#1 Product of the DayOctober 28, 2018
MacBook Alarm is macOS app that will secure your laptop.
Around the web
Reviews
- Jodie C. BallOwner of FunnelFiller.org & We'veBeenPros:Β
Everything you want when working from coffee shops whenever you need to step away
Cons:Βthe set up is a little clunky. There's no instructions before you're in the thick of it & downloading apps and changing security settings
This is everything I wanted and never knew existed. It's only $10, and it's totally worth it for the peace of mind while you're working from a bar or coffee shop and need to step away to use the bathroom or order another drink, etc. I know it's pretty difficult to quickly steal a laptop because of passwords and "find my macbook," but I personally don't even want to get into the situation where I have to track my macbook and hope no one's gotten through my password screen first. This is the perfect solution!
Jodie C. Ball has used this product for one day. - Pros:Β
Solves a real problem when working at public spaces
Cons:ΒIneffective if thieve mutes sound before taking the MacBook; app not signed.
Love it. For the next iteration, maybe you can fix the "mute" problem? And invest $99 in an Apple developer certificate? π€ͺππ»
Andreas Pizsa has used this product for one day.
Discussion
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Ken Wallace@boaticus Β· Founder of MastermindJam.com
$4.99? INSTA-PURCHASE. But, to be π― honest, I also would have boughtβwithout hesitationβif the price was $24.99.
So my point isβ¦
RAISE YOUR PRICE!
If I lost my laptop, the thief would get a $2k device, plus a PRICELESS amount of code and files. Whatβs my time worth to buy a new machine, configure it, and OMG replace all that work?
$4.99 feels like Iβm buying a novelty, not a solution to that real problem.
Would I pay $4.99 for a car alarm? No, thatβs too cheap and indicates low quality. Would I pay $4.99 for a baby monitor? No. Same reason. Thatβs again too cheap, and indicates low quality.
Whatβs the right price? No idea. But I would immediately test incrementally higher prices. Put a banner on your site, announcing that the price will go up $5 next week. Andβand this is keyβactually raise the price by $5 next week. And repeat every week until sales slow. When they start to level offβ¦ just leave the price right there and take the banner down.
My hunch is youβll get above $35 before sales flatline.
π€π
UpvoteΒ (30)ShareΒ·
Brendan Hufford@brendan_hufford
@boaticus This is the best advice in this thread.
UpvoteΒ (1)ShareΒ·
Ken Wallace@boaticus Β· Founder of MastermindJam.com
@brendan_hufford ππΌ
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Josh Lewis!@joshlewis
@boaticus Perhaps the goal is not to make as much money as possible, but to help as many people as possible while still making money.
UpvoteΒ (1)ShareΒ·
Ken Wallace@boaticus Β· Founder of MastermindJam.com
@joshlewis Hi there! I'm sorry you assumed my comment was aimed at helping him pursue a goal of making as much money as possible.
It wasn't.
The goal is to get the app into as many hands as possible.
Here's how...
A low price can often be an indicator of low quality. When that happens, low numbers of people take a risk on trying it out.
If you raise the price on certain products (especially security/insurance-related products like this) you increase the number of people who benefit from it.
It's not logical. It may not even seem fair. But, it is the way many humans perceive the notion of value in their minds (I cited two examples above).
Because of this weird, frustrating quirk of human perception, more people can often be helped... simply by making the price higher.
Further, with a higher price, those people who do purchase can be helped for a longer period of time, well into the future, because the developer is incentivized to update, maintain, and add functionality.
With my plan, if folks would like to pay less for the app, that's fine. In that case, they should hurry and not hesitate with their purchase before the price is raised.
There's also a similar product listed on PH (Laplock) if someone really needs this functionality, and that app is free (correlation or causation debate on pricing vs. why that other app got a fraction of the upvotes as this). The maker of that app commented about this just a few moments ago. π
Anyway, it's an interesting debate. I've got no horse in this race, it was merely a suggestion. Andrey can do as he wishes. π
UpvoteΒ (4)ShareΒ·
Andrey ο£Ώ AzimovMaker@andreyazimov Β· AndreyAzimov.com
π Hi PH,
βοΈ Problem
Most of the time I work from a coffee shop with my laptop, and from time to time I'll leave to visit the toilet.
