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Research Outline

Prepared for Vaibhav G. | Delivered October 11, 2020

MacOS App Landscape

Goals

Provide an overview of the market and optimal pricing for a macOS app. The app in question will organize and search text content with screenshots. The overview should include the current landscape, best marketing channels, and suggestions on pricing.

Early Findings

  • App developers looking to publish an app in the Apple Mac Store can assign it up to two categories to be displayed within. The first and primary category is defined as the one in which the app will appear when a user browses with filters, and can determine its placement within the categories tab of the store.
  • Developers should choose a category for their app based on its purpose, natural look-alike apps in similar categories, and the target audience of the app.
  • Many app developers opt to not put their apps on the Mac App Store because of restrictions in the desktop operating system or because users often opt to get their apps directly from a developer's website, as the Mac is configured to allow app downloads from approved developers.
  • The primary reason many apps are not available on the Mac App Store has to do with a concept called "sandboxing." In short, this means that any app on the Mac App Store is restricted and is not permitted to communicate with other applications and the inability for apps to access files on a user's device without users giving it permission to do so.
  • On average, applications from the Mac App Store cost anywhere from $15 to $80 each. Of course, an app can be priced at any value preferred by its developer.
  • Any developer that wishes to publish an app to the Apple Mac Store or other Apple App Stores are required to pay an annual fee of $99.
  • Apple has strict guidelines that developers must follow if they wish to publish an app on any of Apple's App Stores, including the Mac App Store.