Evernote: Mac App Store Has Us Rethinking Everything

John Brownlee (5:52 am PDT, Jan 10 2011)

Evernote: Mac App Store Has Us Rethinking Everything

The Mac App Store had a pretty big first day, racking up over a million downloads, but that’s more than just a big number for Apple… even successful software companies with proven distribution strategies are being wowed by the sort of numbers they’re seeing.

Take the chart above courtesy of Evernote, the popular virtual notebook and productivity suite. Note what happens to the Mac numbers come the Mac App Store launch day. Holy bejeebus.

Since the App Store launch, more than half of Evernote’s new users across all platforms are coming from the Mac. In fact, between Mac App Store launch and midnight on January 7th, Evernote saw 90,000 client downloads across both new and existing users.

Evernote CEO Phil Libin’s comments about these numbers indicate that his company is rethinking their entire strategy based on these numbers.

“It’s a very big deal [...] We initially thought that since so much of our user base was coming from mobile, that was the key distribution platform. But maybe it isn’t mobile that’s important, maybe it’s the well-designed app store.

What’s the end game? Libin thinks that eventually, the Mac App Store is going to account for 95% of Mac software distribution, and that serial numbers will soon be a thing of the past.

With its lower prices and ease of use and installation, the Mac App Store is undeniably a huge win for consumers… but it’s shaping up to be an even bigger win for developers, who no longer need to worry about maintaining their own registration systems, download servers or anti-piracy schemes.

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22 comments »

  • Don Pope

    I’m not doubting this is a game changer, but let’s see what happens after the initial novelty wears off.

    • GDW

      Novelty Don? When do you suppose the iPhone/iPad/iPod app store “novelty” will wear off?

  • MMNW

    The App-Store is definitely a game changer. Especially for smaller developers like Evernote. I’m on the Mac since 2004 and I consider myself a well informed Mac-User. To discover Apps I used Google and specialized sites, like versiontracker (now cnet).

    But, since browsing the App-Store last week, I found several Applications I never heard of, and probably never would have. And I already spend money!

    And it’s not only the centralized location to find software, it’s also the surrounding of the purchase experience. You don’t have to fumble with different online stores. You can see user ratings and comments. Most applications have a good description of what they do and don’t.

    In a nutshell, you will find apps more easily and you are more willing to spend your money.

  • Joe

    The Mac App Store is possibly a game changer. I know I tire of going in a ‘brick and mortor’ store and not finding many Apple applications. I also tire of trying to find different apps on the Internet. Having thousands in one place with the ability to ‘search’ for what you need is for Mac folks a very nice thing. I’ve already spent $$ on the Mac App Store and will continue to do so as I find new apps I want to use.

  • Brent Johnson

    Should it really be a surprise that having a form of software distribution built into an operating system is going to boost sales? I don’t know why it took so long for anybody to grasp this concept.

    • http://www.ronnorrisart.com/ ron

      So Brent – you had already thought of it?

    • http://www.mercergarden.com Roger

      This is a uniquely Apple trait: Almost everything Apple does seems to be SO OBVIOUS — after they have done it.

      The simple mp3 player: so obvious.

      iTunes, so obvious

      iPhone, of course that’s they way phones should work.

      iPad: utter simplicity, and there are thousands more just like it ready to bound into the market.

      Yes, the guys at Apple are all just Captain Obvious clones.

    • http://www.herbaled.org Ed Smith – USA

      Most of the world’s greatest inventions were considered “obvious” … after the fact (e.g., putting the eraser on top of the pencil).

  • http://www.dunya.ca Kashif Pasta

    It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out– I was talking to someone yesterday who told me, “did you hear that you can get apps for your MacBook now too?” as if it were a new feature that just came from the iPhone :P

  • Craig

    You can’t compare the first day of sales for an app in an uncrowded app store with the tail end of sales for an established app in the iOS app store…you’re comparing proverbial apples and oranges. The only thing I get out of this chart is that Evernote is selling extremely well for an established iOS app and not nearly as well as I would have expected for a Mac app, especially with such a large established user base on iOS devices.

  • http://wideaperture.net/blog/ Josh Braun

    I disagree that this is an unequivocal win for developers. Yes, it gives them more exposure, but it also means that everything they write is subject to approval by Apple. As your post suggests, not publishing to the App Store is likely to mean total obscurity. And as I’ve written in the past, trying to simultaneously maintain less-restricted or non-App Store versions of your software is a pain that most developers aren’t going to want to deal with.

    • global philosopher

      A developer can always provide advertising on how to get hold of apps that are not available on the Mac store. There is a trade off fir everything and I think on this occasion the benefits outway the costs.

    • Chris

      Getting an app approved by Apple for inclusion in the store isn’t hard. The hurdle for app store approval is extremely low. In essence, an app mustn’t crash or be too buggy.

    • http://www.herbaled.org Ed Smith – USA

      Well, it appears that developers of iPhone and iPad apps don’t think it “… is a pain that most developers aren’t going to want to deal with.” Where have you been the past couple of years???

    • http://wideaperture.net/blog/ Josh Braun

      @global philosopher—Fair enough, that’s a decent point.

      @Chris—Looking at the notes I’ve seen by developers modifying their apps for the app store, quite a few tweaks were necessary to meet Apple’s guidelines, to the extent that at least one I know of—Steve Harris, whom I mention in the blog post, has ended up maintaining two versions of his software: App Store and non-App Store. None of his programs are particularly “out there” in terms of security or reliability—in fact, all are excellent in both respects. And yet he’s got all this extra work now. That’s what I’m referring to when I say it seems like a lot to deal with on a continuing basis.

      @Ed Smith—When I said that, I was saying that maintaining both App Store and non-App Store versions of the same software simultaneously would be a pain, meaning that I think many developers will decide to write exclusively for the App Store. So I haven’t been asleep for the last two years, nor are we in disagreement about the allure of the App Store. What this does do, I argue, is give Apple a substantial gatekeeping role in determining what software will be successful, just as it has maintained control over the software ecosystem for iPad and iPhone. Developers may have a choice to release outside the App Store, but as the post above indicates, it may become nearly impossible to become successful without going through it.

  • Michael

    I think the top 10/top 25 lists are very important for the success of some developers on the stall, as if you are in the top list, more people will look at your app & download it (success will bread success).

    Before the Mac app store there was no equivalent method of finding the most popular applications in different categories i.e. those applications which were likely to be the best.

  • Neil Anderson

    Looks like the Mac App Store is off to a rousing start!

  • http://sql-plsql.blogspot.com Sachin

    it will truly be a game changer and may force MS to launch its own Windoze store….

  • buster

    Sorry to burst the bubble but the mac app store has already been cracked and pretty soon all apps will be available free.

    Really great for developers………

  • king

    It needs better integration with the system

  • Mikey

    So many opinions masquerading as facts.

About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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