[ananddass]

Curious as to why would engagement and retention be low? As regard's pay per download models...looks like "Attach" business model's are becoming more popular.

"Attach" means charging for something outside of the app store. Dropbox, Uber, Square all do it. I remember seeing a Chris Dixon post about this on HN a few months ago.

[mturmon]

I have several of the pay-for-use productivity apps mentioned, and my experience was like the parent comment said. Initially got the app to fix a problem (content creation/editing is difficult on an all-touch device). But just fooled around a little and never really got engaged. I still do that stuff on my laptop.

My take-away was that I wanted precise pointing and a keyboard and a big screen for those tasks, because I'm fussy about the results.

But like a lot of the HN audience, I'm not very typical, so my experience may mean little ;-).

Regarding payment model, payment wasn't the issue. It was functionality.

[orky56]

Every experience means a lot! People seem to be very purchase-friendly when it comes to mobile these days even though from a productivity standpoint, most work is still done on laptops/desktops. You need that larger screen, tactile input, etc., in order to complete complex tasks that involve switching among various tasks that require more than swipes and taps.

[mturmon]

Yep, I thought it would be fun to use a touch-based app for drawing diagrams.

Turns out that to get the lines straight, group/ungroup objects, line everything up, choose fonts and colors, etc., etc., it takes a lot of input that is not particularly well-done using touch.