How Much Have You Spent At The App Store?
1:55 am, February 23rd, 2009, Giles Turnbull
This post at The Next Web made me stop and think for a moment. I’ve been one of the many people who’ll cheerfully spend a dollar or two on an app that looks enticing and has generally good reviews.
After all, a dollar or two is nothing, right? Less than a cup of coffee, less than a pint of beer in my local pub.
But what’s the cumulative effect? Let’s see now… Open iTunes, click iTunes Store, click on my account ID, enter my password, click “Purchase History”, do some adding up, and the total is:
£68.60, or US$99.70 at the current exchange rate.
One hundred bucks, near as dammit, on iPhone apps. Wow. I had no idea was going to be that much. I was expecting about half that.
It also highlights just what an excellent idea the App Store is, and how well it has been designed. Shopping there is so simple, so instantaneous, and often so cheap per-app, that it almost becomes a thoughtless act. “This app looks cool. I’ll try it.” A dollar here, a few dollars there.
I’m not complaining, I’m just noticing my own App Store spending habits for the first time. This information is available to anyone who goes digging around inside iTunes to see it, but perhaps Apple could make it a little easier to keep track of spending.
How about a small box on the iTunes Store front page, which says “So far this month/year/to date, you have spent $X on iTunes.”?
Something small and unobtrusive; but visible.
Confession time: how much have you spent? And is it more or less than you expected?
Posted by Giles Turnbull in Opinions, iPhone, iTunes | Comment on this article
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OMG! £93.60
I thought it would be way less than that! Wow! Apple really have sussed the app store haven’t they!
Andi, on February 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 am
Rather than the raw cost, I like to measure my expenditure on a ‘value’ scale, compared to the equivalent value got from – to use your example – beer.
Now don’t get me wrong, I adore beer, but for my meagre spending of a mere £39.54, which is about 12 pints, I’ve got to enjoy hundreds of hours of excellent portable gaming, puzzles, global social communication and general geeking-out with my futuristic device.
Sure, I can have a lot of fun with 12 pints of beer as well, but the effect soon wears off, and although the good company and general laughs are high-value, the software goes a lot further, and doesn’t give me a hangover. It seems to represent much higher value for the same price.
I always do the ‘beer calculation’ when I’m about to click the ‘BUY’ button, and it’s never prevented me.
Chris, on February 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 am
It is very difficult to determine exactly how much one has spent on apps because the previous purchases includes *all* iTunes purchases and rentals. This means that movie and TV purchases/rentals and music purchases are thrown in there as well. I didn’t take the time to add it all up, but I know that I spent about $50 the first day the app store opened. I’ve probably spent well over $200 since then. A pie chart would be a nice way to display the data or perhaps something similar to the colored bar that show the data distribution stored on our iPhones.
James, on February 23rd, 2009 at 3:45 am
I often find myself buying a ridiculously useless app when i get bored. On just buy-to-try purchases I’ve spent <$50, but on planned purchases I’ve spent around $200 (Purchased such things as; Netter Anatomy Apps, $40 each and there are 4 of them).
That said, I purchase discount iTunes gift cards online so it helps keep the price down. It is also the best way to keep track of your iTunes spending as each gift card of $50, $100, or $200 show up in your PayPal account as “iTunes Gift Card”.
This year on iTunes I’ve spent $150, but that is because most television seasons are still running. (Still cheaper and more convenient than cable + netflix).
Sam, on February 23rd, 2009 at 4:24 am
I have an idea that doesn’t rely on Apple to do something. Why not buy a checkbook app for the iPhone that you can create budgets on. Set your goal for app purchases and check it whenever you purchase. As for me I have about 96 apps on the phone most of which are free. I would guesstimate an expenditure of $50 for the paid apps. I view these as “misc” purchases and am not overly concerned about the overall cost since they are so cheap by comparison with desktop apps where one app could easily cost more than all the iPhone apps.
Joe, on February 23rd, 2009 at 7:47 am
it seems to me that putting the how much you’ve spent in a prominent place would be very much against Apple’s interest. It would be like the pub setting a card in front of you and the bar and updating how many pints and pounds you’ve rung up for the night. Hardly encourages spending.
Bryan Walls, on February 23rd, 2009 at 7:56 am
Zeeeeeero
Bob-O, on February 23rd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The most expensive App I bought? Netter’s Anatomy $39.99.
Partners in Grime, on February 24th, 2009 at 9:34 am