Now that TimeTune is approaching half a million downloads (yay!) it’s time to evaluate how things have evolved in the app monetization department and what can be improved about it. We’ll let you take a peek into our strategy and conversion numbers so you can better understand how things work on the inside.
We’ll show you as well some changes we’ve planned for the future which can improve the user experience while producing better results for us. Ready?
THE AD STRATEGY: HOW WELL DOES IT CONVERT?
As you may know, since we first published TimeTune on Google Play (October 2014) our app monetization model has been based on advertising. The free version of the app shows ads while the pro version doesn’t. And that’s the only difference between the two versions.
Our original idea was to divide the revenue into two different streams: revenue originated from users clicking on advertising and revenue originated from users buying the pro version. On paper the model was nice, as each user was a potential source of revenue. But how did this work in practice?
At this moment, the conversion rate from the free version to the pro version is around 2.5%. This is a bit low for a productivity app (a good rate would be a 4% or more), but it was expected. Why? Because users only pay to eliminate the advertising and no other benefits are included in the pro version. Therefore, many people stick with the free version.
The conversion rate shouldn’t matter too much if the global result (ad revenue + conversion to pro revenue) were right. Until mid-2015, the result was split 50/50 between the two revenues, and this was OK with us. But the user base was still too small to know for sure if this would remain untouched. Now, as downloads have increased and the user base has grown, we’ve discovered a very different truth: the ad revenue is just half of the conversion revenue. And the difference gets bigger as we speak.
This has a somewhat unsettling consequence: we’re annoying 97.5% of our user base with ads just to achieve half of the revenue the other 2.5% produce. This doesn’t feel right.
Are this numbers and this model viable in the long run? Only if we could achieve millions of active users. But we don’t know if this will be our case.
WE CAN DO BETTER: LESS ADS, MORE PRO
How can we improve the results while making the experience better for our users? The first step would be making a transition into a hybrid model. This means showing less ads on the free version and giving more value to the pro version by adding new features for pro users. This should increase the conversion rate to pro, making the overall revenue a bit better.
There’s another reason for going hybrid: some future features will have to be on the pro version necessarily. For example, one of the things we’re planning to add is cloud and device synchronization. But the cloud storage will not be free for us, so if we opened this option to all users we would have to close up shop immediately. Only big companies (with big money!) can afford this.
For the moment, we can’t get rid of all the ads all at once simply because we don’t have enough pro features in store. The best approach would be to progressively add new features to the pro version while decreasing the amount of advertising in the free version. But in the end…
WE CAN DO EVEN BETTER: NO ADS!
Let’s face it: nobody likes seeing ads in their apps. While some people don’t care, a lot of people do. If you are a developer and you are thinking about adding ads to your productivity app (games are a whole different world), here are some points to take into account:
- Ads can compensate revenue for a feature that otherwise would be in the pro version, but only if you have a huge user base.
- You don’t have much control over the ad revenue, and it doesn’t grow as much as your user base does.
- Some people will uninstall your app (and leave a bad review!) as soon as they see an ad.
- Ads will make the user experience distracting and annoying. Not good for a productivity app.
- Ads can make the app interface slower and poorer (loading times will increase and animations will stutter).
If we take a look at the big productivity players in the market (Evernote, Dropbox, Any.Do…) we’ll see that none of them use advertising (they may promote their products, but they don’t show banners or interstitials for external products). They just have a free version with many features and a pro version with extra features. This is our ultimate goal.
WAIT… WHAT ABOUT BEING FREE? AND WHAT ABOUT STUDENTS?
One of the reasons for including ads in TimeTune since the beginning was to offer all features for free so that students and people in general could enjoy the app in its maximum potential without spending any money. But as the app evolves and the model starts showing its weaknesses, transitioning into a hybrid model and ultimately into an ad-free model is a must.
But there’s no need to worry! Our goal is to do the same as the big players do: offer a free version so complete that will cover the needs of the vast majority of users and a pro version with extra features only pro users will need. We’re not planning on making a key feature only pro. The app should remain perfectly usable in its free form.
And of course we’re not going to take any of the current free features and make them pro (this would be a very bad bad move!). On the contrary, some initial pro features could be liberated to free if the model allows it.
How long will the transition take in our app? Will we finally achieve it? Only time will tell, as we don’t know the surprises we may find on the road. We’ll keep you posted about it, but if at any time you think we’re going the wrong direction you can tell us right away, our door is always open! 😉
What are your thoughts about app monetization? Do you think there are other alternatives? Let us know your opinion down below or tell us if you want to know more details about TimeTune. We’d like to help in all we can!
