wait for the app to drop in price. It's no coincidence that there are a myriad of different services and apps out there, just for notifying you of when an app drops in price!

I often fall into the trap of not wanting to pay for apps, but I try to remind myself as often as I can that there is a lot of effort behind even a relatively simple app. If it looks like it'll be useful to you, it's more than probably worth those measly few cents, pennies or öre it costs.

How long the App Store economy can keep going is anyone's guess, but since at least a few people are making money, there'll always be new people having a go at it. The Klondike Gold Rush does come to mind.

Robert Falck

Robert is a freelance tech writer from Sweden. You can follow his posts here on the British Tech Network, listen to him yap away on the British Tech iOS Show and read even more of his stuff on his site streakmachine.com or you can even follow him on twitter @streakmachine. (But you won't find him on Facebook!)

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Robert Falck

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