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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-sourc

by 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.
mrtksn 5y ago
It's not really all about luck, it's simply that people are usually not very passionate about calculators. You'll have to find the those who are and that's marketing. You should try exploring math and engineering forums and other places where people who are into calculators spend time. You can also improve your App Store Optimisation, write to the editors of the AppStore or publications that can be relevant for a calculator app. "I wrote some code and made living of it" is only possible if other people are taking care of the rest of the business. I also wouldn't be too focused on the aspects like "no tracking, no permission, no ads". These are popular topic around tech circles but they are not product but features of a product. Good to have them of course but they don't replace a great product.
- bko 5y ago
  I don't even expect people to be passionate about it. I don't care that it goes viral or not. I just feel that my product was superior than the terrible calculators on the market, and it was free, no permissions required, and small. Maybe I'm biased or the calculator market has changed, but I don't think calculators should have pop-ups and its a shame that all the top calculators on the app store are spammy and terrible. The value prop is huge. If I can't get this visible or downloaded, I doubt I'd be able to get any traction on my monetized app ideas.
  - reidjs 5y ago
    Why would anyone download a calculator in the first place? Doesn’t the phone already have one?
    - bko 5y ago
      iPad doesn't have one because Jobs thought it would look ugly with the numbers stretched out. So now we're stuck with these monstrosities instead, with pop-ups to boot https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*F1EtkiGY0DkyafpRzUChcQ.png https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*F1EtkiGY0DkyafpRzU...
    - LudwigNagasena 5y ago
Hammershaft 5y ago
Could part of it be that Apple prioritizes apps with in app purchases?
w0mbat 5y ago
Apple is not incentivized to promote your app given that their percentage cut of "free" is $0. Why are you giving this app away for free? You know that various other indies like James Thompson are trying to SELL alternative calculators and you are undercutting them with no discernable benefit to yourself.
- callmeal 5y ago
  >you are undercutting them with no discernable benefit to yourself. GP does have a discernable benefit. It's just not discernable to us because it is not monetary.
asddubs 5y ago
google play is the same. that's why I love f-droid, you can usually find alternatives to the spam that are built for the sake of making the app in question, not as a vehicle to try and squeeze money out of people
tagawa 5y ago
I’m one of those users! When I got an iPad a year ago, I couldn’t believe a) there wasn’t a calculator app on it, and b) there were no calculator apps I could trust except yours. So disappointing coming from a Linux and open source background, so at least one person is hugely grateful for devs like you - thank you. :-)
brushfoot 5y ago
> I guess sometimes you get lucky. I'll assume in good faith that you didn't mean it this way, but this comes across as incredibly insulting to OP. OP didn't get lucky at all. He created something that would appeal to a large audience, he found that audience and he told them about it. End of story. Frankly, it's about the idea, the size of the audience, and the sales pitch. "Tinder for movies" is a way easier sell for most people than "iPad calculator." I'm not even sure who the audience is for the latter. The subset of people who need to do calculations on their casual web-browsing device but can't use the calculator on their phone or one of the many calculators online? That has to be a very small group. The craftsmanship and the experimentation are great, but it's easy for us devs to stay inside our heads. "This operating system doesn't have a calculator" by itself just isn't a compelling reason for most end users to want one. My washing machine doesn't have a calculator, but that doesn't bother me because the kind of work I do with it doesn't call for a calculator. If it does, I reach into my pocket for my phone. So I think we're doing a disservice to our own understanding of how marketing works if we attribute this to luck.
chandi 5y ago
When I got my iPad I searched for a calculator and as you said, all the ones I found were ad filled. I have found the App Store store search to be quite poor at finding new apps. I’m glad I can now have a clean calculator for my iPad atleast, thanks!
fny 5y ago
I actually use opencalc and found it by looking for open source calculator. Some thoughts about how you could boost traffic:. - Do more keyword stuffing - Add the word calculator to the title maybe free also "OpenCalc - Free Calculator" - Have many people download the app to boost it's ranking
ngcc_hk 5y ago
Nice and clean interface. Not busy Suggestions just as a user, not that mine is successful as well: 1. Use the title calculator somewhere. No Ad Calc, or. Not sure other than programmer who know what open meant for user point of view. OpenCalc ... not understandable. 2. Compared with competitors (or at least why I download a few): - hex/dec/bin ... - memory ... - paper tape (history) ... (or extra rpn ... command stack ... just a small lisp calculator that has a few file I store for useful simple calc) We all swim up against the tide. Hope you do it better than me or him. Good luck. P.s. he failed in any case “ I Made A Mobile App for my Significant Other (And She Won't Use It)” in his other article. :-)
donmcronald 5y ago
I just installed it. Thanks! I never had a calculator on my iPad because I wasn’t willing to install any of the trash that shows up in search. It would be nice if there were better discovery for quality apps. I’m thinking something like alternate app stores would do the trick because I would pick one with a “no ads or unnecessary permissions” policy.

