Making money from smartphone apps?

Discussion in Mobile Apps & Games started by Scottie • Apr 14, 2014.

  1. Scottie

    ScottieMember

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    Can I make a living from making smartphone apps?? lets pretend Im a pro at coding and I maybe have at least 2 more friends who are pros at coding...we can make a really useful app even with its own website and everything, let it be free with ads and pay for the ad free version but both have all the features...how good of an app (or maybe more than one app) does it have to be so I (or we) can make some decent money off of it
     
  2. That'sDevo

    That'sDevoActive Member

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    I have heard of people making money off of swagbucks using the iphone app. You would have to google that though, I wouldn't know how to but people seem to be doing well.
     
  3. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    Yes, you could make money off it.

    The key, though, is to have lots of them so that you can hopefully get one of them to get pushed to a 'top 10' list. It's really useful if you have a lot of connections that would vouch for you, too.

    You could have an amazing app, but never make any money off it if you can't get enough people to use it, ya know?
     
  4. Eagle910

    Eagle910Active Member

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    Perktv is the best app to make money on.

    Especially if you have an extra phone, and an unlimited internet plan. If you leave the phone running all day you can make $1 dollar. I know that does not seem like, but it adds up quick. Especially when you do not have to do anything but turn the phone on, and let it run. It is easy, and free money. I recommend it to everyone.
     
  5. jewel777

    jewel777Active Member

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    Scottie.
    Yes, you can make money making apps, but it's a lot of hard work. A few years ago, my son created a free game app. It immediately shot up to the #2 rank, and he made a lot of money on it. Chalk it up to beginner's luck maybe, as the next few apps he came up with were not as successful, and he ended up throwing in the towel. A lot of it has to do with being able to stick to it. But all in all, I would say that if you have the right connections, are willing to work hard at it, and be persevering, then go for it.
     
    #5Apr 16, 2014
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2014
  6. lindbergh

    lindberghWell-Known Member

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    OP was stating about making your own mobile app and probably sell it or put some ads on it to make money. I think he was not asking for apps that are made by others that you need to download and do something in order to get paid.

    Anyway, making smartphone apps could be very lucrative. Look at the infamous Flappy Bird? The game was making thousands of dollars via ad revenue alone. And that's a game that's pretty mediocre!
     
  7. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    Jessi is correct. You can make money from selling apps, but you need to make a lot of them. It rare that you'll get millions from a company that wants to buy your app. Promotion is key to getting people to try and download your app. If you make a useful app, perhaps people will even pay a small fee to buy the app.
     
  8. isabbbela

    isabbbelaWell-Known Member

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    If you create an app and it becomes a success you can make a whole lot of money from it. One of my good friends created a pretty cool app to notify the government traffic departments of any problems in the streets (like wholes on the streets, stoplights that are not working, etc.) and he has invested a lot on it, and also has support from the government for the app. However he hadn't made one single dime for it yet. So yes, you can make a lot of money with apps, but it's not as easy as people say and you don't get downloads as easily..... remember there are a lot of apps out there (a lot!) and only a handful actually work out and become successful.
     
  9. nwitt

    nwittActive Member

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    You could also come up with a great idea and hire someone else to create the app. If it's really amazing and lots of people buy it or are interested in it, it could be a big success and bring you money.
     
  10. AB91000

    AB91000Active Member

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    I would suggest you copy other apps.

    I would suggest that you make a general interest type app. Like an app that views Downloads YouTube videos. Something that everyone will be interested. So, you will get a lot of users. Once you get a large number of users, put ads in the app.

    So that every 20 minutes they have to view an ad in order to continue using the app. You will collect a lot of revenue from that, if you have a lot users, on your app. The possibilities are endless, look at flappy bird.
     
  11. Nickchick

    NickchickWell-Known Member

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    I had seen on a video from Virool that you can hire people and you can pay them a cut of your profits instead of paying them outright. I wish I could remember what the name of the video is because I don't remember what website they said you could do that at. I really wanted to try this.
     
  12. HeinrichM

    HeinrichMNew Member

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    You can read

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    on mashable.com about creating an app that sells. You can make money but the key is to make one that a lot of people will want to use. Aggressive marketing is also very important.
     
  13. teabwoi

    teabwoiActive Member

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    Yeah actually there are lots of people who have made millions from making smartphone apps, but it is a lot of hard work. With that hard work you have to remember the extensive planning. You have to make sure that you plan you app out completely because if you fail to do this your app could really suck. Your app just has to be useful to the people who would get it and once it is with some good marketing and again hard work you could really make a lot of money.
     
  14. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    Yes, it's definitely possible and worth a shot, and that's why there's so many people who are doing it. I personally think it's better to be creative with how you intend to make money, though, since no one is really assured a wide audience especially when there's so much competition. If you are able to give something really addictive and worth buying, then you surely will be successful with your app. It may take a long time for you to get attention, so it's best to be prepared for that as well and to try your best to make a good first impression with the public.
     
  15. deathbyprayer

    deathbyprayerActive Member

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    Well you've seen how Flappy Bird dominated the market right? Yes you can! But it depends on what app you're going to make, if you're going to make an app that does whatever the 9 million other apps does, then you won't make any money out of it that quickly. Try to make a game. Games nowadays are big in the market, it will get you pumping cash quickly, granted that the game is great.
     
  16. oldwriter

    oldwriterMember

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    A good option is to make apps with referrals to other known pages. Things like product searches on sites such Amazon that give you a commission when your visitors buy there.

    To receive direct benefit from your paid application sales you must have a "killer idea" and have a good level of programming as the main requirement. This should be the last step in your strategy after you are accomplished with free apps.
     
  17. deansaliba

    deansalibaActive Member

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    It is feasible, I have friends who make money from apps, but they spend a lot of time on them. The trick is to release apps that will be popular, rerease a free and paid version and release it for as many operating systems as you can (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, etc). Why do you think so many developers jumped on board the Flappy Bird train when the original developer pulled the plug on his version? :)
     
  18. richc3

    richc3Active Member

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    I use Perk TV as well and simply load it on an old phone that would otherwise be collecting dust. I wouldn't use it on a high end phone or anything with value as you need to run videos and ads 24/7.
    In any case, with 1 device I'd say you get $5 roughly every 5 days or so if you leave it on constantly. That $5 can be a number of different gift card options, but I personally just get the Amazon gcs.
     
  19. Mayvin

    MayvinActive Member

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    There are some people use barcoding apps to scan barcodes to buy certain items low and sell high on Amazon and ebay. I was trying to do that but I couldn't get my smartphone to work right, may try it again in the future.
     
  20. IcyFirefly

    IcyFireflyActive Member

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    I have read about TV Perk from many people, but I really don't want to keep running my phone 24/7. Over time, I might have to get another phone but won't make much to cover half the cost of a new phone.