| Didn't see this comment: We have an 18mo and a 4yo we read books and play games with on the iPad. The 4yo gets to play games or read books on his own as well. Any app that doesn't let us unlock everything to remove IAP or Ads gets uninstalled. For one I don't want my 4yo racking up $$$. But it's also frustrating for both of us when he clicks a button and gets taken out of his app and doesn't know what to do now. So for us at least it's not that "parents can't resist". It's that $13 or whatever isn't all that much to spend if our kids like it, and we don't want IAP buttons and/or Ads in front of our 4yo. Perceived "value" has almost nothing to do with it. Apple generally gives a 10% discount for buying a season pass. I'd be fine with that. A greater than 50% discount is surprising. A better model might be something like FarFaria, where we pay an iTunes subscription fee to unlock everything and get rid of the ads. So recurring revenue ($4/month). You might consider it. I don't claim we're super typical but I doubt we're all that special in regards to letting our children play with Adware either. |
There aren't many good apps for kids. If your app is good, I will actively search for other apps done by you — no prompting needed. This is how I purchased a number of Toca Boca apps, for example.
I also think most good apps for kids are priced too low. I'd have no problems paying $15 for an app like "Little Digits". In general, I think $5 is fine for apps which are just fun/games, $10 or more if the app teaches something useful.
I think smartphones and tablets have a lot of untapped potential as educational tools, but I'm worried we'll never get there with $1.99 apps.