The iPhone App Store has a new king, and its name is Fantastical. The calendar replacement, which we reviewed this morning, has overtaken Angry Birds Star Wars to become the top paid iPhone app.
This is remarkable for a couple of reasons. First among those is it shows that there is still a true passion among iPhone users for really great productivity apps. Of late, the productivity category has been eclipsed by games and social media apps in popularity. But when you’re breaking down and rebuilding something as essential as a calendar, people are willing to pay.
The app currently runs $1.99, which is a half-off price. But that’s still double the next 4 apps on the list, including two Angry Birds spinoffs. So topping the charts is a nice validation that you can charge more, even if it’s still half the price of a coffee, and still have success on the store.
It’s important to note, as well, that Fantastical comes from an indy shop of two developers. Michael Simmons and Kent Sutherland of Flexibits worked together with graphic designer Wolfgang Bartelme on Fantastical for iPhone, producing it in roughly 6 months. That’s a far smaller team than the folks at Swedish gaming company Rovio or Disney have at their disposal. So, in a small way at least, this is a nice victory for a small team on the enormous million-app-strong App Store.
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