Is Shozu's "App Store" a return to more traditional software sales?

When is an app store not an app store? Following my editorial last week, ShoZu got in touch to tell me about their new 'App Store' which launches today. Great, I thought, a new store, done by a company that focuses a lot on making things easy for a customer, so I headed over there. To realise that the Shozu App Store has just one application... Shozu. But this is a good thing – read on.

Admittedly with so many formats to push, the only consistent factor is the application so it makes sense to have it available for sale on their website, and provide a single destination to promote. Which is exactly what developers have been doing since the internet started – even our Steve was pushing his own apps back in the nineties. Of course in those days there were almost no online payment mechanism so he asked people to send him a cheque to register the software.

Nowadays there are a number of venues where you might find an application, from the Ovi Store to third party sites such as Handango (which powers the All About Symbian store) as well as smaller solutions for a dedicated area (such at OneForty that deals exclusively in apps for Twitter over multiple platforms). The ultimate aim is not to get your app in every store, it is to get your app purchased by the people who want it.

Shozu are to be commended for their approach in getting the word out about buying their app from their website. This isn't the first time they've made some tough decisions on making money – they switched over Shozu to a paid app instead of freeware earlier this year. So this potential move away from app stores and back to a corner shop for every developer is worth watching.

I just get the feeling that shouting out “we're selling our own application” and calling it an “App Store” is a bit disingenuous.

-- Ewan Spence, Oct 2009.

Published by Ewan Spence at 12:54 UTC, October 13th

Categories: Links of Interest, Developer
Platforms: General

Main Navigation

Advert

mobile.allaboutsymbian.com