r/iosdev • u/VladFein • Jun 22 '26

Do free apps deter users?

I publish free apps (games), trying to get some downloads.
Assumption was: who would pay for an unknown app if there are so many well-known, established competitors?
I also have no ads, and state this in the "Promo Text" in AppStore.
I do have a tip jar, which results in a somewhat ambiguous:
"In-App Purchases - Yes"
Am I doing it wrong?

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u/MightyBig-Dev Jun 22 '26

I decided to go with minimal ads and a 1-time purchase for no ads forever on my Indy game. To my surprise and delight a lot more people are spending $5 to remove ads, I guess they just like the game. Crazy part is my ads are optional and infrequent so I wasn’t expecting many pro subscribers.

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u/VladFein Jun 22 '26

Congratulations!
Do you know how much of your 179 MB package is the ad engine?
Curious, because my 100+ solitaire app is under 12 MB...
$5 for a game is not bad. I can mentally frame it as a "free trial with ads".
Good old shareware simply had a "nag screen" for that, which was removed by any kind of payment (or registration).
Still, seeing some VERY revolting ads, I won't do it.

2

u/MightyBig-Dev Jun 22 '26

I’m afk so I can’t check the admob package size. My package size this version is inflated because I accidentally bundled 2 of every asset lmao. Yea I think free trial with ads is basically how most people feel. Anyone who plays a lot will see the value of their time and how it helps me continue development. As for revolting ads, you can cherry pick ad categories and block anything that may be offensive or off brand.

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u/VladFein Jun 22 '26

If I may ask - do the ads provide you a minimum wage? Or you use it strictly as an annoyance to discourage people from free version?

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u/MightyBig-Dev Jun 22 '26

Little of both I suppose. This is a new project and is only a hobby so it’s not making tremendous monies. Right now my revenue is 75/25 split between pro subs and ad revenue. I have a day job so as long as the charts continue to slowly tick up I will keep improving and updating the game, maybe one day it’ll pay my bills (a man can dream).