But whenever I go, I π worry that someone might πΊ steal my laptop while I'm away.
π Solution
I tried to find an existing solution to protect my laptop, but none satisfied me. The existing apps are either too expensive (monthly subscription), not supported anymore or they don't work the way that I want. For example, many of them don't play the alarm sound when the display is closed, making it easy for the thief to run away.
So I decided to make my own perfect macOS security alarm app...
How does it work?
If someone tries to steal my laptop (disconnect from the charger or close the display), MacBook Alarm detects it, sounds an alarm and sends a push notification to Telegram so I can capture the bad guy!
πΌ UPDATE:
I receive a lot of feedback after 1 week and made an update. Now there are 3 alarm modes:
- If the charger was disconnected or display was closed
- If the charger was disconnected
- If the display was closed
+ Anti mute/sound change protection.
π¬ Here is a video demo:
π Let me know your feedback.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
This app is a part of my Hard Core Year - I π± quit my job and I have 1 year to get to π profit as an Indie Maker. You can Read my story.
I making this launch live in Twitch.
Thanks, @rdev, and @gerasim_sergey who help with code.
π Solution
I tried to find an existing solution to protect my laptop, but none satisfied me. The existing apps are either too expensive (monthly subscription), not supported anymore or they don't work the way that I want. For example, many of them don't play the alarm sound when the display is closed, making it easy for the thief to run away.
So I decided to make my own perfect macOS security alarm app...
How does it work?
If someone tries to steal my laptop (disconnect from the charger or close the display), MacBook Alarm detects it, sounds an alarm and sends a push notification to Telegram so I can capture the bad guy!
πΌ UPDATE:
I receive a lot of feedback after 1 week and made an update. Now there are 3 alarm modes:
- If the charger was disconnected or display was closed
- If the charger was disconnected
- If the display was closed
+ Anti mute/sound change protection.
π¬ Here is a video demo:
π Let me know your feedback.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
This app is a part of my Hard Core Year - I π± quit my job and I have 1 year to get to π profit as an Indie Maker. You can Read my story.
I making this launch live in Twitch.
Thanks, @rdev, and @gerasim_sergey who help with code. UpvoteΒ (18)ShareΒ·
Mohammed Rafy@rafyasarmatta Β· All things Community
@andreyazimov Hilarious.
UpvoteΒ (1)ShareΒ·
Vishwajeet Srivastava@vishwajeets3 Β· Android Dev | GSoC'17 @MIT Media Lab
@andreyazimov loved the video. Super funny :) Very useful for someone like me who is always worrying about this π
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William@wimgz Β· Compulsive maker
Nice job Andrey! Does it take a picture when the alarm rings so you can identify the thief afterwards? π
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Andrey ο£Ώ AzimovMaker@andreyazimov Β· AndreyAzimov.com
@wimgz Thanks. I thought about it but the chance that a webcam will shot will be a right photo is pretty low. So I decided to launch it without this feature but maybe in next version I will get back to it.
UpvoteΒ (1)ShareΒ·
Manuel Frigerio@mnlfrgr Β· Maker of @maitre_app
Good idea but... it's SOOO expensive! I can probably do it myself in a couple of hours by fiddling around with abstruse configurations, spending another couple of hours trying to troubleshoot problems on StackOverflow and perhaps another 2 hours trying to find the right tune!
I'd rather waste 6 hours of my life than paying you $4.99!!!
Jokes aside, it solves a real problem and the video made me smile π
If anything, you are selling yourself short. I think $9.99 is fair
UpvoteΒ (7)ShareΒ·
Marc KΓΆhlbrugge@marckohlbrugge Β· Founder of BetaList
@mnlfrgr π
UpvoteΒ (2)ShareΒ·
Bruno Lemos@brunolemos Β· Developer
> If anything, you are selling yourself short.
Yes. If you think about it, it's helping to protect a $2000 essential work equipment. So yeah, $5 it REALLY low.
UpvoteΒ (1)ShareΒ·
Gleb Sabirzyanov@gleb_sabirzyanov Β· Hacker. Aiming for the impossible!
Best product video in the world! π₯π₯π₯π₯
UpvoteΒ (5)ShareΒ·