With millions of apps out there for iOS, Android, and Windows, it can be hard for a smaller developer to figure out what to do next to make that increasingly difficult living. That’s where AppStretch comes in, offering to help them identify, fund, and promote the best new app features.
Essentially, AppStretch is intended to help developers determine for which features their best fans would be willing the shell out the most cash. For example, a new feature might be worth $.99 to a thousand fans, generating less than $1,000 in new revenue. Another feature might be worth $9.99 to two hundred fans, generating almost $2,000. Clearly, if time is an issue, then the developer would want to develop the second feature first.
That’s where AppStretch comes in. The system will allow developers to crowdsource feature ideas from fans, enable crowdfunding, and then promote the new features the most effectively via social support “currency.”
As AdDuplex puts it:
AppStretch is for existing apps and proven developers. We don’t want to be another place where wannabe entrepreneurs try to raise money for random ideas they can’t implement. What we want to do is enable you – great indie developer – to dedicate your precious time to development of the features your users really want and lift the everyday financial worries off your shoulders by helping you fund the development upfront.
We will be starting with apps published in iOS or Mac App Store, Google Play or Windows Store. Later on we may expand to other app stores, web and standalone apps.
It’s good to see the company focusing on the Windows Store along with Apple’s App Store and Google Play. While this new system might seem a bit esoteric to WinBeta readers (other than our developer audience, of course), it’s quite germane: the more money that developers can make from their apps, the more they’re likely to push their apps to platforms like Windows 10 Mobile. That’s good for all of us.
AppStretch is a bit behind schedule, apparently, but a Q1 2016 launch still seems possible. You can sign up here for early access, and keep your eyes open for more news as it’s available.
