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I think the biggest myth with apps today is "if you build it, they will come". I think it was true 10 years ago when the iPhone App Store was getting started, b

by allenu 5y ago

I think the biggest myth with apps today is "if you build it, they will come". I think it was true 10 years ago when the iPhone App Store was getting started, but not today. The thing is, having a ton of competitors in the space means you will have to work extra hard for your app to be seen and then picked. "Lesson 4: Distribution" in the post is probably the most important thing here. Marketing and SEO are huge in terms of getting people to know about your app. I have an app of my own in the iOS app store and the times I've had jumps in sales have been tied to either me posting about it somewhere or someone else posting about it on their own. If I don't get the word out, nobody is going to know about my app. Like the poster, my app is in a crowded space (flash cards), and so a search in the app store doesn't even show my app, at least not until you scroll for a minute or so...

albeebe1 5y ago
> I think it was true 10 years ago when the iPhone App Store was getting started, but not today In 2008 before the App Store when Cydia and Installer where the only way to install apps on your iPhone, my app was getting 10,000 installs per day with 0 marketing. I refer to that period as the gold rush days.
- allenu 5y ago
  I remember a coworker made a very basic compass app with a friend in the early days of the iPhone and he disclosed that they made something like $200k on it, which is absolutely wild.
kylebolt 5y ago
Thanks for reading! I'm focusing more on distribution and monetization (or ability to pay) on my next product.
granshaw 5y ago
> the biggest myth with apps today is "if you build it, they will come" Are there really people who still think that? I thought it was common knowledge that market knowledge, sales, and marketing are an order of magnitude more important than the tech. I shudder to think of those who quit their jobs and jumped all the way in without knowing this basic fact

by allenu 5y ago

albeebe1 5y ago

> I think it was true 10 years ago when the iPhone App Store was getting started, but not today In 2008 before the App Store when Cydia and Installer where the only way to install apps on your iPhone, my app was getting 10,000 installs per day with 0 marketing. I refer to that period as the gold rush days.

allenu 5y ago
I remember a coworker made a very basic compass app with a friend in the early days of the iPhone and he disclosed that they made something like $200k on it, which is absolutely wild.

kylebolt 5y ago

Thanks for reading! I'm focusing more on distribution and monetization (or ability to pay) on my next product.

granshaw 5y ago

> the biggest myth with apps today is "if you build it, they will come" Are there really people who still think that? I thought it was common knowledge that market knowledge, sales, and marketing are an order of magnitude more important than the tech. I shudder to think of those who quit their jobs and jumped all the way in without knowing this basic fact