Developer Survey Dings Mac App Store
DevMate, a development and distribution platform for Mac developers, conducted a survey of 679 Mac developers to get their thoughts on the Mac App Store. Interestingly, 42 percent of respondents sell both in the Mac App Store and outside of it; however, those who sell both ways see roughly equivalent revenue from both channels. Overall, developers were overwhelmingly negative in their appraisal of the Mac App Store, leading to astonishingly low Net Promoter Score ratings. What ticks developers off the most? The Mac App Store’s unclear and unwieldy review process, the 30 percent transaction fees, the lack of upgrades and trials, and no two-way communication with customers. DevMate isn’t exactly unbiased in this area since it competes with the Mac App Store, but the results do map to what we’ve heard from developers as well. If only an interviewer would ask Tim Cook about these findings!