Expensive iPhone apps

Yesterday, in my review of Time Master, I stated that the app costs $9.99 and noted that this price is on the high end for an iPhone time tracking app.  That got me thinking about how lucky iPhone users are when it comes to app prices.  On my prior smart phone, a Treo 650, I didn't buy software very often, but when I did it was frequently priced $25 or higher.  For example, Documents to Go by Dataviz for Palm costs $30 to $90, depending upon the version.  And yet on the iPhone, users are used to apps costing between $0.99 and $9.99.  Few developers cross the $10 threshold.

But some do, and if you want to spend a lot of money on an iPhone app -- perhaps you are looking forward to that tax refund after filing your return yesterday -- you can do so, although your options are limited.  And I'm not talking about silly apps like the previously available $999.99 I Am Rich app or the currently available and arguably just as silly $999.99 GoldBeggar app from mobileDev.  (iTunes link, if you must:  )  There are also legitimate iPhone apps that cost over $100.  Here are the ones that I found:

Surveillance camera apps.  If you have a lot of surveillance cameras that you want to monitor, there are several apps that let you do so from your iPhone, even viewing multiple live camera feeds at the same time.  iRa Pro ($899.99 ) from Lextech Labs allows you to easily navigate between hundreds of cameras by just flicking your finger across the iPhone screen.  And for cameras that support it, you can even pan and tilt the camera angle and zoom in and out just by using the iPhone app.  If you don't need access to high-end servers, the company also sells iRa Direct ($499.99 ).  Another company with similar products is mobiDEOS which sells Mobile Cam Viewer Enterprise Basic Vesion ($349.99 ), Mobile Cam Viewer Standard ($99.99 ) and Mobile Cam Viewer Basic ($29.99 ).  Yet another example is CamControl for iPhone ($149.99 ).

MyAccountsToGo.  If you are a sales rep and your company uses Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains), you can download the MATG app from CBR-Technology Corporation ($449.99 ) to access your company's accounting and financial information from your iPhone.  There is a similar version for the same price that works with the SAP BusinessOne financial management system.  The developer also offers a free version that only syncs with a sample database so that you can get an idea of how the app works.

Medical apps.  It is easy for a doctor to spend money on iPhone apps.  Lexi-Comp sells various medical reference apps that vary in price from $74.99 to $219.99, or you can purchase a complete set by getting Lexi-COMPLETE ($299.99 ) or Lexi-DENTAL COMPLETE ($299.99 ).  Epocrates Essentials includes continually updated, peer-reviewed, drug, disease and diagnostic information for $149 a year (or $249 for two years).  And a doctor might also want to check out iChart EMR from Caretools, Inc. ($139.99 ) to keep track of patient medical records.

Home automation.  If you have SAVANT's ROSIE home automation system to control your lights, temperature, security, etc., you can purchase the ROSIE Home Automation app ($199.99 ) to control your system from your iPhone, even if you are away from home.  If you use a similar system from AVAI Ventures, then iFusionHome ($149.99 ) does the same thing.  These app prices are actually quite reasonable because purchasing a touch panel control system for these devices can be quite expensive.

Audio spectrum analysis.  If you need realtime feedback of the audio spectrum while you are mixing or doing other audio work, XA1 ($179.99 ) will do the trick for you.  There is also a $9.99 Lite version with fewer features.

Guitar tuner.  There are lots of inexpensive or free guitar tuner apps, but if you want to spend money on a top product, Bernhard Stopper has developed Tunic Guitar Pro ($109.99 ) for professional use.

I am not aware of any law-related apps over $100, although I did recently review a version of Congress in Your Pocket called CongressPro ($99.99) which is updated throughout the year and would be useful for any attorney that does governmental relations work.

[Thanks to AppSherpa for making it easy to search for apps by price and to Inside iPhone for a similar post last year.]

Comments

[Michael]

That's a good point, Blackberry apps are quite a bit more expensive as well, especially the business apps. The amount of free and under $5 iPhone apps is staggering. We've released a free iPhone time tracking app (www.getharvest.com/iphone), Harvest, that syncs up with the web based version of the software, which might be a good alternative to Time Master.