sales@essence-computing.co.uk

Apps & Advice

   

APPS

I have sold over One Hundred and Forty thousand Apps.  That's sold not downloads.


People have paid for my Apps!


To put my sales into context that is easily in the top 1% of developers and probably the top 1% of that. 


There are tens of thousands of companies and developers out there but very few can say they've sold that many Apps.


I have helped other companies develop their Apps from initial stages through to App Store submission and acceptance.

 

 

ANALYSIS

Struggling to decide what to do? Stuck on a problem with your code, design, testing or even requirements?


I have many years of experience of all facets of programming, design, testing and requirements analysis.

 

Examples of my Apps

 

Some examples to back up my claims above.

 

All information from the UK App Store and was correct on the 3rd September 2017.


Example 1

 

My best selling App (written many years ago and still selling) is the Depth of Field Calculator App.

 

Keywords for the App Store: Depth of Field

 

Results: My App - Depth of Field Calculator is number 2 behind SetMyCamera which is free (with some very expensive In App purchases). 

 

Update: I decide to check the US App store and Depth of Field Calculator is 4th in that store.

 

My App also has In App purchases notably Exposure Calculator,  EXIF Manager and Depth of Field Variants.

 

Type in Exposure Calculator into the App Store and you will find one of my other Apps - Exposure Calculator.  This App  appears on the first page of App Store results.

 

Exposure Calculator is a stand-alone App by itself but it can also be purchased as an In App from Depth of Field and vice versa - exposure has an option to purchase depth of field.

 

So a user may find one of my Apps and then discover the others via In App purchases. 

 

This cross selling of Apps via In Apps increases my sales significantly.  The EXIF Manager is also a stand alone App but just does not get many direct purchases. However it gets better purchases via In App purchasing in both Focal and Exposure.

 

Overall, EXIF Manager has been sold as an In App 2.5 times more than it has been downloaded as an App.

 

Example 2

 

One of my other top selling Apps is Alcohol Units Calculator.

 

Keywords for the App Store: alcohol units

 

Results: My App - Alcohol Units Calcultor is second! (was first last year)  Just behind the FREE heavy backed App by the DrinkAware Trust. 

 

The DrinkAware trust people advertise on TV.

 

I've got a 5 star review from someone who has swapped from the Free Drinkaware App to mine.

 

Other people have commented both in emails and in reviews that my App is better because it just shows you the numbers and does not preach to you.

 

Update: I decide to check the US App store and Alcohol Units Calculator is 1st in that store.  Yes, still first!  First in 2016 and still first in 2017.

 

Alcohol Units is my first App with an iWatch extension to allow you to input a new drink without using you phone.  The Watch allows you to quickly and easily add a new drink for the day.

 

There is no App with an Apple Watch extension for this type of App. 

 

Hard to believe but my sales go up during the Christmas period as people start wanting to track how much they are drinking and also want an App to resolve disputes about how many units there really are in a drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DESIGN

Let me help you with your design problems.  Too many people have read the design books, read all manner of blog posts and other people's code and think they've found the magic formula that will make things just work.  Sadly, they are rarely right.


Over the years I have honed my design skills to focus on what works not what looks and sounds sexy and up to date. 


Many of these new techniques have never been used in anger on a complex system.  Consequently, when used in the real world system they do not work.


I can guide you towards what I believe is the correct way to design Apps so they are easier to code, maintain and test.

 

 

 

SERVICES

REQUIREMENTS

Get the requirements document wrong for your project and it is doomed from the start.  Let us help you craft a document that is easy to understand and less prone to misleading assumptions.


Whatever anyone says about requirements and whether a good definition is needed to design and code an App if you do not know what you are aiming for except in the vaguest of terms then you are doomed to design, code, test, design, code, test ad infinitum.

DESIGN

The initial design of a product is essential.  Without it you may have a perfectly workable system that then needs major reworking because it cannot now accomodate requirements that were not initially considered.


If you do not do the initial design work to assess the feasibility of the product then you may miss that one killer problem that would have halted the product if you had known about it. 

PROGRAMMING

I have many years of programming experience. 


I also have many years of debugging experience.  I excel in debugger other people's work to make it work.

TESTING

Tesing is hard but essential.  Without testing App do not perform as they should.


Most App stores now do some testing before your App is released to the general public. 


Without some testing you are very likely to fail even the basic checks that all do.