(Original illustration modified: ‘Earn money with internet’, designed by Freepik)
I definitely agree with your thoughts though I must say I never expected that ads can bring in so little revenue!
I’ve been a long time user of the app and although I paid for Pro pretty early on to remove the annoying ads and support an awesome developer I can definitely see how some users won’t be persuaded enough to upgrade simply with the promise of no ads.
I’d happily even pay a few pounds a month (if you were debating a subscription model) if enough standout features were added in (like Evernote or ToDoist have done over the past few years).
I’m very glad you’re not planning to take any features away from the free version like Pushbullet has recently done, as all it does is annoy the userbase.
I wish you the best of luck in the future and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us (iOS version! :P)
Thanks Bartek! The kind of ads that bring more revenue are interstitial (whole screen) ads, but they don’t really fit into productivity apps. Unfortunately (or not!) the idea of an exclusively ad-based productivity app is not achievable for us.
Subscription models are tempting, but they only work if the value the user gets in return is really high. As you point out, Evernote, Dropbox and others are good examples of that.
Hello, i am a student and i use this app to plan up my subject wise study. i must say this is an very good app for planning. the basic features this app got is very nice for personal usage and definitely there should be a pro version containing additional features like cloud storage, multiple device support etc. My only suggestions is please don’t remove the existing features to pro version as lot of other app have done that. another is subscription model i think is costly for those who are not that way pro user but want to use full functions. also if someone purchase pro version and additional features hit the play store then the user can be given an option to purchase the additional features or one can stick with current purchase and features. I am definitely gonna look forward for the new features.
Thanks Subhajit! We won’t take out any of the current free options.
I agree with what you’re planning for your income model. I would be cautious about implementing you’re own Xbox backup without some kind of subscription model. One time application payments occupant don’t support long term financial obligations of rolling you’re own solution. Maybe a good middle ground would be leveraging the Google Drive apis. Since it’s an android only app at this point, most people have access to it and you have no long term maintenance costs.
Thanks Shane! You made a really good point! 😉
Hi guys~! I’m wondering whether you’re thinking of making a web app for TimeTune someday! It’s honestly the best app I’ve ever used and would love to have both options. I definitely wouldn’t mind paying for a pro version if it included some kind of sync mechanic.
Hi! We’d like to add this feature in the future. For the moment, the Android version needs to grow a bit more and make the brand more well-known. Thanks for telling us! 😉
Hi, Thanks for sharing your next move with us. I mostly use time tune to schedule the task. I love this app so much.
Just want some features in Pro
– A calander feature for future or an event plan.
– Synchronization with Online servers with Max userdatabase like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox etc which is best as per you.
– Try to add a fake call feature. It helps to save time, when we got stuck with some people(Chatter Box).
Use this feature to make a fake call to user no. followed by the read out loud the task when call get connected.
For this ask to make an account.
Due to this you will get two things database and save people from wasting time.
For free version
– Add a simple feature of sending the whole day activity via E-mail. As i am a student.
It would help me a lot to share my study plan with my friends.
Thanks
Sachin Sharma (New Delhi, India)
Email:
sharma_sachin1989@yahoo.com
Thanks for your suggestions, Sachin! Remember you can already share routines by email using the share icon on the upper right corner of each routine 😉
I FINALLY FOUND THE EXACT APP I WAS LOOKING FOR and developers that totally get monetization, to boot.
You guys are 100% right on all those points.
Oh, and please don’t ever do subscription. If you do, at least give people like me who hate that model some type of annual option because as nice a way as that is to fund continued development, I immediately start looking elsewhere if I’m reminded every month or cluttering up my budget with micro transactions.
I’ve had TimeTune for about a month and use it daily. I was planning on sticking with the free version, but after reading through the blog posts, I’ll be buying a GooglePlay card today and upgrading to Pro. Being able to see where the team is headed have convinced me this is worth sticking out and supporting. I’ve tried so many apps that kept users out of the loop or didn’t think things through and after paying for Pro, the project went dead. I don’t think that’s going to happen here. As far as monetization goes, I think you guys are absolutely on the right track. Some thoughts:
– Even once you’re big, please don’t start a subscription. A one time purchase is very reasonable, especially with lots of additional features and such a solid product, but paying each month would be a real stretch for those of us on tight budgets. A yearly subscription would, personally, also turn me away.
– I love the future plans for integration with social media and larger platforms. I live off of Google calendars thanks to college and a small company I’m involved with, so any additional features in this arena are most welcome. Thank you for aiming for it! Maybe that could be part of the free version too though?
– Being able to use and sync the app with a desktop or online site would be fantastic. Sometimes it’s easier, but also as a means of backing up data. Especially for those of us guilty of losing our phones. That alone tempts me to Pro.
