Have you thought about outsourcing the development of the app for a share of the revenue? How many subscribers do you have on the site, and on the iOS ?

I wouldn't subscribe to the site as I have gotten used to getting it for free. I might have subscribed had it been a paid service earlier.

Or have you looked at the donation option? A friend has a web service ClikServ, that has a lot of experience with the donation option on desktop websites and might explore that on an Android app if you reach out to them. So even if a few people donate, the amounts are fairly large.

I hope these are useful ideas.

Piyush

I have been using a less-than-satisfactory Android app called Kuffs, that is just not as clean and straightforward as Memento, nor are its templates thought out nearly as well as yours. That developer uses a 10-card trial version, so now I am looking at spending $5 - $10 for the full version of an app that falls short of Memento's mark. BTW, Kuffs uses a Dropbox and/or Google docs cloud backup model.

Like the other posters, even though I already purchased the iTouch version, I am willing to buy it again for my Android. Hint, hint, hint: that's called "repeat business" and is the best thing you can hope for in the business world. Another way of looking at this is as the subject of loyalty — there are many of us who are loyal to you and your product. Will you be loyal to us?

I hope you decide to join the exploding Android Marketplace and make some dough there!

Thanks for creating the mailing list! I look forward to receiving your updates.

Best regards,

Andre

Memengo was my favorite and most used iPhone app, and it's very unfortunate there isn't an app on the Android marketplace yet.

I think the marketplace is big enough now. Just think of the potential client base you are missing out on!

Thanks for this program. I understand that time is always hard to come by, and I want you to know I really appreciate what you've provided thus far.

Thanks!

I enthusiastically vote for an Android version of your application as well. And thanks for the good work, it's appreciated.

I just discovered this forum tonight especially after using Wallet for many months up until May, when I switched to the Incredible (Android). The Android OS with the 1 Gig processor is far superior to the Iphone. As I migrated most of my apps, I thought I would search for a Wallet equivalent - guess what - no such app. There are many apps with similar functionality. But the truth is nothing compares. So, like others I have been patiently waiting for the Android Wallet release. You truly have an awesome product and if available today, no other Android app would compare giving you the edge in the market. Furthermore, an Android version would complete the popular mobile operating systems (Android, Iphone, and MS Mobile) - a great accomplishment.

While you may believe that the returns are not there, I disagree if marketed properly. This is especially true when Wallet is compared to the other inferior products. Like other posts, I am willing to pay for the app, up to $20 - I like it that much. I would not however implement a monthly subscription usage at this time in light of the economy. Perhaps this is something to consider in the future, but for now, the timing is not right.

My advice is to take advantage of the Android market - it is growing exponentially. By designing a good app, as you have with Wallet, this enhances your visibility as a reputable developer and indirectly promotes other products and software you may have to offer. Microsoft certainly did not become who they are today by simply focusing on one product. Why limit yourself?

Furthermore, my advice to you is to give consideration to your customers. Your product obviously has a following as evidenced by these posts. Please do not disregard their loyalty to your product. A key fundamental business philosophy "Keep the customer Happy", in my opinion, is a vital factor for success.

I hope I made a compelling case for you to consider elevating the Android Wallet to a higher priority than an on-the-side project. Thanks for your consideration.

Pat

Matt

I hear you too. I guess I hadn't thought of a subscription model yet. From my perspective as an end-user, a subscription model wouldn't be my favorite choice, but I can see how that could be a more viable option from your point of view. It could generate a steady revenue stream to pay for the time you spent on creating a better mobile web site. Like I said, I completely understand where you're coming from. I'll keep an eye out for any announcements from you. In the meantime, I'll just continue to use the web site as is from my Android phone.

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

Cheers,

Andre

I'm in a tough spot here. On one hand Wallet is an immensely useful app and all of my friends who use it would be really upset if they no longer could. I use it myself all the time.
On the other hand financially it's just not successful - an hour I spend on Wallet doesn't bring in nearly as much return as an hour I spend on my other app (GeeTasks). And that's even on the very popular iPhone, I can't imagine Android being any better for me.

I am obviously not giving up Wallet completely, but the way things look now it will be an on-the-side project for quite some time.

My current thinking is to make the apps free to spread the word and charge subscription for using the web site beyond the first month or two. That could make it more worthwhile for me to spend time on a better mobile web site and native apps for most popular platforms.

We've already communicated outside of this forum, but since I just came across this forum and saw your statement that every request for an Android version of Memengo Wallet may get you to reconsider… I thought I'd chime in and add my request to the ever growing list. I understand developing an Android version would have to be profitable for you and a mobile version of the Memengo Wallet website wouldn't really make you any money. So, while the latter would be nice to have in the absence of an Android version - I can see why that's not feasible. I completely understand that.
I would just like to say that I have been accessing my wallet from my Nexus One via the regular website - and while it works - it sucks! The speed is fine, I believe, but the layout is just geared towards Desktop computers and not tiny mobile phone screens. So, that's one big minus.
The other one is that it requires a data connection to access my wallet. No data connection - no access to my wallet. I keep lugging my iPhone 2G (without a SIM card) around with me for the sole purpose or being able to access my Memengo wallet.

