[mk89]

So much criticism.

People, have fun developing stuff for free or for little to no money while having to support a shitload of OS versions and possibly multi-device, multiple framework versions, bugs, people sinking your app on the App Store if you don't react or whatever.

3 dollars per month are nothing IF the app is useful. Email is literally the thing you use the most. Why 3 and not 1 or 5? Maybe 3 dollars are just enough to keep people who just criticize you out of your customer base, which is maybe more worth, considering that nobody installs an app with 1 or 2 stars.

[linsomniac]

That hits a little close to home. A couple months ago I built a tool to transfer my playlists from Spotify to YouTube Music, and I put it on github. Since then it's really taken off, I usually get a few stars a day, and I've put a bunch of work in both fixing issues that other people had and also just doing support for users having problems.

The thing that is funding the development of it at this point is my slow-burning rage at Spotify; the more people I can help get out of Spotify the more wrapped in wings of vengeance I feel.

[mk89]

Well, I personally am happy that you found what motivates the development of your app :)

However, some people still want to make that ugly thing called ... money... :)

When that's the case, you really need to do your best NOT to let your app sink on the App Store - when that happens, you can say goodbye to your income (be it passive or active), unless someone really gives it a try because there is no other solution, etc. etc.

[linsomniac]

I'm agreeing with you that there is so much effort that goes into software beyond just the code. Just going from "something I can use" to "something everyone can use" has been a huge deal with my little Spotify-to-YTMusic app. I wrote it in an evening and transferred all my music. Since then I've probably put in 30 hours refining it, fixing it for other use cases, and supporting people trying to use it.

I am, thankfully, in a position where I can do that in my spare time.

[Avamander]

If someone gives me an email client that can handle gigabytes of email with a breeze and provide near instant full text search, I'd dish out $3/mo almost instantly. The current state of most email clients is sad to say the least.

[malshe]

And if paid annually it's just $25.