One constant complaint I hear from iPhone developers is that it is very difficult to manage limited-times promotions. This may seem like a minor issue but there could potentially be lots of marketing dollars associated with this effort, and not having a firm launch time can be a major problem. It looks like Apple is listening to these gripes, as it is allowing developers to set a predetermined sales windows.
This was first pointed out on Twitter by Amro Mousa and later confirmed by Macwold. This is a small, but critical move because sales and marketing are key factors in what type of apps are successful. While Apple has been arbitrary or downright draconian to developers at times, they do consistently roll out improvements. Each new version of the iPhone software has included more hooks into the hardware and moves like this make it easier to monetize apps. Now, if only Apple wasn’t a black hole with user data …
[Via Macworld]