When it comes to free and cheap iPhone applications, this is the most delightful time of the year. It’s that time of year again, and we wanted to remind you that today is the return of Indie App Santa, a programme created to help independent app developers find new users without having to invest heavily in advertising on the App Store. Having started in 2020 and continuing into 2021, the event provides a Twitter feed of bargains in addition to its own advent calendar-style app, where iPhone users may unlock one premium app each day for free or at a significant discount.
Purchases may be made from today, December 1, 2022, through January 10, 2023. It’s like a month-long Black Friday sale, but for independent mobile apps. TechCrunch doesn’t usually cover discounts and promotions, but this one is worth looking into since it will likely reveal some hidden gems and benefit the independent software development community.
There will be more than 40 discounts available at this year’s Indie App Santa event, many of which will be for mobile games. While the specific apps aren’t announced ahead of time, Indie App Santa creator François Boulais has confirmed that this year’s lineup will include a previous Apple Design Award winner. He also mentions that unlike typical discounts, half of the advertised bargains would be for free app downloads.
Boulais gives kudos to his two pals, back-end developer Jean Delasalle and front-end developer Thibault Saint-Germain, for their assistance in organising the event.
Participating developers may have to offer discounts to get in, but they will make up for it in other ways. In addition to attracting a larger audience at first, this strategy may lead to repeat customers who are more likely to recommend the service to others and give positive reviews. In addition, it helps their app rise in the rankings just before one of the busiest periods of the year for app downloads. Similarly, apps with additional in-app purchases may see an uptick in sales in the days after a deal is posted if and only if the deal draws enough attention.
Developer Christian Lobach of Luilux said as much a year ago: “I have spent more money on Search Ads campaigns with considerably poorer effect [sic].”
Posture Pal, a new mobile app that makes ingenious use of the motion sensors in your AirPods to help you improve your neck, shoulder, and back posture without an external monitoring device, was released today to kick off this year’s event. The software instead detects any head or neck movement and notifies you. According to its Indie App Santa page, the Pro membership normally costs 14.99 every year, but today only, users may go into the app’s Settings and choose a Lifetime free plan.
Follow the @indieappsanta Twitter account or download the app to stay up-to-date on the latest discounts as they become available over the coming weeks. If you go with the latter, you’ll be able to enjoy the sensation of tapping on little holiday windows that slide open to show the symbol of the programme you’re looking for at a steep price. The app and the offer may then be downloaded to your iOS device if you tap through to learn more. With a 4.99 in-app purchase, you can have access to additional features including push notifications to let you know about offers as soon as they become available, custom app icons, and eventually widgets. However, many users donate to the software in order to show their support, rather than for any particular set of features.