After the Bump

When you launch a new app, the app stores give you a bit of initial visibility. Your listing gets shown to more people than usual for a few days. It's a real thing, and we saw it. In the first three or four days we got a decent number of impressions, some installs, people actually using the app.

Then it petered off. Not a surprise. We knew this would happen. The stores test out new apps to see if they stick, and then they move on. Now we're in the part where we have to figure out growth ourselves.

We mostly noticed this on the Apple App Store. Google Play was quieter from the start; the algorithm there seems to weight long-term performance more than initial buzz.

What We Shipped

We're not ready to charge for anything yet. The donation mechanism we mentioned last week is still coming, but setting up in-app purchases properly was too big for one week. So we shipped something smaller: a review prompt.

It triggers after you share your first invoice, either as a PDF or a link. That felt like the right moment. You just did the thing the app is for. If you're going to feel good about it, probably now.

For a new app, reviews might actually matter more than a few dollars in revenue. The research says apps with 4.5+ ratings get about three times more downloads. And most people read at least one review before installing something.

The main reason we wanted this in place before running ads: without a prompt, almost no one goes out of their way to leave a review. You get the install, maybe some usage, but it just sits there. It doesn't turn into anything. With the prompt, a satisfied user might actually leave a review. That's worth a lot more than the install alone.

We did start a very small Google App campaign this week. Still in learning mode, so nothing to report yet. Apple Search Ads requires some documentation we haven't sorted out, so that's still TBD.

— Steve
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