Charlie ChapmanThe closer I get on this @darknoise subscription update the more terrified I am to release it. I feel like there’s so many little things I could get wrong that will bring down the fury of thousands of angry customers and it’s really hard to test (though I understand much easier now than it used to be)
Maximilian@charliemchapman are you using RevenueCat? I recently switched @TelevisionTime from paid to subscription. I left all existing features available for those who paid, and it seems to have worked well. Received a handful of negative reviews calling me greedy but otherwise I’m surprised how well it’s done given I don’t market it at all
@JediMax @TelevisionTime Yeah, that’s what I’m using. It really hasn’t been that bad, it’s more that I feel like there’s a lot of little gotchas I’m finding and I’m afraid of missing one of those and having thousands of angry who’ve already paid understandably getting mad at me all at once that I’m asking them for money again
Peter Johnson@charliemchapman @darknoise that’s understandable. Some will be unhappy a single payment is moving to subscription. Some won’t sign-up because it isn’t worth it for their own use. But imo there’s always a point of unsustainability with indie apps being paid upfront and giving unlimited free updates forever more. The challenge is having the bravery to do what’s best for the app, those who use it, and most of all you and your own well being. If some can’t understand that, that’s their problem.
@libraryvines @darknoise Yeah I think I’m at the point where I’ve accepted that and I’m fine with some number of angry people at the switch
The part that scares me is that I’ll mess something up and have a bug asking people who already paid up front to pay me again 😅 Testing these scenarios is kind of tricky
@charliemchapman @darknoise well all I can say is I hope previous purchasers get a discount 😛
@libraryvines @darknoise I’m grandfathering paid up front purchasers to Pro. The _possible_ exception being if I add any features in the future that have recurring costs for me I may gate those to sub only. But I’ll have to figure out that messaging when I get there
Brian Mueller@charliemchapman making any significant change to how people pay for your app is very scary and stressful, even if you do it right there will still be some jackasses. But you just have to try to ignore them as best you can.
@brianmueller I'm very ready to just be on the other side
thatvirtualboy@charliemchapman @darknoise you got this man!
Cameron McEfee@charliemchapman stay strong. When I took GuideGuide to subscriptions, I weathered angry emails for a few weeks, and then people got it out of their system and moved on. The people that stuck around are the good kind of customers, not the ones that are there because it’s cheap.
You’re going to be glad you did it.
Also, resist the urge to argue/defend. Have a stock response and maybe a blog post with validation you can link to, but going back and forth is just wasting your billable time.
@charliemchapman my user numbers dropped significantly, but my revenue increased significantly.
Free GuideGuide: millions of installs, zero revenue
One time purchase GuideGuide: ~10k customers, ok revenue
Subscriptions: ~1.5k customers with 10x the lifetime value of the one-time-purchase customers
@cameronmcefee that’s great advice! And yeah I’m curious what the new customer sizes will be going from paid up front to free with sub. Presumably the paying users will go down but the overall users will be way bigger?
@charliemchapman that’s the hope. You lose the impulse purchasers but keep the die-hards. Depending on how you price it, it might take a few months or years until “lifetime” value becomes apparent, but it’ll get there.
Jurgis Kirsakmens@charliemchapman Don’t force subscription to users who downloaded app before - just for new downloaders. It will save you lot of trouble.
Roman Lefebvre@charliemchapman this might be an idea you’re reluctant to do but I’d be keen to get YOU interviewed on your own podcast. Same format, different host (who you trust). Maybe some time after your switch to subscription? Just putting this out there 🙃
Andy Kent@charliemchapman @darknoise keep the faith. I remember the feeling of terror but we took the same path with Portal. We grandfathered existing customers and called them Portal Pioneers.
In the end we worried for nothing. The number of positive reviews and thank you emails for how we handled the grandfathering far outnumbered the negative reviews around the price change.
Sure we maybe could have earn’t a little extra by not grandfathering but the good will was so worth it.
@charliemchapman @darknoise something no one mentions but our biggest pain point is actually existing media articles that still reference the old pricing. 🤦♂️
@andykent oh yeah that’s a really interesting point 😬
@charliemchapman whoops, sorry, think I may have unintentionally added to the anxiety. Don’t sweat it, it’s not a big deal and largely outside of your control.
@andykent haha, no most all of my anxiety is rolled up in the fear of me messing up the part that is in my control and accidentally taking away features from people I don’t intend to 😅
@andykent oh man Portal Pioneers is great! Was literally trying to come up with a good name for grandfathered users night
@charliemchapman it worked out really well for us. We still get customer emails now from people self identifying as Portal Pioneers which I love. It’s also helpful that they are clearly differentiated from subscribers when it comes to potential future functionality.
Christoffer@charliemchapman as long as you keep existing features available for everyone you’ll be fine. Best of luck!
bardi@charliemchapman I get that, but you’re doing the right thing for both you _and_ fans of the app. So, whatever the pushback, no regrets.
Kevin Pennekamp@charliemchapman I would subscribe. I only use dark noise a few times a year… for the lullabies. But even then it’s worth it supporting the development.
JoshDB@charliemchapman Actual pricing will be a huge factor. I Iike Dark Noise a lot, but only use it a few times a year for travel. My use case makes it an easy purchase but borderline for subscription (and I’m typically generous with subscriptions). Not sure if my usage is typical.
You should ultimately make the decision that is sustainable for your business and I would never complain about it or be angry. Just thought I would share my perspective in case it was useful.
@JoshDB yeah I was thinking maybe the monthly option would be good for those use cases? Like if you’re traveling you could sub for a month and then immediately cancel like I usually do for Flighty?
Understand if that’s not worth the hassle when there’s a lot of other options on the App Store though
@charliemchapman Yeah, that could be a good compromise. Or maybe something like the day- or week-passes offered by apps like Guardian? Certainly interesting.
I assume you have good data on typical usage patterns and mine is probably atypical. And that’s actually irrelevant as long as you have enough users with the right usage patterns to justify subscriptions at a sufficient price. More users is not better if it’s not adding to your financial sustainability.