Why won't anyone buy my apps?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2963867

by davidstallard • 15 years ago

8 20 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

So I'm pretty new to the world of software development but I believe I've put together at least a couple of good apps for Android, but getting found in the Android Market is a joke. I've tried getting apps reviewed by review websites but this has its own set of challenges, so now what do I do to get word out about my apps and get people downloading them?

Here's an example of one of my apps - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.platinumapps.platinumtasks&feature=search_result

All suggestions & feedback welcome.

yllus• 15 years ago

When I search for "Google tasks" in the Android Market, you're not on the first page of results. If you can't break in that way, and you don't have some spit-take inspiring new feature that would generate special press, you're simply going to get lost in the crowd.

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Yep, I agree, being on the first page would certainly be helpful with people finding the app, but trying to game the keywords system CAN result in the app being suspended so I'd rather not risk it.

While the app doesn't have a revolutionary feature, the design & functionality are exceptional (from customer e-mails, not just my thoughts) and it does what it's meant to do, well, and the feedback I get from customers is overwhelmingly positive.

Another issue: Google still haven't made it possible to submit app reviews on Android tablets (you have to go to the Android Market website) and given this app is for tablets, it means users aren't writing reviews which would certainly be helpful.

becomevocal• 15 years ago

I tend to only download apps that are recommended to me, since random downloads have never worked out so great. For instance, the one I use now for task management is called Wunderlist. Google them and see how much effort they put into their marketing and brand. It works!

I'd suggest using them as a template for how to arrange your marketing / user adoption and go from there.

Best of luck!

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Thanks for the advice - I'll definitely take a look at Wunderlist and see what we can learn from them. Much appreciated.

Guzba2• 15 years ago

One thing--the curved edges feel very iOS'ey, Android is usually characterized by less to no rounding. Probably less for your case. Other than that it looks great.

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Thanks for the feedback. We focused on the design with the goal of designing an app that is not only functional & easy-to-use but also looks slick, which isn't as common in the Android Market as it is in the iTunes App Store. Hopefully users will notice the difference between this app and other apps that are built by without the same consideration, and so the challenge continues.

Guzba2• 15 years ago

The only reason I said anything was because I noticed how much you had put into making the app look as good as it does (very good). Everyone's a critic, right? :)

mkr-hn• 15 years ago

Have you done any promotion outside review sites? Try emailing Lifehacker and some of the major Android-centric blogs.

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Not much so far, but will certainly drop Lifehacker a line and focus on reaching out to Android-centric blogs. Thanks for the advice.

chc• 15 years ago

You appear to be targeting the Android tablet market exclusively. That's a pretty small segment (Android beats iOS in phone sales, but appears not to be doing well in tablets), so don't be surprised if phone-friendly apps get a lot more users.

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Yeah, we deliberately targeted Android tablets because of the functionality & user-experience we could deliver on the larger screen, but you're right to say Android tablets haven't caught on as fast and Android phones have. Hopefully they'll take off as better devices become available (as was the case with Android phones - remember the G1?) but until then we just need to try and reach all the current Android tablet users. Thanks for the feedback.

gcheong• 15 years ago

I co-developed a paid app on the iOS app store and we have and iPhone and iPad version. The iPhone version sells on the order of 10 times the iPad version. We also have an android phone version which probably sells about the same as our iPad version. So I would agree with the analysis that an app that targets Android tablets exclusively at this point is probably aiming at a very small market.

latch• 15 years ago

This isn't really my forte, but, if it helps..

Since you're tablet-focused, and we have an upcoming Amazon Tablet, any chance you can leverage some of Amazon's promotional techniques with their store (keeping http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2837185 in mind, of course)

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Yeah I've heard plenty of horror stories about the Amazon Store and that link you provided is a good example, plus there are plenty of others out there too. Once the Amazon tablet arrives it may be worth looking at it again because everyone is obviously tipping it to be a huge seller thanks to the popularity of Amazon, so we'll definitely have a look. Thanks for the advice.

revorad2• 15 years ago

No one's said the magic word yet, so I'll bite: Freemium?

Replace the gray checkbox app icon with a smart looking man/woman winning at life all thanks to Platinum Tasks.

Give us a promo code to try it for free, so that we can post reviews.

Note in the search results for "Google tasks", a lot of the apps on the first page also have "to do list" in their names. Maybe yours should too.

See this discussion for more ideas - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2768376

And don't give up. The thing with selling is, you've got to sell.

davidstallard9• 15 years ago

Great advice, thanks for the insight. Would love to look at Freemium but flat out working on other improvements and functionality at the moment to include it, but here's an idea - do you think (in your opinion, and anyone else who is reading) that doing a short-term promotion here and reducing the app to $0.99 (the lowest price I can make it, because it's not possible to swap between paid and free in Android Market) would be enough to entice people who read about the app here to try it and provide reviews to help get the word out?

I'll certainly spend time working on the wording in the Market listing to see if we can get moved up closer to the top, or at least start appearing on the first page and I'll also check out that link. Thanks again for your feedback, I really do appreciate it.

revorad2• 15 years ago

Can you make a free version with reduced functionality, called, say, Gold Tasks? Cross promote from there or do in-app purchases/upgrades if Android has that.

atomicdog• 15 years ago

>I've tried getting apps reviewed by review websites

Which review websites? And did you write to them asking nicely to be featured or did you give them a "back-hander?"

Why won't anyone buy my apps?

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