Millions of apps already live in the Apple App Store and Google Play store, and thousands more are launched every month. A study conducted last year by App Annie found that when people are on their phones, they are spending the majority of their time on apps. We have a passion for apps and love seeing the joy our apps bring to people. Apps are becoming more and more valuable to consumers, which is also making the market harder and harder to penetrate. Offering a free app is one of the most effective models, especially if your plan is to attract a lot of users. The goal is not to make money directly from the app, but instead to drive people to other revenue streams. Companies also create free apps to facilitate customer service and to aid customer retention efforts. Banking apps, for example, make it easier and more convenient for clients to manage their finances on the go. On these apps, customers can often receive or activate additional offers, such as a free overdraft or credit limit increase. Those services ultimately make money for the bank, even if the app itself has no price tag. With a free app, you can usually gain users quickly. Users downloading a free app typically expect to deal with ads, but they still want the ads to be relevant to them and to the app. Making sure the ads in your app are interesting and non-disruptive is a good way to keep users happy.
Google AdMob is one such service offered to both Android and iOS developers that allows you to filter your app’s ads by user relevance and ad format. Customization and monitoring are key to not irritating your users and driving them to bail on the app.
There are three main types of freemium apps:
1. Paid: Once users pay, they own the app and all its features. It cost $3.99 at the time of writing this post but was still #19 in the Word category of the Apple App Store and had a 4.5/5-star rating. Paid is a common app pricing strategy, but it is also one of the least effective. A potential consumer will want to know exactly what they are getting by downloading and using your app, and what makes it better than a free equivalent. One approach many brands take to position their app with potential long-term users is to offer a 7-day or 14-day free trial, at the end of which users must pay to continue using the app. Allowing people to try out the app with no pressure or commitment to purchase is a great way to encourage users to dip their toes in the water and see what you’re all about. Users will also have much higher expectations for your app than for a free app. If you manage to attract a user, they will likely be a loyal one.
2. Paymium: The user pays for the app, but there are additional features that can be accessed for an additional cost. Ellen Degeneres’ popular party game Heads Up is one paymium app that successfully draws people in. As of May 2, it is #1 on the iOS top paid apps list. You must showcase the benefits not only of getting the app to begin with, but also paying for additional tiers and features. Games that people are familiar with, such as Mindcraft, The Game of Life and NBA 2K18, do great with a paymium strategy. This is one of the least common strategies but does have the potential to provide great revenue streams for your business. It is recommended you are clear with users upfront to avoid causing frustration. Like freemium apps, paymium apps require continual involvement from the development team to stay relevant, up-to-date, and engaging to entice users to come back and make additional purchases.
3. Subscription: One last pricing strategy to consider is a subscription-based model. Users pay a monthly or annual fee to continue using your app. Some app categories using this strategy are newspaper apps, dating apps and music streaming apps like Apple Music. Apple, for one, is fully on board with subscriptions, even offering an incentive to companies who pursue that pricing model.

Clearly, there is an opportunity to make way more money using this strategy than any other. You are always making money, even if you are not consistently gaining more users. A subscription is also somewhat of a softer approach than asking for direct payment, as it makes the user feel like they are paying only if they continue to find value in the app. Those who choose to subscribe to your app show commitment to your product.
Think about apps as you would any other product. You must play for the market. The way apps differ from other products is that the sheer market saturation causes a noticeably short shelf life. You really need to work to keep your users engaged and coming back for more. Potential customers could be turned off by what they perceive to be a shocking cost, or they might delete an app they have downloaded after receiving too many pop-ups or simply not getting their money's worth. If you choose to assign a cost to your app, know that user expectations will be higher. Users want any app they purchase to provide exceptional quality, even if it is only $3.99. If you have a free app, think about how many users you expect to gain.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath