App Bundles in iOS 8
Since 2008, app developers have bemoaned the App Store’s inflexible pricing. In particular, there has been no way to bundle multiple apps together. Bundles are a great means to offer users of one app a discount on another app, and their absence was unfortunate. But now, as of iOS 8, Apple lets us offer a bundle of apps at a discounted price.
So we did that!
Our first app bundle is called the Avatron Productivity Pack, which comprises three of our most popular apps: Air Display, Air Sharing, and Air Login.
While putting the Productivity Pack together, we discovered some interesting quirks about app bundles:
- Apps must all target the same devices. Consequently, because Air Stylus is an iPad-only app, it could not be part of this bundle.
- Only paid apps can be part of a bundle. Apple’s documentation is contradictory about this. In one paragraph they say explicitly both that free apps are allowed and that they are not allowed in an app bundle.
So why didn’t the App Store just support bundles from the start? Who knows, but I have a hypothesis. Apple learned from its past power tussles with Microsoft and Adobe that app bundles yield power to third-party software developers. In introducing the iOS platform, Apple took great pains to establish sustainable platform power. And part of that control comes from prohibiting app suites like Office and Creative Studio, which at times in the past have been albatrosses around the Mac’s neck. But now that iOS is the big dog on the platform block, Apple has been loosening up some of these limitations.
Another thing that has been missing from the App Store has been upgrade pricing. So for example, when we introduced Air Sharing Pro back in 2009, we were hoping we could charge some small upgrade price for the new version. But there was no mechanism for that. Furthermore, the App Store didn’t allow us to offer current Air Sharing users a discount on Air Sharing Pro. But now the iOS 8 App Store lets us bundle the old and new versions of an app, so that people who have, say, Air Music 1, can upgrade to Air Music 2 for half price by clicking the “Complete My Bundle” button.
So if you have any of our apps, please check out the Avatron Productivity Pack and consider getting our other apps for a screaming discount. And watch for more app bundles in the future.
Cheers!
Dave
I want to buy air display 3, but there is no windows version for now. I am considering to buy Dual app as an alternative with wire support, which is more important for me. Buying ad2 now, then ad3 is not very good deal. Maybe you create bundle with ad2 and ad3 for 1 dollar more than ad3 price? Then i will buy it and can wait for ad3 with windows support… Or maybe you can tell, when win support update will be released?
Hi Michael. Good news: We have JUST (fifteen minutes ago) submitted an Upgrade Bundle to Apple. This app bundle includes Air Stylus, Air Display 2, Air Display 3.
Since AD2 is $10 and AD3 is $15, you will be able to “Complete My Bundle” for $5. I mean, unless Apple rejects our Upgrade Bundle submission, which seems very unlikely. It should go live in a couple of days or so. Their bundle approval process is pretty quick and painless.
I understand your frustrations with Apple and App Store calling all the shots over product compatibility and sales policies.
However, it doesn’t feel so great to discover that, having just paid for downloaded AirDisplay2, you’ve already announced Air display 3 and will be charging me extra for it.
I had considered the new wired alternative from another supplier, but chose yours to see whether the cheaper wireless version is tolerable first.
I think you would win more support if you told buyers in advance of buying air display 2 that air display 3 is on its way and you’ll be offering a free upgrade, or had a least set a price for the upgrade.
Richard.
Hi Richard. We’re in the process of preparing an Update Bundle, which will let you upgrade to Air Display 3 for a significantly discounted price. This will have to go through Apple’s approval process, but our experience so far is that that process is not very onerous for app bundles.
I have a macbook pro, running the display host in it and trying to connect to an iphone 4s and an iPad mini 2 (Both with Air Display 2 installed) but host says only devices with Air Display 2 (Note the redundancy) can be used for multiple screen. Help, please help.
Felipe.
Hi Felipe. Sorry for the delayed response. I’m a little confused about this; I believe it should have worked. Your best bet would be to talk to our support team at http://34.221.205.203/support. They may have a better idea what’s going on there.