by bko 5y ago

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.

mrtksn 5y ago

It's not really all about luck, it's simply that people are usually not very passionate about calculators. You'll have to find the those who are and that's marketing. You should try exploring math and engineering forums and other places where people who are into calculators spend time. You can also improve your App Store Optimisation, write to the editors of the AppStore or publications that can be relevant for a calculator app. "I wrote some code and made living of it" is only possible if other people are taking care of the rest of the business. I also wouldn't be too focused on the aspects like "no tracking, no permission, no ads". These are popular topic around tech circles but they are not product but features of a product. Good to have them of course but they don't replace a great product.

bko 5y ago
I don't even expect people to be passionate about it. I don't care that it goes viral or not. I just feel that my product was superior than the terrible calculators on the market, and it was free, no permissions required, and small. Maybe I'm biased or the calculator market has changed, but I don't think calculators should have pop-ups and its a shame that all the top calculators on the app store are spammy and terrible. The value prop is huge. If I can't get this visible or downloaded, I doubt I'd be able to get any traction on my monetized app ideas.
- reidjs 5y ago
  Why would anyone download a calculator in the first place? Doesn’t the phone already have one?
  - bko 5y ago
    iPad doesn't have one because Jobs thought it would look ugly with the numbers stretched out. So now we're stuck with these monstrosities instead, with pop-ups to boot https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*F1EtkiGY0DkyafpRzUChcQ.png https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*F1EtkiGY0DkyafpRzU...
  - LudwigNagasena 5y ago

Hammershaft 5y ago

Could part of it be that Apple prioritizes apps with in app purchases?

w0mbat 5y ago

Apple is not incentivized to promote your app given that their percentage cut of "free" is $0. Why are you giving this app away for free? You know that various other indies like James Thompson are trying to SELL alternative calculators and you are undercutting them with no discernable benefit to yourself.

callmeal 5y ago
>you are undercutting them with no discernable benefit to yourself. GP does have a discernable benefit. It's just not discernable to us because it is not monetary.

asddubs 5y ago

google play is the same. that's why I love f-droid, you can usually find alternatives to the spam that are built for the sake of making the app in question, not as a vehicle to try and squeeze money out of people

tagawa 5y ago

I’m one of those users! When I got an iPad a year ago, I couldn’t believe a) there wasn’t a calculator app on it, and b) there were no calculator apps I could trust except yours. So disappointing coming from a Linux and open source background, so at least one person is hugely grateful for devs like you - thank you. :-)

brushfoot 5y ago

> I guess sometimes you get lucky. I'll assume in good faith that you didn't mean it this way, but this comes across as incredibly insulting to OP. OP didn't get lucky at all. He created something that would appeal to a large audience, he found that audience and he told them about it. End of story. Frankly, it's about the idea, the size of the audience, and the sales pitch. "Tinder for movies" is a way easier sell for most people than "iPad calculator." I'm not even sure who the audience is for the latter. The subset of people who need to do calculations on their casual web-browsing device but can't use the calculator on their phone or one of the many calculators online? That has to be a very small group. The craftsmanship and the experimentation are great, but it's easy for us devs to stay inside our heads. "This operating system doesn't have a calculator" by itself just isn't a compelling reason for most end users to want one. My washing machine doesn't have a calculator, but that doesn't bother me because the kind of work I do with it doesn't call for a calculator. If it does, I reach into my pocket for my phone. So I think we're doing a disservice to our own understanding of how marketing works if we attribute this to luck.

chandi 5y ago

When I got my iPad I searched for a calculator and as you said, all the ones I found were ad filled. I have found the App Store store search to be quite poor at finding new apps. I’m glad I can now have a clean calculator for my iPad atleast, thanks!

fny 5y ago

I actually use opencalc and found it by looking for open source calculator. Some thoughts about how you could boost traffic:. - Do more keyword stuffing - Add the word calculator to the title maybe free also "OpenCalc - Free Calculator" - Have many people download the app to boost it's ranking

ngcc_hk 5y ago

Nice and clean interface. Not busy Suggestions just as a user, not that mine is successful as well: 1. Use the title calculator somewhere. No Ad Calc, or. Not sure other than programmer who know what open meant for user point of view. OpenCalc ... not understandable. 2. Compared with competitors (or at least why I download a few): - hex/dec/bin ... - memory ... - paper tape (history) ... (or extra rpn ... command stack ... just a small lisp calculator that has a few file I store for useful simple calc) We all swim up against the tide. Hope you do it better than me or him. Good luck. P.s. he failed in any case “ I Made A Mobile App for my Significant Other (And She Won't Use It)” in his other article. :-)

donmcronald 5y ago

I just installed it. Thanks! I never had a calculator on my iPad because I wasn’t willing to install any of the trash that shows up in search. It would be nice if there were better discovery for quality apps. I’m thinking something like alternate app stores would do the trick because I would pick one with a “no ads or unnecessary permissions” policy.