So basically, the conversion to the simple splash screen of the app did not work as expected at launch.
It's good copy writing and the corresponding HN traffic that got the users.
How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
111–120 of 124 posts
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#112Wow! Congrats on the app and I am really enjoying all the advices people are giving here.
A lot of good stuff in the comments.
ps: I am still reading them with the voice of Morgan Freeman, though (maybe that is why they seem so inspiring?)
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#113To get more users, have you tried approaching bloggers in different niches with different article ideas? The use cases for your app are different for different sets of people. Just write a one paragraph abstract about your app and email bloggers and editors to see if they'll cover your just released app. Some headline and abstract ideas when you approach bloggers: 1) Tech/Business -- Popcorn: The hot new app to netwo…
Writing as an ex-editor gone data-wrangling, I can only second this. I wrote for a student-paper and I would have loved the press release with the "zombie apocalypse". I then got to writing for a website. And there, I could have used some of these as well.
BUT: Most press-releases were discarded, without being read. They came in the normal pool-mail-address. And all the spam was there too. My advice would be, to take a little bit time, try to get hold of an editors real email-address and contact him/her that way.
You will dodge the gate-keeping troll, who's job for the day is to clean out the pool-mail-inbox.
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#114About 14 years ago I used a chat client called popcorn that ran on local networks while I was at boarding school. It allowed us to chat after hours when outside internet access was cut off (around 10pm). Now I cant find any reference to it. Anyone else here heard of it?
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#115'x more users needed to unlock this area: invite users'
that is goddamn brilliant.
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#116Why was the title changed from "Show HN: The App Every College Dorm Needs (appsto.re)" to the one in the picture?
HN changed it back to my original title once it detected I had posted before.
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was probably my most embarrassing oversight. Your first point is the way it's working. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to make that work without segmenting the map into fixed cells... any thoughts?
You should just make the text from 1 to 2 miles show at 50% alpha, and the 25% alpha from 2 to 3 miles.
This sounds like a solid and scalable approach, most others that come to mind relate to being able to join a conversation based on seeing part of it and then being added, but if the app isn't doing identity-based messaging (e.g. if A replies to B does it become more like tweeting at each other?) then there's no real way to do so.
Another nice aspect of keeping it strictly distance-based is that it makes it simpler to scale - all persons within a geographic region are able to see only other people within that region, so within limits you can run separate backend instances as required.
And of course there are all sorts of potential growth directions by allowing communities (e.g. "Students at XYZU and people within 1 mile" or "Students at XYZU who are within 1 mile").
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#118Congrats on the success! I'm curious: the condition of <1 mile proximity isn't transitive, so wouldn't users be seeing only one half of a lot of conversations? Like if A was close to B, B was close to C, but A wasn't close to C, then A would only see what B says to C but not what C says back. Or have you divided up space into fixed cells roughly one mile wide to prevent this?
This was probably my most embarrassing oversight. Your first point is the way it's working. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to make that work without segmenting the map into fixed cells... any thoughts?
Is there a reason it requires iOS 7? Those with jail broken iphones might still be on 5...
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#119How were you able to get Apple to accept the app when it's locked by a login screen? I suffered with 2 different apps that had been rejected because they required the user to register/login before they can use the app.
you can add a test login username and password in the meta data
It's not about that. They say you cannot require the user to share personal info before using your app. Maybe it's because you are registering with a username and not an email.
Re: How I Got My First 1000 Users in 1 Day
#120To get more users, have you tried approaching bloggers in different niches with different article ideas? The use cases for your app are different for different sets of people. Just write a one paragraph abstract about your app and email bloggers and editors to see if they'll cover your just released app. Some headline and abstract ideas when you approach bloggers: 1) Tech/Business -- Popcorn: The hot new app to netwo…
DUUUUDE! my mind just got blown. I haven't tried this. Great idea. And no way, you even wrote the headlines?! > 2) Student Websites/Newspapers -- The messaging app you need when a zombie apocalypse happens at SDSU (insert campus here) hahaha that would be a hit.
Good luck. If manually emailing editors is taking too long, you can try doing a press release for a few $XXX through prnewswire, businesswire or prleap as well. Might not have the same success as personalized emails, but it's an option if you're busy.