What I’ve Learned About Android App Development and Revenue

While my app downloads and sales are doing very well now, I started out in a boat that many Android developers probably find themselves in: perpetual development. I had been working on my big idea for months, but I wasn’t ready to launch it yet. What did I do to enter the market? I started a second application. Three days later, I had an app on the market, and I was amazed at the number of downloads. A few things I’ve learned along the way:

• Getting to market quickly is good
• Google’s Developer Console has some great tools you should use.
• You need to have your apps in the right app markets to maximize your exposure.
• People are willing to pay for apps.
• Have multiple streams of income, instead of waiting for a single provider.

Why do I suggest getting to the market early? No, it’s not to “beat the competition.” There might be a dozen apps out there that do something similar to yours, but you can still make a good space for yourself. I suggest getting to market quickly because having a real app visible to the world can be a great motivator to keep going. Launching my first app helped me get going.

The Google Developer Console tools can be a great help in deciding what to do next. I didn’t know that the version of my app made specifically for Android 1.5 was actually mostly used on Android 2.x devices. Hmm, maybe Android 1.5 isn’t worth as much effort as I thought. Also, I ran into several weird bugs due to crash reports in the Developer Console.

At first my app was only in the main Android Market. I didn’t realize how much exposure I was missing out on until I started looking at other Android app markets. I branched out and now about half of my income comes from sources outside of the main Android Market. Some app stores generated a lot of downloads and revenue, and others were a complete waste of time. However, the valuable ones have really paid off.

I found that people are really willing to pay money for a premium app. I waited just two weeks after launching my free app to get a paid version and immediately saw sales. I think even having an ad-free version would generate a fair amount of sales.

As a bonus, I was paid from paid app sales long before my first ad revenue payment. For that reason, I recommend having multiple sources of income. All ad providers take a while to pay out, but some take longer than others. I like Admob and MobFox for quick income. By having both paid app sales and more than one ad provider, you can help create a more regular revenue stream.

How is advertising time shared between two different providers? MobFox has a feature called eCPMControl that ensures that if they don’t have high-paying ads, the ad traffic is directed to Admob (via their other feature, “replenishment”).

What would you do if you started over? I would launch my first app sooner. I would set my ads up front to go to MobFox, using its padding feature to send unfilled ad requests to Admob. After that, I would do things the way I did, creating a premium, ad-free version and releasing it to several different Android app markets.

So sit back and enjoy earning income from your Android apps!