Totally agree. I miss “WeatherBomb” but “bomb” wasn’t a cool word to be spouting around on the early 2000’s.
Maybe we keep “WeatherBomb” alive in the background.
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@ljay Hello and Welcome to the Forum and Thank You for Using Flowx
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I’ve been testing the different weather models lately and I’m finding DWD ICON Global 13km to be the most accurate for my area. NOAA HRRR 3km is more current but it’s no more accurate IMO.
But I’m not downgrading. This app is worth every penny of the Gold subscription price!
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Wouldn’t charging a la carte for data (instead of for features) solve that? And that:
On another note, I remember you mentioning somewhere else that raising the subscription fee actually increased your sales (not just your revenue). You attributed it to people perceiving the app to be of higher value. I wonder if, instead, it’s bc Google puts you higher in search results since they expect to make more money from you. You could probably game this, if you’d like to have increased sales from both a higher search ranking and lower price. You can either work with discount coupons or cashback services (I see VPNs do a lot of both). Both will help you get the word out about the app. You could also announce the discount codes here in the forum, if you’d like to reward this group of users focused on contributing with the app’s development. In either case, it’s an exercise in price discrimination (sounds bad, but it’s standard economic practice, in which enterprises try to cater to different market segments with different benefits at different points of the price curve).
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“a la carte” would be a nightmare to get right and maintain. I have to buy the data up front and what happens if I price it too low and don’t get enough buyers? I loose out. Do I carry those losses or increase the price the following year?
And maintaining and supporting multiple subscriptions would be a nightmare. You’ll notice I’ve removed bronze and I plan to remove silver.
I’m an engineer and I’m one person. I really have to prioritize my time so doing pricing stuff will again, take time to implement, maintain and support. I haven’t paid for any advertising for years. All money goes into the app and I like that.
I plan to market/grow through engineering. Build an good app that us useful to niche markets and I hope word-of-mouth which is the best form of marketing will grow the app.
The more I think about it, the more I think paid advertising is a weird concept. The cost of the app is the cost of building the app plus the cost of telling you about the app.
Anyway, it comes down to time and prioritization, and I would rather build things instead of spending my time (and your money) on marketing. I suspect most users would agree.
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I didn’t suggest paying for advertising, but, in a sense, you already do that, via search ranking, when Google and Apple clip your subscription fees.
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What I really meant by “I haven’t paid for any advertising for years” is that “I haven’t done any marketing for years”.
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Thank you for this detailed explanation
And thank you for your continuing commitment to the app.
I just went back and checked and it looks like August 1st 2014 was my first subscription (2.40 NZD), so I got in early
Whilst I also look for one time payments, where I can, your subscription cost is very reasonable and extremely good value for money.
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I guess you’ve been subscribing to dodgy products then.
I’ve cancelled many subscriptions and I’ve not had a problem
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@Duane, thanks for such a brilliant app! I had been searching for a long time to find an app to replace Windy after they ruined it with the new version and then kept pestering for the ridiculously priced “Premium”.
Stumbling on FlowX fulfilled my simple weather needs perfectly and once I learned how to configure and use it, I love it.
As an Android user since 2010, I have rarely bought apps and back then they were lifetime purchases. I was happy to stump up for the apps I paid for and the bulk of them I still use. Of course I’ve paid for a few apps that turned bad, got abandoned, or the developer wasn’t interested in solving massive problems, but that’s not much different to getting work done on the house in Australia.
Subscriptions make better business sense and after reading your early replies all I can say is hats off to you for keeping the subscription prices reasonable.
As an Australian user from what I can tell I would get no real benefits upgrading from the Free version, however I will subscribe to Silver to help along with your costs, development and feeding your family, all those are fair objectives!
I can’t believe how much the Au BOM charges for ACCESS modelling, considering how rubbish their own app became with their new version.
