Private vs. Public Apps: Which Development Option is Right for You?


When you Start an App in the Ribbit Developer Center, Ribbit gives you two options for creating and deploying applications. Soon, with the addition of the account management portal, you’ll have three options from which to choose:

-  Develop a private app for your own domain;
-  Develop a public app for Ribbit.com users (coming soon);
-  Develop an app for Ribbit Mobile users.

To help you decide which option is right for you, we summarized the main points for each option below:

Private Apps

• Ideal for corporate or independent developers who want to manage their own user base and monetize Ribbit's services in addition to their applications.

• App creates a Ribbit account for each user automatically; app users are often not aware of their accounts. 

• Users can access multiple private apps using the same email address, because each app remains in the developer’s private domain.

• App developer pays for users’ consumption of billable services (international calling, for example), and controls the packaging, distribution, resale, and marketing of services. 
 


Public Apps (Ribbit.com and Ribbit Mobile)


• Ideal for developers who want to make their apps available to Ribbit’s large user community and potentially earn revenue from their apps. Also ideal for developers who want to communications-enable existing public apps, such as Facebook apps.

• Users are required to register for a Ribbit account to use public apps. Users sign up just once to access any number of public apps.

• Users are required to pay for any billable services they consume; Ribbit manages billing and support.

• Developer can submit their app to Ribbit’s application showcase. (Developers still need to promote and market their own apps.)

• Public apps can be distributed on other marketplaces, such as iTunes and Google.

If you have a Public app idea or want to learn more, please email me at apps@ribbit.com