One of the biggest challenges indie developers face is how to break away from the race to the bottom when its comes to the pricing of apps. Free and freemium apps seem to have won out and changed consumers expectations of what they should or should not have to pay for. And when new alternatives are suggested, or attempted, I am always fascinated to see what they might offer to developers. Two of these in particular, patronage, and crowd funding seemed like they could have offered some help. But both seem to have offered little to indie mobile developer, and have several key flaws holding them back.

By examining and understanding the flaws of these two models it then becomes possible to see how a hybrid between the two could potentially create a new revenue model for app developers. It is this hybrid model that I want to lay out and send into the ether of the internet. Hopefully it will further discussions already under way and spark some peoples imaginations on what new, alternative, revenue models may exist for indie developers. Read More