6 ms·

I got 22k app downloads in one weekend with a $0 budget

66 points by vuciv1 5y ago

mushufasa 5y ago
Neat! Though the title of "$0" budget is misleading. He explicitly mentioned cloning a $5 digital ocean droplet, which brings us up to $10.
- princevegeta89 5y ago
  OP probably meant "$0 marketing budget".
- vuciv1 5y ago
  Oh, thats fair. I guess I was trying to note that I didn't have to pay for marketing, but you make a good point! Sorry about that
- imilk 5y ago
  You're being overly pedantic.
  - Diti 5y ago
    I don’t think they are. The title of this submission literally says OP got 22k app downloads with a $0 budget, meaning that anyone with a $0 budget could be getting the same, if lucky. When, in reality, OP spent $25 in Google Play Store fees, $99/year in Apple App Store fees, and $5 in Digital Ocean fees. That is /not/ a $0 budget.
ipaddr 5y ago
Is 22,000 downloads, a million actions on the site and 15 dollars in donations a success? It feels like it is missing the part where he sold 2,000 memberships or made 2,000 in ad revenue. I guess if three angel investors are calling there might be a path. Building traffic is hard but only half of it.
- AS_of 5y ago
  Yeah, well, when it's making money you're too busy to post a write-up.
- mushufasa 5y ago
  it sounds like an unconditional amazing success given the original project motivations and goals. building a thing and delivering joy is a reward in and of itself. whether or not this is or should be a business is a separate matter. not everything that works as an idea will work as a business.
- mrtksn 5y ago
  If the app turns out to be sticky, he can explore proper monetisation. I don't see why the negativity, after all the codes are not written into a stone. I don't see a problem. There's always a joy in having people use your product, if it is not a capital intensive project the money can come later.
- vuciv1 5y ago
  Yeah, just wanna echo the other comments. It was fun, and honestly, even if I don't profit from it, it was fun to build, I'm learning a lot, and it really is bringing people joy. Would it be nice to be rich from my app? Yeah, of course. If that doesn't happen, that's okay too, though. I'll find another way.
- w0mbat 5y ago
  22,000 downloads of a free app at launch is no big deal. It's free and he's having to pay for hosting for the backend. I can stand on the corner and give away dollar bills too.
- sarsway 5y ago
  Yes please think about monetization next time!! All that attention is nice, but in the end you just gotta charge for your work, at least a little. We all just want to give away freebies, but success is hard to come by. These are rare opportunities and money gives you the freedom to focus on what you want to work on in the future.
bko 5y ago
That's a cool app. But just having a cool app and posting to social media doesn't work 99% of the time in my experience. For instance, I made a free open-source iPad calculator app with no permissions, no ads, no in app purchases, nothing. If you search "calculator" on app store, you get garbage calculators w/ popups or big ad banners, and limited functionality. So surely this one would do well. So I did the social media thing. Not only did I get very few downloads, but I usually can't even find my app on the app store if I search "calculator". I get apps that aren't even related before I see mine! Although I did get ~1k downloads a few weeks ago, because I think someone influential blasted it. Anyway, app store is a shit show for discovery, but I guess sometimes you get lucky. Here are my PAGE VIEWS for the first week or so: Date Product Page Views 6/27/18 1 6/28/18 7 6/29/18 4 6/30/18 4 7/1/18 9 7/2/18 7 7/3/18 3 7/4/18 6 7/5/18 2 7/6/18 6 7/7/18 2 7/8/18 3 7/9/18 0 [0] https://github.com/breeko/opencalc https://github.com/breeko/opencalc [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opencalc/id1403173317 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opencalc/id1403173317
- knubie 5y ago
  I had the same experience with my app. Once I started running ads in the app store I jumped up to the 4th or 5th position within a couple of days. shrug
  - spoonjim 5y ago
    But how is someone supposed to justify running ads for a product with no revenue?
    - someguydave 5y ago
      app stores are not the place for software that generates no revenue
    - knubie 5y ago
      Oh believe me, I’m not trying to justify it. The App Store‘s search capabilities seem not so good and a bit exploitive even.
- 5y ago
vladmk 5y ago
Is it lucky? Yes, but so is everything else, the great part here is you took advantage of the opportunity and I hope you keep doing that.
visox 5y ago
had a similar experience here on HN :D my one and only post about a poor list of apps to copy did blew up and i gained 23k visits in one day https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27007767 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27007767 not sure it was so popular, maybe because it was very raw and hackisch but still interesting.

