Here is the next in a follow-up series of posts from Ahmed Siddiqui, the developer of Go Go Mongo, who is compiling articles of interest from the MobileBeat 2011 conference in San Francisco. He started by highlighting an overview of industry trends for app developers discussed at the conference. In this post he specifically covers how subscriptions work in apps, and how kids games can leverage this feature.
Apple recently introduced a new method of accepting payments, which is called “Subscriptions”. This payment method debuted with “The Daily” iPad only magazine, and is slowly enabling more magazine publishers to publish out to the iPad without losing their core subscription revenue.
How Does a Subscription Work in iOS?
Before we dive in, lets take a look at how a subscription works in iOS. A subscription-based app is typically a free download from the App store, and could include an initial issue of a magazine or provide some limited content for free. Once you get to a certain point, you will be prompted to subscribe. This is essentially using the same in-app purchase model I described in my previous post about App Purchasing Options. However, it is just something that recurs. The developer can even set how often it recurs.
Implementing Subscriptions in Kids Apps/Games
We can extend the concept of subscriptions in traditional magazine apps, and discuss the implications of the subscription purchase method on kids games/apps. When I initially started thinking of this, I thought of the books Lynette Mattke makes with PicPocket Books. She has a wealth of content that she cross promotes in her own apps, but I think an interesting twist would be to offer her books through a “one book a month” type of delivery. I remember as a kid I would receive these cards from National Geographic in the mail once a month. I remember waiting anxiously for my monthly mail delivery of new cards! I think there is a lot of opportunity to build this kind of suspense here in our apps/games.
Creating Anticipation and Surprise in Kids Apps/Games
Aside from books, as an app developer you could even launch monthly content packs, meaning you provide additional content every month as a “surprise!” This could be as simple as adding in new objects into your game once a month, or even providing additional clothing items for your character (if you have a character).
I think there is a lot that we can learn from web-based models like Club Penguin or Webkins, where the kids that subscribe get special gifts every month, in addition to an in-game “allowance” which can be used to purchase virtual goods. This way, you can get away from the a-la-carte in-app purchase model, which can be controversial with parents. With subscriptions, parents know that they will be charged a set amount every month and their kids will get new content all the time. Furthermore, these updates can be handled through your own server/database, meaning you won’t have to submit your app to Apple each time you have an update.
I’d like to close this blog post by asking if you have downloaded any subscription based iPad magazines, and if so, which ones? What has your experience been like?
My next blog post will focus on Video ads in kids apps. Are they safe for our kids? What are the potential revenue opportunities for kids app developers through this new medium?
Hey Ahmed – thank you for contributing this series of posts to our community. As I was publishing it on the blog tonight, I realized that one of our original mwa members – Okenko Books – pursues the subscription model. So there is a possibility of someone to ask for insight on how the service was received: http://www.okenkobooks.com. –Lorraine | MWA.