Ok. I give up… Nobody seems to get it… but I’m tired of trying to explain it…
Dave, you may not need extra validation from the forum. If you are certain of what you want to achieve, just go ahead and test the waters.
No I don’t need “validation”… what I was looking for was insight… or alternatives… some of which were presented, but none of which fit the desired model.
It does not seem there were much room anyway…
I have to admit I dont get the business model
I get the “dealers pay me for customizing it” but the rest makes no sense to me
But you do have a specific model in your head and no one here seems to get it so I’d say make it, distribute it and see if it flies
If it does more power to you
If not well then maybe the model is not as straight forward as you imagine
what “rest” doesn’t make sense.
- I make money by creating a customized version for each car/bike dealer
- The dealer gives copies away by providing an activation code with each purchase
- The dealers customer downloads the app, activates it with the dealer supplied code
Benefits
- I have a know revenue stream and don’t have to worry/care if people “find” the app in the store
- I have traffic forced to my “apps” by virture of the dealer providing the code (and hence the URL) to his customers
- The dealer supplies a bit of swag with the purchase… in addition to the deal embossed keyring you always get
- The customer has a app to keep track of his fuel useage, mileage, service reminders, and other items for the vehicle
- it increases the “awareness” of OTHER apps I have or may have in the future, since those will be linked to the store page
Does Apple make any money off this model? well, no they actually don’t, since from the APP store point of view its a free app
And why you ask would the dealer care that only his customers activate his branded copy? For the same reason he doesn’t put a case of his branded key rings for anyone to grab. Plus, I would think that Dealer A would rather his customers download/activate HIS branded copy than the branded copy of Dealer B,
but enough said.
- Step 1 - deploy a “generic” version (PAID) to the app store…
- Step 2 - deploy a ‘branded’ copy for MY favorite motorcycle dealer to see if it is accepted…
- Step 3 - get him to pay me (or remove the app from the store)
Good luck
Have you asked some dealers? Have a look at the book by Eric Ries about Lean Startups.
Perhaps you’re overthinking it?
I have plenty of free Apps with logins. From suppliers where I can find my price lists, the App from my security camera dvr etc.
For sure. Apple allows this.
If I understand you correctly, then create for each dealer it’s own App. (Or the same if you want to handle the branding from the backend)
Each user gets a login code from the Dealer that he enters when starting the App for the first time. This code is either a Dealer code or different codes for each user.
You can leave a demo login for the reviewer when submitting the App to the App Store.
Yes I have, and most show a lot of interest[quote=253722:@Marco Hof]Perhaps you’re overthinking it?
I have plenty of free Apps with logins. From suppliers where I can find my price lists, the App from my security camera dvr etc.
For sure. Apple allows this.
If I understand you correctly, then create for each dealer it’s own App. (Or the same if you want to handle the branding from the backend)
Each user gets a login code from the Dealer that he enters when starting the App for the first time. This code is either a Dealer code or different codes for each user.
You can leave a demo login for the reviewer when submitting the App to the App Store.[/quote]
EXACTLY the idea… the confusion is sites that say Apple allows activation codes, and sites that say they dont’
can you create a webapi in XOJO and get the dealers to register the vehicle (vin?) on your portal under their login. then the user downloads the generic app, enters the VIN and some form of autherisation, it connects to your portal, finds the record and and you then download the correct dealer images/contact details etc to the device. when they upload vehicle data, it is stored on your portal and the dealers can login to see whats what.
you get to sell the development time and an ongoing service charge for the backend.
[quote=253748:@Russ Lunn]can you create a webapi in XOJO and get the dealers to register the vehicle (vin?) on your portal under their login. then the user downloads the generic app, enters the VIN and some form of autherisation, it connects to your portal, finds the record and and you then download the correct dealer images/contact details etc to the device. when they upload vehicle data, it is stored on your portal and the dealers can login to see whats what.
you get to sell the development time and an ongoing service charge for the backend.[/quote]
much easier if the dealer just hands the customer a flyer with an activation code on it… Besides most people would have a hard time entering such a long value without making a typo… much easier to type in M4732 for example than it would be to type in ZXAVP33Y2EA00376, plus I don’t want to maintain a database of THEIR customers
get the iphone to scan the vin barcode. 
sell each of them a xojo cloud and they can manage their own customers.
there is nothing for the dealer (or myself) to manage
oh well. I don’t see how you do it. you either have lots of appstore hoops to jump every time you add a new dealer, or they change their branding etc.
or you have a backend service somewhere to add them to and one appstore app that talks to it.
i don’t see how its achievable with NO management!
If I add a new dealer, I create a new version of the app, by changing the xml stored in one module. If the dealer changes their branding (not likely), I update the same xml in their existing version… There is nothing for the dealer to do… I expect once a dealer version is deployed… its a done deal for the most part.
You said “manage customers”… . there is nothing to manage… period… the customer gets the app, and uses it, or not.
Apple may frown at a series of functionally identical apps with only minor differences.
You probably will need to insure that the name, the appearance and the description of each dealer app be sufficiently original to avoid it being considered a duplicate.