– It’s a bit superficial, but additional customization really lures me in and helps convince me to pay for a product. I can get pretty bored with things, so being able to change the look of something I use can make it feel fresh and new. I think others might agree, so maybe the Pro version could have more in this line.
Thanks for all the great work and sorry this was long. 🙂
Thanks a lot for the support and the suggestions! Stay tuned, more improvements are already in the works 😉
I agree with you guys. And please don’t do the monthly subscription, and annual subscription would be ok (and via Google play, because I have no credit card).
I was just thinking about a small feature that let you drag the activities to change their position, instead of setting the hours everytime.
Like maybe you want to put your activity 5 on top of the 1st one and you don’t want to set the hour for every activity again.
I will get the pro version to support you, keep the good work.
Thanks for the support and the suggestion, Luis! 😉
Hi, I love your app so here’s my views…
So many productivity apps are plain white, which is so dull, one big plus for me is the color scheme, orange and grey rocks!
I would wish that the free version has no ads but more limited features than the paid version. For example another productivity app that has a bland white interface offers mainly google calendar sync with their paid app.
Sometimes I read that customers buy the paid version simply because they want to support the devs, therefore keeping the paid version price reasonable will enable this to happen more.
I also love the idea of your tags and tag icons, very useful. Could we please have more varied and crazy icons, and all letters and numbers (maybe two or three letters in the circle, so enabling shorthand like ‘Ta’ or ‘Bp’ or ‘Coo’ for example).
Um, can’t think of anything else right now xx
Thanks for the suggestions! We are going in that direction, stay tuned for future versions 😉
Hi, I love your app and I agree with your model of not making existing free features into pro features. One thing you can add to Pro to entice people is to make the routines show up on Google Calendar. Also, I wish there was a way to track my performance of my routines (like a yes/no completion chart).
Thanks for your suggestions, Jared! Both are on our list for consideration 😉
I know this is an old blog post now, but I do have a suggestion about user engagement & payments and apologise for the length of my comment! My suggestion sn’t directly linked to asking users for payment, but more akin to hanging something irresistible or enticing just out of reach.
As far as developers engaging with and listening to their user base goes, I think you guys do quite well and would definitely score on the higher side. However, one thing that has previously prompted me to purchase a license or pro unlock key is when developers actively share their roadmap or plans for upcoming releases or features under development.
I’m not sure that too many developers understand just how much their user base appreciates being kept in the loop. It is certainly a compliment to you that users comments are acknowledged and thanked, so I can see that you realise the importance of and appreciate your users. But, some of the more general replies encouraging users to “stay tuned for new features”, or that you are “working in that direction” could, in my personal opinion, be improved upon.
This could be achieved quite simply by replying with something along the lines of “you can see all of the awesome features & improvements we are planning or considering for the free and pro versions of our app here”. I believe this is a much better way of encouraging both new & existing users to stick with the app, or motivate them to buy in, even in advance of these features being released.
Just my 2c anyway – I understand the need to keep some elements of development under wraps, but as a customer, I have been disappointed too many times in the past to pay much heed to vague promises of planned features. In my experience, developers seem to implement new features much more frequently when some effort has gone into creating and maintaining a roadmap. This communicates to current and potential customers that a particular app or service is worth paying for, as it strongly indicates that the developers are actively working on ways to improve or add value to their product.
Just want to post some ideas for pro version,
-Have two routines able to run simultaneously for busy moms or business networking etc
-Calender integration where a user can press a check and that particular item synchronizes with calender
-special notifications or reminders where the task title would be spoken or a funny reminder for pro users only
Hi Elizabeth. Two of your ideas are already implemented in the free version:
– You can already run multiple routines at the same time.
– You can already select ‘Play message’ in notifications or ‘Play reminder’ in reminders to use Google’s text-to-speech feature.
We take note of the suggestion about the calendar. Thanks!
Please consider a Pro benefit being a desktop client 🙂
Why not offer 3 versions of time tune.
Free version
Version with no ads. $1
Pro Version with no ads $3
I have setup a variety of single day routines with descriptive titles and import those days into a week. Having that title show up in Google as an event would be a huge and achievable accomplishment.
Hi John. As of version 2.0, all ads have been removed from the app, so making these versions is not an option anymore. But we take note of the other suggestion though. Thanks!
Already bought pro version with Gpay and got my receipt but still stuck at the normal version. Like tf man I already paid n I even have the receipt. Pls how do I geg the pro version.
Hi, please click on ‘Settings / Advanced / Send technical report’ and mention the issue there. We’ll solve the problem. Thanks!