#1 iPad vs #1 iPhone: the numbers

Within the space of almost exactly two months, we (Headlight Software, Inc.) managed to get both the #1 iPhone free game, and the #1 iPad free game--with very different games. And by some amazing luck, we're the #1 game on a very big day: the iPad 3G Launch day.

Knife Dancing

The iPhone game was a fun gimmick sort, "Knife Dancing". That scene from Aliens with the Knife? It's an app for that.

With just some good ideas and icon, it got to #1. It never got any special selections by Apple, but there was some big help from some blog articles. The article on Krapps.com being the biggest; most of the others were reposts of that one.

At the peak on Feb 24 2010, when it got to the #1 free game and the #2 free app--it was about 165,000 downloads that single day.

Heads Up: Hold'em HD

The iPad game is one we've spent far more work on. "Heads Up: Hold'em HD" is the iPad version of our popular poker game. The iPhone version got 2nd in the 2009 "Best App Ever" awards for Casino Games. Poker vs a silly tapping game is much more replayable--we've got emails from people with the iPhone version, with 1000s of games played. With the bluetooth wireless games too, we hope this one sticks in the top of the charts better than Knife Dancing did.

This one definitely got help. We were slowly gaining in the games, until Apple made it a "What's Hot" selection and that really gave a huge boost. Within 2 days of that, we were #1. It's an awesome game and really looks great on the iPad screen; getting to #1 is fully justified :)

April 29 2010, it was the #1 free game and #4 free app--and got 8,300 downloads.

So according to those numbers, for a free game the iPad app store takes about 5% as many downloads to reach the top spot as in the iPhone app store--on the day before the 3G launch. I'll update with some stats on the 3G launch day. And unlike the iPhone, where the #1 game is usually the #1 app--on the iPad it only got us to #4.

{Updated post, to clarify since it's getting quoted places :) For our 2 free games to reach the #1 spot, it took 5% as many downloads on the iPad App Store as it took on the iPhone App Store. Paid apps would vary greatly from this small free game sampling. This evening, it's still the #1 game but is out of the top ten free apps--people seem to want Utilities on their iPads.}

Money?

Both apps included In-App purchases, so have good ways to make money. (I'm not going to share the actual dollar amounts.) They're harder to compare since Knife is a $0.99 little one and the Hold'em is a bigger $4.99 upgrade. Hold'em did make more than 10% as much money as Knife did, with 5% as many downloads--so we're happy.

Interestingly Knife Dancing's income was enough to get into the Top Grossing lists; the highest I saw was #27. Not bad for a free app! Some of the days, we were the only free app in the top 100 grossing. Hold'em I have not seen in the Top Grossing list on the iPad--I'm not surprised with all the more expensive tools and utilities.

PS: On that #1 day, Knife Dancing shattered our own personal dollars-per-day software sales record that was set by GetRight back in 1999; now we have to work to break the new one!

iPad compared to Kindle

I've been reading on the Kindle for over a year now, and just got an iPad. The iPad's screen is amazing, for picking or buying books, and absolutely everything else, it is better. There are quite a few devices you won't need anymore if you get an iPad. No portable DVD players, no digital picture frames, no more portable GPS, maybe not even a laptop. And as more apps come out, that list will grow.

But I'm not planning to do any reading on it. I will keep reading on the Kindle, for one reason that I'd not expected: Weight.

The iPad feels super solid and sturdy, the Kindle seems plastic and flimsy by comparison. (The Kindle may feel flimsy, but it is tough--both mine and the wife's have easily survived numerous drops onto the floor.) Because of all the solidity, the iPad feels heavy--much more so than I expected. It's nearly a pound more than the Kindle, and when sitting in bed reading every night, that will be a huge difference. Where the kindle starts to slip out of one hand as I'm dozing off--the iPad would fall.

After just the first day (doing lots of programming on iPad apps) the Kindle felt like nothing when I picked it up before bed. I may buy books via the Amazon website on the iPad, then read on the Kindle.

If you read a lot where the book is held in your hand, you want a Kindle for reading over an iPad. But for everything else, you want an iPad.

Yeah, I'm a dork

and I watch various of the "How do they do that" shows. Watching them install an immense engine in a tanker ship, and wondered how it related to computers...

Years ago, you would have one supercomputer; now the supercomputers have been replaced by warehouses full of computers like a laptop minus the screen.

That huge many-million-dollar engine has the power of 100 car engines. So maybe put in 100 car engines instead? Each could generate electricity to power a big motor to turn the propeller. It could have individual engines turn on and off as needed as more or less power was needed.

iPad / iPhone Video Chat Predictions

My prediction is the iPhone will get a video-chat camera in the next update. It's a very logical update that again steps ahead of most competitors. But the iPad won't for at least another generation or two.

