I think this platform could generate a much bigger attention of app developers, if paid apps would be possible.
The same way as Apple and Google do with their stores. €1-2 for an app is a very low cost for a User, however 1-2-5-10 thousands of € could make difference for a developer. Of course Athom should take 10-20% of the income for keeping up and running control and supervision of the app store. 
Not a bad idea 
Another idea I proposed a few weeks ago was for Athom to pool off a certain percentage of their overall monthly/yearly profit and put that money into a special fund.
From that fund all developers could then receive a ongoing portion of it, with a system put in place to work out the shared amounts.
The developer’s would receive ongoing revenue and income from it while the app is listed…
This creates more incentive for the developer to make a good and reliable app … Less Homey’s that sell means less revenue for them. The more successful Homey is , the more they make…
In turn if a developer slacks off, their app gets lots of complaints, they don’t keep it up to date or abandon it then they lose their access to this payment fund.
Ive found in general people don’t like having to spend more money to make their already expensive system work. Especially the Pro at a whopping €399). A (pay per app) model might possibly work with the €69 Bridge, but I don’t think Pro users would like it…
Either way the all developers need to get paid, without doubt
The current system is completely unworkable, unsustainable and is destined to fail…
In my opinion if it was true, iOS app store would have no success. iPhones are quite expensive. Money for Homey Pro and the platform is a thing, but some very low amount of money for an app is more about the additional cost of the sensors/actors.
Other fact is the basic idea has already proven at other platforms. And Athom is not able to lose any recent income, but needs additional to survive and develop.
That’s what Twitter competitor App.net tried, but they failed… 
Comparing Athom and Apple/Google is a bit strange.
Apple is earning money with the phone and all Apple apps are free because there is a paid service behind.
All other apps are from thirth party companies where you pay for the app and their service.
Athoms app (mobile app) is free, too, because you bought Homey (pro or cloud fee).
The problem is, that companies are selling devices without providing an app. That’s why Arhom decided to involve these companies to app development for the cloud - because they earn money with the devices and should pay for app development.
So if companies or Athom are providing their apps (free for paid devices) it’s the best solution.
All other apps (tools, special devices where a company will never create a app) will stay in community.
Athom will not provide a payment framework for these apps. They won’t get enough profit from app payment to get profitable with this service.
So community development will be a nice addition in future. From community for community like now. All users can do is spend some coins via paypal to keep it running. You don’t need a paypent infrastructure for that in the app store.
We are all forgetting something here, while the idea is really cool for having paid apps.
There are a lot of legal reasons and hoops Athom would need to jump through to make something like that work, just adding a “pay” option isn’t just adding that code into the app-store and done, there are a lot of rules and legality things coming along with such a “payed app” option.
Apple and Android can do that because they have an entire legal department that are/can be constantly busy with it, Athom only has 22 employees, they can’t afford a complete (external) legal department/people to keep it all in check, even if they would receive 20-30% of the 2 euro per install.
That same would be if they would split their profit over developers.
what a fascinating discussion! offering paid apps can be a tricky road to navigate in the tech world. it’s like walking a tightrope between satisfying developers’ efforts and users’ wallets
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I think it’s more like a desperately needed synergy of an ecosystem and community, and somehow app development needs to become a rewarding thing.
