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Ask HN: Is it stupid to add In-App Purchasing now?

1 points by mmorris ↗ HN
I've built a web app and iOS app that will soon be integrated ( http://inthatbox.com ). I'm planning to make the web app a freemium service, and was thinking that I'd move the iOS app to a free with In-App Purchasing model to match up with the web app. I also think that IAP would be beneficial to marketing of the app.

The question is, is it a bad idea to add IAP now, with all of the patent legal issues still undecided? I tend to think (/hope) that Apple will prevail in the long-run, but on the other hand I'd rather avoid being sued.

So basically the question is - Is it stupid to add IAP right now?

Also, if I shouldn't do it now, at what point should I begin to think about jumping in?

4 comments

[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 21.5 ms ] thread
jaredhansen
If you think it's good for the app and your business, just do it.

In what's most likely the worst case scenario, you wind up having to pay Lodsys the 0.575% of revenue from the app -- which is a lot less than you'd lose by not including IAP in the app. In many far more likely scenarios, you never have to pay anything because Apple succeeds in fighting off Lodsys on behalf of its developers.

creativeone
Ever thought of letting users print QR codes on each box, and then scan the QR code to find out what's inside?
creativeone
Ok, while my post was loading on this thread i read at the bottom of your homepage some info about QR codes. You should make this feature more prominent on the site, even a single sample image of a QR code, or a diagram showing how this works would help.