GL Golf Lite is in the processes of being reviewed by Apple, so I'm wondering what to expect when it comes out. I'm mostly hoping for it to drives sales to the full version of GL Golf, but I also threw in pay per click ads by admob.

Does anyone have any experience releasing a Lite version of their game? Any suggestions or ideas of what to expect? Even relative comparisons would be helpful if you don't want to share exact numbers.

I'll post back with my results when my app gets approved. Surprisingly Apple got to my update of GL Golf before this new app, I would think that new apps should have priorities over updates. Updates are easier to test/approve.

Lite version increases on paid version are insignificant at best.

Do you have any references? I remember you said you were working on a Lite version, but I don't see it in the store as of today.

Good news, 10 minutes ago my Lite version got approved, I'll be able to get some data over the next few days (after it actually starts to show up on the store)

Hey Jake I noticed your app on the front page in the "games" category, didn't that provide some good exposure?

As for the light version, no reason not to try it I believe (you can always pull it off I assume).

There was some talk on this on the macsb mailing list a while back. In general people were saying it isn't really worth it, and may decrease sales. Not sure if any of them had actually tried it though, so who knows.

Word of mouth appears to be the biggest factor in sales. So I would say if you can get many many people to download the lite version, then when enough people have it and are showing it off it may pay off in the long run.

All just theories of course, I decided against a lite version for now so have no data to go by. Labrynth, SuperBall 2 and Vegas Pool Sharks are all doing well, and have lite versions.

I had a lite version prepared and ready then I got some advice from more experienced developers. Some of them were even kind enough to share numbers. I have since pulled my lite version until I can get proper ad support included.

Jake Wrote:GL Golf Lite is in the processes of being reviewed by Apple,

I just checked and it's already available on the AppStore (and I realized I am as bad playing it on the iPhone as I used to be playing the desktop version ).

Could you make the "swing power" cycle instead of just stopping when it reaches the max? Making a single tap right after the two taps to initiate the swing (for a low power hit) is rather difficult/frustrating.

Najrdorf - Yes, this has definitely helped out. Before it was on the front page of the games I was getting pretty sporadic results every day, but after that I started getting more steady sales. Now I'm not on the third tab of "What were playing" section, so I'll have to see how much that drops me.

I can always pull off the lite version for a day or two or for good and see how it affects sales. Right now I've already made some advertising money, but I really need to wait another day or two to figure out how significant it is.

PowerMacX, I do want to refine the swing system in the future, I wish I wasn't swamped with class right now!

So far the results seem to be decent for advertising revenue (~20% of what I was making off the paid version), but I haven't noticed any extra sales for the full version. It's still gaining in popularity, and is now in the top 100 free app list.

I'm really surprised that providing a lite version doesn't really affect full version sales.

(Then again, I haven't bought the full versions of any of the lite apps I downloaded.)