Two thoughts:

I can't speak for how much everyone else is willing to pay for an Android version. All I can say is that I rarely purchase software for my Nexus One or, prior to getting myself the N1, my old iPhone. For most things I do and need software for, the free version usually works just fine. I have purchased maybe a handful of programs between my two phones and in those few instances I have been willing to spend a lot more than the usual 99 cents or $1.99.
Given how much I would like to have Memengo Wallet on my N1, I would be willing to pay $9.99 or even $14.99 for it. Heck, maybe even $19.99. Again, I have rarely found the need to buy a program for either one of my phones. I've had my iPhone for 3 years now and have spent less than a hundred dollars on software for it. So, twenty bucks is not going to kill me. But again, this is me… I understand you probably couldn't charge that much in the App store and expect to sell a lot of licenses - but if it helps, please know I would be willing to pay this much. Sell it to me (and to anyone else willing) at that price outside of the App Store - using Paypal, maybe - or, maybe, for a "Premium" version in the App Store and a regular version in the App Store for $1.99 or 99 cents. The latter one possibly being supported through ads that could be displayed in the application. I tend to see those a lot at the bottom of the screen in some of my applications. And I don't mind.

OK, I'll stop now. I know the numbers for Nexus One phones sold have just been released and they don't look all that good. I believe Google is not in it for the number of phones sold, but into getting Android out there. More and more Android phones are coming out and so I think it's going to be a big market. As big as the iPhone? No idea. Maybe. Maybe not. But it's growing, and I hear more and more people getting tired of Apple's grip on their App Store. It was one major reason for me to switch to Android.

OK, I'll really stop now. Thanks for listening!

Cheers,

Andre

I suspect that June/July time frame will show a large number of new Android users (switching from iPhone to Android) as that coincides with the 2 year mark on the release of the iPhone 3g… so, lots of contracts up for renewal at that point.

Thanks for the notes, response to these requests… nice to see the feedback and consideration.

Please develop menengo for Android! You would have a ton of faithful users who would pay for it!

I feel guilty for turning down your requests, especially given all the efforts you put into it. Alas, the jury is still out. I will reconsider my position in January to see how things go overall.

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=5777

1. They develop bunch of games. It takes time to do so.
2. They get frustrated with Android and announce plan to not invest anymore
3. The games that were already made get shipped anyway two weeks later. Since they are done it costs nothing but may recoup some of the costs.

Also I understand it that Assassin Creed is a straight port from Nintendo, which means they decided to do the cheapest thing possible to test the waters.

I found another interesting article linked from yours http://phandroid.com/2009/11/23/reverse-exodus-why-devs-should-flock-to-android/ and it basically says that "Android is not great now but it has potential". And it does, I agree with that. It's just that I have very little resources and I must invest where I can get a more certain payoff. I spend all my time on the two iPhone apps because they actually sell and bring money. If I had more time I would certainly look into it, hopefully iPhone apps sell well enough so that I can hire someone else to help.

You are using the web site for now, right? How important is it for you to have the offline sync feature?

http://phandroid.com/2009/11/24/gameloft-180-degree-walks-the-talk/

This you are using Android, you are probably also using Gmail, right? I wonder if every one who is using Android is also a gmail user - this could make some things simpler (such as web site sign-on or even a GMail / iGoogle widget).

To improve performance of the web site in mobile browser I advise you not to enter very long strings of text - if you stick to user/name passwords only (instead of say, essays) you should be fine.

If you experience performance problems, try brekaing up your wallet into smaller wallets with help of the desktop browser - that should always help with performance problems.

I'll keep an eye out for the more Android requests.

And thanks for the kind words!

1. Last we looked into it mobile phones were not fast enough to support our website. It's not just things would be slow, instead the web browser would just keel over and die. We have to perform some serious calculation to do cryptography and this requires computing power.
2. It's hard to make money off of those things to justify the investment. Essentially the same story with the Windows Mobile app we have.

Now things are changing and web browsers do get faster over time. I know that the web browser in the new iPhone 3gs seems to be approaching the required speed. We haven't looked much into it due to reason #2 - it's hard to make money that way. We're bound to revisit this at some point, but not right now.

I know I am sounding like I'm trying to discourage you, but my intent is to set correct expectations about what's coming and what's not. I certainly appreciate your input, it's just the economics side of things isn't panning out as far we can judge them.

I guess if enough people start asking I might reconsider, but this would have to be a lot of requests. Even then it would be at least couple of months from start to finish, so right now I advise you to look elsewhere.