Did Tweetie Throw A Curveball At Loyal App Store Customers?

Sep 29 2009 Comments

twitter Yesterday, a scoop on an a new version of Tweetie for both the iPhone and Mac got Twitter nuts very excited. For those that don’t own an iPhone, Tweetie is one of the most popular twitter clients on the iPhone due to its fantastic design, productive features, and great overall experience with customer service and the application itself. Tweetie developer Loren Britcher, @Atebits, maintains a pretty active customer support line via Twitter.

   

tweetie1Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200

While iPhone users are surely looking forward to the new release, which you can preview here, I noticed a curve ball in the mix:

Tweetie 2.0 is a whole new app, and it will require the iPhone 3.0 OS and will cost $2.99 in the App Store, the same price as the original Tweetie.

 

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What this means is if you’ve already purchased Tweetie before, to get the new upcoming version, you’ll have to pay another $2.99. Some think Tweetie is easily worth the price to upgrade. I’d like to know if you feel the same.

  • If you currently own Tweetie, will you purchase the upgrade?
  • If you own a different device and an app developer announced the same scenario, would you purchase the upgrade?
  • Do you feel that its fair for Britcher to make those who’ve previously purchased the app purchase it again?

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  • Yes, it depends and no.

    You don't have to buy it and it's the cost of a cup of coffee or two.
  • I have no intentions of buying Tweetie 2, though I have played with the app. I wanted to see how others were feeling about the situation. I personally don't have a problem with the pricing since I'm not purchasing it.
  • I will absolutely pay for it. Apple does not offer upgrade pricing and it is too significant an upgrade to give away for free. If you wanna be mad at anyone be mad at Apple.
  • Who the hell is Alyssa Milano? And why can't she afford $2.99 for a new Twitter app?
  • Alyssa Milano is one of the ladies from the Hit TV show charmed and she can afford it, but what does that have to do with anything.
  • jack
    Some people are landing on this post b/c Alyssa Milano linked to it in a tweet. (http://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/4486040505)
  • Oh damn. I was wondering what the spike was all about. Thanks Jack!
  • Tweetie is an excellent iPhone Twitter app, I alternate between Tweetie and TweetDeck but prefer Tweetie because of the settings and user interface. I do rate that TweetDeck syncs columns, accounts with the desktop client but prefer the simplicity of Tweetie. I'm sure if I were involved with more followers/followings that view may change but for now I have no problem with the upgrade charge!!
  • srsmith
    Considering that the developer probably has hundreds of hours (or more) invested in the new version, and the upgrade cost is what I'd pay for the coffee I need to get through one of those hours of development, I've got no problem at all with the upgrade cost.

    Consider that Apple doesn't sell 'Upgrades' to anything prior to the Snow Leopard 'Upgrade', and even that is the full product, it doesn't require a previous version to install. Every other piece of Apple software in recent history has been sold as-is for the then-current version, and the next version is sold as new software, there's never been a 'full price' and a cheaper 'upgrade'.

    As is always the case when something new comes out, if you don't think it's worth the price, don't buy it, but don't jump all over the guy that's trying to make a living creating these products just because he wants to make a living.
  • I think semantics are getting in the way rational thought-making here. If it were actually an upgrade it would probably require the first edition of Tweetie to work, and it clearly doesn't work like that. It's a new app. That you don't _have_ to buy.

    How about this analogy: musicians need to make a living by selling music. Buying a musician's first CD doesn't entitle you to all future music just because you're an early fan, and it certainly isn't an insult when they ask you to buy the second and third CD.

    A developer needs to make a living by selling products, not just to new fans, but to people who enjoy their old stuff as well.

    What is a "loyal" Tweetie customer, anyway? There's only one product so far.
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