Behind the $1,000 Apps

Not all apps are free or 99 cents. A handful of developers are pricing their apps at $999.99—the upper limit of Apple's store.

These apps aim to serve a wide range of specialized markets, in some cases targeting professionals such as piano tuners and anesthetists. Other developers seek to appeal to consumers willing to pay up, such as law students preparing for the bar exam or flag-football enthusiasts tracking their statistics. As of January, there were 30 such apps available in the App Store, according to analytics firm Distimo. Some developers have already reconsidered their approach—at least one of those apps is now free, while another is $1.99. Most developers won't disclose how many times their apps have been downloaded or revenue figures, so it's not clear how well this model works. But many of them are experimenting with cheaper versions.