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@ElliotK Hello and Welcome to the Forum and Thank you for Using Flowx
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Just came back to this thread, and thought I might give it another go helping with the business side of things…
How does charging for features alleviate that relative to charging for data? In fact, charging for data makes it actually easier to manage the risk, since the basis is the same (data for data, instead of data for features). For instance:
All you need to do is forecast the number of subscribers per data source, divide the data subscription costs amongst them, and add your markup to cover your other costs and risks. You’re basically reselling their data with an interface. In a way, it’s no different to a restaurant, reselling food with ambience, service and good cooking. Restaurants too pay for ingredients upfront, and have to manage their demand risk.
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Are you suggesting to charge $20/yr + $x/yr per data source?
For example, if I forecast 1000 buyers for the UKMO data at $9000/year ($6000 + 30% cut for Google/Apple), that would mean $20/yr + $9/yr for UKMO.
What happens if I forecast wrong? e.g., only 500 buyers, I lose $3000/yr. I could double the price to $18/yr, but then I lose more buyers,… etc…
This approach is very risky if you get it wrong.
Doing this for all paid data sources would mean I’ll have multiple extra subscriptions which is not easy to manage, especially across multiple platforms.
Also I can imagine people emailing me saying, “I’m going to the UK for a holiday, can I buy the UKMO data for one month”. I already have people emailing me saying “I only want to use the X data source, can I pay a lower price?”
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@duane I’m a Bronze subscriber, I don’t recall what feature motivated me to subscribe, but I have no regret, none, zero. You’ve done a truely phenominal job of design and implementation making an app that presents a great range and quantity of data in a clear and intuitive way. This masteful data visualization.
After reading this post, I will upgrade to Gold. While it will be nice to have those extra features, for me, none of them are neccessary. But Flowx would be sorely missed if the service were to stop. Understanding the ongoing effort and expense, seeing your responsivness and the respect you have for everyone, has convinced me that Gold is the only way to go. Plus it will be nice to have those extra features. You might think about allowing subscribers to add either a one time or monthly extra “beer” bonus/appreciation to our subscription. Bandcamp (I think) does this. The artist can sets minimum price and allow the buyer to add extra
I do think subscriptions are overused and, in many cases, just a money grab. The worst are “free” trials that automatically convert to a paid subscription. The only way they make money is by taking advantage of curious users who decide not to subscribe but unintentionaly fail to cancel. Those who decide to subscribe will do so if it does not automatically convert.
Your token/trial idea is excellent. It will works for those who wish to try advanced features and those who have a short term need.
Thank you for your effort and passion.
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Thanks for the support @TJG .
I have thought about the other ways monetizing Flowx, including your suggestions but I have come to the realization that maintaining a lot of small things (subscriptions being one) outside the core function of a weather app like Flowx, takes time. As such I’ve decided to stick to the “Keep it super simple” mantra, especially given I’m only one person with limited time.
I agree that subscriptions are overused and abused. It makes sense in some cases, but not others.
Coincidentally, one thing I’ve been pondering recently is advertising. This too is overused and abused. When you buy a product, a big component of what you pay goes to advertising (and the CEO pay), i.e., when you buy a widget, you pay for the widget + advertising + excessive pays for executives who know how to squeeze more out of customers for their shareholders.
This is why I don’t think components of NOAA should be privatized. Currently, your tax money pays for weather models. Once privatized, your money will pay for weather models, advertising, executives, and shareholders dividends. Once one or two big companies own the market, they will drive up the price.
Anyway, I digress. I am thinking about marketing but not via paid advertising but through media (short videos) made by ourselves, and word-of-mouth drives.
Thanks again for the support. I’m hoping 2025 will bring good and exciting things for Flowx.
Cheers, Duane
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Ads make sense for free apps or tiers. If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. Where it is “too much” is the X factor. I have certainly deleted otherwise fine apps for having too many ads.
The downside is that it’s a negative feedback loop. A bonus is a positive loop.
Cheers!
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@TJG Hello and Welcome to the Forum and Thank you for Using Flowx
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I used to have ads prior to ~2015(??), they took up screen space. I decided against interstitial ads since they are annoying.
I just keep free features to a minimum which also reduces the need to support.
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