My thinking why? Bandwidth vs Screen Size. The bigger the video, the more speed is needed.

On an iPhone, a video feed of 320x320 would fill the screen horizontally, still leaving space below for buttons. And an even smaller video window could be done if a thumbnail of your own video was displayed too in some sort of overlapping rectangles. With some eye-candy around the squares (and having them not overlap), it could likely get to a pretty small video dimension that needed to be sent over the Internet and it would still look good on the iPhone's screen.

AT&T and other cell phone providers might be able to handle that :)

A similar sized video rectangle would look not only look tiny on an iPad screen, it would look silly at that size. WiFi could handle the speeds needed to do a video size that would look reasonable (640x480 or something like that.) AT&T and other cell phone providers I think would struggle to do that.

So that's my predictions!

What a Week.

A week ago, we got the notice that both our Poker vs Girls and Poker vs Guys apps were removed from the App Store as part of the big purge of sexy apps. Definitely a bummer, they had been a good percent of our iPhone app income the past few months. (But not the biggest apps for us, the business tool FTP On The Go had that honor, and we still have the regular Heads Up: Hold'em poker game among many others.)

That led to an article on TechFlash. Which led this morning to an interview with KOMO4 TV News (in Seattle). I don't even know what might happen tomorrow. But silly things like people actually googling and finding this blog is one thing!

We also quickly did a new version of the poker games, Poker vs Strong Female Role Models. (pictures here) It's in review at Apple, we'll see what kind of splash that makes in the news when it arrives. {UPDATE: It got approved just fine. Get It Here}

That same day last week is when our little Knife Dancing game that had been lurking in the App Store for months finally decided to start growing..and growing...and growing.

We spent a few days watching in disbelief. Hardly able to post "we're at #20" on Facebook, before another one would post "And now #18". Posting on Facebook when our app passed the Facebook app was fun. And waking up on Wednesday to be the #1 free game and #2 free app.

So in the same week we've been sad to lose the strip poker apps, we've been amazed at how well Knife Dancing is doing--and how quickly it happened. And even more crazy, thanks to its In-App Purchase, it's been bouncing around on the Top Grossing lists as well. In the 30s to 40s. (At one point, I saw it at #27--above Grand Theft Auto at #28! Ridiculous.) We'll miss the income from the strip poker apps; but that's sure a huge consolation prize!

It's been a ride, seeing the downside of the App Store, where apps can be pulled with no notice...and the great side, where the right app can strike a chord and jump right to the top.

iPad vs Kindle

I've only seen pictures of the iPad; but I think for most people it will kill the idea of getting a Kindle.

There are people who read the occasional book--the new Stephan King or Harry Potter--and then there are people who Read books. My wife and I each got a Kindle about a year ago. Looking at the price savings on books, as well as bookcases to store them, a Kindle was a smart choice. I read a lot and over the past year have 35 books finished on the Kindle. My wife on the other hand is in another league--fast reader + insomnia = she has 201 books read! The savings has more than paid for buying the Kindles.

For people like us, the Kindle will probably win over the iPad for reading. For a decent percent of people like us, I'd bet they've already invested in a Kindle too. But we're a small minority--for everybody else, the ability of the iPad to do everything else too wins.

The big loser are bookstores. Barnes and Noble used to be a regular visit to get more books--not so much anymore.

For every category of device, there are the hardcore users, and then there is everybody else.

Photographers will have a great expensive camera with good lenses, but most of us will settle for the cell phone camera because it's convenient. Some people spend a ton on a great home theatre, many buy a TV at Walmart or Costco. Avid readers will choose a Kindle or other dedicated one, most will use an iPad or their phone.

There are always a lot more people in the second category--that's who Apple is targeting with the iPad.

Poker vs Girls, finally

Finally, after 4 rejections and nearly 3 months, we got the 2.0 version update to Poker vs Girls (our iPhone strip poker app) accepted by Apple.

The good news is it is more than what was allowed for version 1.0. The "17+" rating that was added since then does allow more, but still nothing you couldn't see at a PG-13 movie.

Two of these images got rejected (one when Apple called us and talked on the phone about what was OK and not OK), and the other three were accepted. Can you tell which?

It's the two on the right that were rejected. According to the phone call from Apple, it is not acceptable to have hands, fingers, or anything touching the model's lips or mouth. And they can't be actively taking off underwear even though having it already off and covering themselves is OK.

Now we've got to go back to the difficult job of looking through photos to add the next set of girls. (Don't forget we are equal opportunity, we also have Poker vs Guys. Strangely, it doesn't sell nearly as well.)

{UPDATE: And just like that, it's gone. The good news is many of them went on to graduate school... Get It Here}