For app developers choosing the right pricing/revenue model is a key factor in the success of their app. We have rigourously debated the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different models – paid for free with ad support and freemium – in previous blogs but the newest debate centres on the end of paid for apps.

Tech Crunch’s insightful article on this subject shows this isn’t a clear cut argument as you may expect. The stats from Flurry research shows the move toward free is getting larger: from 2010 to 2012 the proportion of free apps on the Apple App Store grew from 80% to 84%. In 2013 this had reached 90%. The interesting discovery from this research was that app developers shifted towards the free pricing model not through peer pressure but by experimenting with different streams to find the model that suited their app.

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App audiences in the U.S. peak at 52 million during primetime (8-9pm) according to a new study by app analytic specialists Flurry. This is equivalent to audiences of three of the highest rated primetime TV shows in a good week and the joint circulation of the top 200 U.S. weekend newspapers.

The research centred on user’s monthly activity of the top 250 iOS and top 250 Android apps during February, plotting the hourly usage difference between weekdays and the weekend. Unsurprisingly audiences at the weekend were 25% greater between the 9am-5pm but perhaps what was less predictable was the audience number at primetime: both weekday and weekend users peaked at 52 million.

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