Ask HN: What should I do with my app? 130 downloads 3 real subscribers

Hey guys, My app PairCare has 2-9 downloads every single day but haven't had new trials for weeks so far. It's been a month after launch, a total downlaods is around 130 but I got 3 real subscribers and 3 people tried and canceled right away. Only one tried and canceled when it's almost to subscribe. I'm thinking it's because of onboarding so I'm gonna fix it but maybe it's time to give up... I don't know. If you have any advice I'll appreciate it.

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Who is your customer? Each application solves particular problem for particular group of people. And you need to know as much as possible about them? Gender, age, working/non-working, kids, free time, what are their problems you are trying to solve, do they keep, focus, what colors do they prefer, what kind of subscriptions can they pay? etc, etc... Once you have this information, you know how to create a product that will be used, or at least the chances are bigger. If you do int differently, it can work, but it is a pure gamble how things will go on.

Usually, this is the beginning of everything, before you write any code. You make this for other people, you need to know what other people need and look for.

Talk to people, make interviews, do analysis of the results, see what's missing...

I searched for your product in Google Play but could not find it. I wanted to have a look and give honest opinion.

1 month is not that long. And also you need to expand your traction meaning: increase the number of downloads. So… marketing. You should try to find your main acquisition channels and focus on this for now, do not spend your time on trying to improve your product if you don’t have higher number of downloads. If it’s a b2c app then usually conversion rate (install-to-purchase) is around 1-4%.

The "I'm gonna fix onboarding" instinct is almost always the wrong first diagnosis when users cancel immediately after trying. Onboarding is a funnel problem. Immediate cancels are a positioning/expectation problem - they expected X, saw Y, bailed inside 30 seconds.

Three canceled immediately and one got to the paywall and canceled. You have a sample size of 4 users who engaged. That's not "optimize conversion" territory, that's "call them personally and ask what they expected vs what they saw" territory imo. A 15-minute call with each of them will teach you more than any onboarding A/B test from my experience.

If the three who canceled immediately say the same thing ("I thought this was going to do X and it doesn't") — well that's your answer and copy tweaks won't fix it. If they each say something different — the product isn't legibly positioned yet.

At 130 downloads with 2-9/day organic, you don't have a traffic problem. You have a "does this do something specific enough that people want" problem. Fixable, but only by talking to the people who bounced, not by guessing. You must established a channel of communication with your users.