[FREE TOOLS] Just published my Countdown Timer! ...But how to get users??

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#uval 2
#uval
  • Forum posts: 4

Apr 18, 2012, 2:06:39 PM via Website

Hey all!

After two months (!) of intense development, this Sunday I finally released my Countdown Timer :)
I've given a lot of thought and attention to the usability and reliability on all android versions and screen sizes.

It's really cool app, more convenient to use than any other timer I've tried (a lot).
But since Google Play has only "TOP NEW", my app is not listed anywhere. I have no idea how people suppose to know it's out there?
Any ideas?

Thanks!
Amir

— modified on Apr 18, 2012, 2:13:15 PM

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Jeremiah 20
Jeremiah
  • Forum posts: 775

Apr 18, 2012, 9:45:48 PM via Website

First you want to make sure that when people are searching for countdown / timer apps yours will appear. This is a great blog about app store optimization: http://droid-blog.net/category/aso-2/

Then you need to find ways to get the reviews and such about your app. There are paid sites you request reviews from such as this one, a test report would give you great exposure. Then submit your app to all the free blogs and review sites you can find.

It's really hard for the independent developer to get exposure for their apps, if you find more ways please let us know!

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#uval 2
#uval
  • Forum posts: 4

Apr 18, 2012, 11:21:46 PM via Website

Nice article! Thanks for the link and tips :)
Intuitively I've done most of the suggestions there, but in 5 days I've got only ~30 (happy) users.
I don't know if I want to pay per download for my free app with no ads.
But on the other hand, I've already invested 2+ months from my time on the development.
It's a lose-lose situation...

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Jeremiah 20
Jeremiah
  • Forum posts: 775

Apr 19, 2012, 3:53:27 AM via Website

How do you plan to make money with the app, being free with no ads? Two months is a lot of work to not make any revenue from the app at all. Being your first app were you treating it as a learning experience?

The google market used to have a "Just In" section that was a boon to small developers. You could usually expect to get a couple thousand downloads for free apps (even with ads) each time you released an update, (if it was at least 2 weeks apart it would be listed in just in again). I've heard that one technique is to purchase an ad-mob ads for your app, a few hundred dollars or get a paid review. And this would be your "seed" users, if your app was good people would show it to their friends and your app would slowly grow in downloads. But with no "seed" user base there absolutely no exposure for your app.

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#uval 2
#uval
  • Forum posts: 4

Apr 19, 2012, 9:09:25 AM via Website

Being free with no ads, I was hoping it would be more attractive to users than the alternative.
Thus - a potential for more users.
If/when I'll have many users, than I could create a pro version with more options for customization (skins, more cool features), which at least some percent of the users will want.

The logic is this -
Completely free is more attractive to users than an app with any money generating method (ad supported, paid, and some sleazy schemes I've seen).
So if I don't get many users as completely free, than probably I would have even less users as ad supported (or paid).
Without many users, a paid app can't cover the cost to make it anyway.
Than there's really no point in making the app paid or ad supported in the first place.

I also have a "secret" agenda - to have as many happy users as possible, to give my next app a better chance.

- I think it's a shame Google has removed the "Just In" section. It's really bad for indie devs like me.

— modified on Apr 19, 2012, 9:12:22 AM

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