66 points by vuciv1 5y ago

Neat! Though the title of "$0" budget is misleading. He explicitly mentioned cloning a $5 digital ocean droplet, which brings us up to $10.

princevegeta89 5y ago
OP probably meant "$0 marketing budget".
vuciv1 5y ago
Oh, thats fair. I guess I was trying to note that I didn't have to pay for marketing, but you make a good point! Sorry about that
imilk 5y ago
You're being overly pedantic.
- Diti 5y ago
  I don’t think they are. The title of this submission literally says OP got 22k app downloads with a $0 budget, meaning that anyone with a $0 budget could be getting the same, if lucky. When, in reality, OP spent $25 in Google Play Store fees, $99/year in Apple App Store fees, and $5 in Digital Ocean fees. That is /not/ a $0 budget.

ipaddr 5y ago

Is 22,000 downloads, a million actions on the site and 15 dollars in donations a success? It feels like it is missing the part where he sold 2,000 memberships or made 2,000 in ad revenue. I guess if three angel investors are calling there might be a path. Building traffic is hard but only half of it.

AS_of 5y ago
Yeah, well, when it's making money you're too busy to post a write-up.
mushufasa 5y ago
it sounds like an unconditional amazing success given the original project motivations and goals. building a thing and delivering joy is a reward in and of itself. whether or not this is or should be a business is a separate matter. not everything that works as an idea will work as a business.
mrtksn 5y ago
If the app turns out to be sticky, he can explore proper monetisation. I don't see why the negativity, after all the codes are not written into a stone. I don't see a problem. There's always a joy in having people use your product, if it is not a capital intensive project the money can come later.
vuciv1 5y ago
Yeah, just wanna echo the other comments. It was fun, and honestly, even if I don't profit from it, it was fun to build, I'm learning a lot, and it really is bringing people joy. Would it be nice to be rich from my app? Yeah, of course. If that doesn't happen, that's okay too, though. I'll find another way.
w0mbat 5y ago
22,000 downloads of a free app at launch is no big deal. It's free and he's having to pay for hosting for the backend. I can stand on the corner and give away dollar bills too.
sarsway 5y ago
Yes please think about monetization next time!! All that attention is nice, but in the end you just gotta charge for your work, at least a little. We all just want to give away freebies, but success is hard to come by. These are rare opportunities and money gives you the freedom to focus on what you want to work on in the future.

bko 5y ago

That's a cool app. But just having a cool app and posting to social media doesn't work 99% of the time in my experience. For instance, I made a free open-source iPad calculator app with no permissions, no ads, no in app purchases, nothing. If you search "calculator" on app store, you get garbage calculators w/ popups or big ad banners, and limited functionality. So surely this one would do well. So I did the social media thing. Not only did I get very few downloads, but I usually can't even find my app on the app store if I search "calculator". I get apps that aren't even related before I see mine! Although I did get ~1k downloads a few weeks ago, because I think someone influential blasted it. Anyway, app store is a shit show for discovery, but I guess sometimes you get lucky. Here are my PAGE VIEWS for the first week or so: Date Product Page Views 6/27/18 1 6/28/18 7 6/29/18 4 6/30/18 4 7/1/18 9 7/2/18 7 7/3/18 3 7/4/18 6 7/5/18 2 7/6/18 6 7/7/18 2 7/8/18 3 7/9/18 0 [0] https://github.com/breeko/opencalc https://github.com/breeko/opencalc [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opencalc/id1403173317 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opencalc/id1403173317

knubie 5y ago
I had the same experience with my app. Once I started running ads in the app store I jumped up to the 4th or 5th position within a couple of days. shrug
- spoonjim 5y ago
  But how is someone supposed to justify running ads for a product with no revenue?
  - someguydave 5y ago
    app stores are not the place for software that generates no revenue
  - knubie 5y ago
    Oh believe me, I’m not trying to justify it. The App Store‘s search capabilities seem not so good and a bit exploitive even.
5y ago

vladmk 5y ago

Is it lucky? Yes, but so is everything else, the great part here is you took advantage of the opportunity and I hope you keep doing that.

visox 5y ago

had a similar experience here on HN :D my one and only post about a poor list of apps to copy did blew up and i gained 23k visits in one day https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27007767 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27007767 not sure it was so popular, maybe because it was very raw and hackisch but still interesting.