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Last week we tried to launch an Android-first app at a major startup conference with 5000 visitors. 95% of the visitors (startups, entrepreneurs, investors, ex

Last week we tried to launch an Android-first app at a major startup conference with 5000 visitors. 95% of the visitors (startups, entrepreneurs, investors, executives) had iPhones. We later confirmed this by looking at the network stats and couldn't believe it. In a country where Android statistically has 80% marketshare. The Android users loved the product, but we failed because we couldn't generate word-of-mouth. For the target audience of the Pixel, this is an uphill battle.

diminish 10y ago
Actually that shows a big opportunity exists for startups in Android space. Clearly the startup world is not where the customers are due to various reasons. Go where the customers are, observe what they are doing and make something they can use. I truly see a big opportunity. Launching at startup events is wrong unless your customers are them.
- tluyben2 10y ago
  Exactly. What he says is why most apps on Android look and feel like afterthoughts compared to their iPhone counterparts. That is opportunity.
- julianpye 10y ago
  Sure, but potential partners and investors want to use your product and try it out. If you have Android-first the only thing you can do is you lend them an Android phone. And then you get 80% feedback on general Android topics and they boot the phone just to try the app and can't determine all its implementation and integration potential.
radiorental 10y ago
> major startup conference Network stats viewer discretion advised. The log content may be self selecting to certain individuals and is not representative of the larger population.
fencepost 10y ago
If your app is mostly targeting startups (cue stereotype of hipsters on Macs in coffeeshops and coworking spaces), then Android should probably not be your first choice of platform. If your app is targeting a non-startup audience and you can identify a conference or tradeshow more relevant to your actual audience, that may be a better place to try for attendee interest than a startup conference.
megablast 10y ago
Most Android devices sold are not Galaxy S7 or S6, they are cheap $100 to $200 devices, sold to people who just want a new phone and maybe facebook. The market share is bottom heavy.
SwellJoe 10y ago
Echo chambers are dangerous places to make marketing decisions. Startup and tech and design conferences are peak echo chamber.
stouset 10y ago
Out of curiosity, why Android-first? Pretty much all the data indicated that iOS users will readily pay for apps and content, while far fewer Android owners do. Attribute this to whatever reason you want, but it seems foolish to chase after a market that costs more to develop for (due to fragmentation), more to maintain for (due to ancient versions of Android), and won't actually net you as much revenue.
- hesarenu 10y ago
  You need to target based on you end customers. In my country more then 90% users are on Android. So going Android first is no brainer. We recently launched a App using react native, getting positive reviews.
  - rimantas 10y ago
    What if 90% of users are dumbphone users? Would it be a nobrainer to target them? My point is: the marketshare of Android does not tell the whole story. A lot of Android phones are lower end phones which are never used as a real smartphones, just some feature phone, which happens to run Android. I think that part should be excluded from your potentional market to see the more realistic picture.
    - hesarenu 10y ago
      If they have a Android then its not a dumb phone. My app is a report mechanism for a business. Most of its end users would be using low end mobiles.

diminish 10y ago

Actually that shows a big opportunity exists for startups in Android space. Clearly the startup world is not where the customers are due to various reasons. Go where the customers are, observe what they are doing and make something they can use. I truly see a big opportunity. Launching at startup events is wrong unless your customers are them.

tluyben2 10y ago
Exactly. What he says is why most apps on Android look and feel like afterthoughts compared to their iPhone counterparts. That is opportunity.
julianpye 10y ago
Sure, but potential partners and investors want to use your product and try it out. If you have Android-first the only thing you can do is you lend them an Android phone. And then you get 80% feedback on general Android topics and they boot the phone just to try the app and can't determine all its implementation and integration potential.

radiorental 10y ago

> major startup conference Network stats viewer discretion advised. The log content may be self selecting to certain individuals and is not representative of the larger population.

fencepost 10y ago

If your app is mostly targeting startups (cue stereotype of hipsters on Macs in coffeeshops and coworking spaces), then Android should probably not be your first choice of platform. If your app is targeting a non-startup audience and you can identify a conference or tradeshow more relevant to your actual audience, that may be a better place to try for attendee interest than a startup conference.

megablast 10y ago

Most Android devices sold are not Galaxy S7 or S6, they are cheap $100 to $200 devices, sold to people who just want a new phone and maybe facebook. The market share is bottom heavy.

SwellJoe 10y ago

Echo chambers are dangerous places to make marketing decisions. Startup and tech and design conferences are peak echo chamber.

stouset 10y ago

Out of curiosity, why Android-first? Pretty much all the data indicated that iOS users will readily pay for apps and content, while far fewer Android owners do. Attribute this to whatever reason you want, but it seems foolish to chase after a market that costs more to develop for (due to fragmentation), more to maintain for (due to ancient versions of Android), and won't actually net you as much revenue.

hesarenu 10y ago
You need to target based on you end customers. In my country more then 90% users are on Android. So going Android first is no brainer. We recently launched a App using react native, getting positive reviews.
- rimantas 10y ago
  What if 90% of users are dumbphone users? Would it be a nobrainer to target them? My point is: the marketshare of Android does not tell the whole story. A lot of Android phones are lower end phones which are never used as a real smartphones, just some feature phone, which happens to run Android. I think that part should be excluded from your potentional market to see the more realistic picture.
  - hesarenu 10y ago
    If they have a Android then its not a dumb phone. My app is a report mechanism for a business. Most of its end users would be using low end mobiles.