Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#1

Post by kandarp » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 12:32 AM UTC

I don't know if this is a rant or whatever, but it's my story about my iPhone app.

I started out around in March, 2014, and pivoted a few times, and finally started working on this idea of anonymously sharing pictures in August, 2014, and have been working it insanely hard, long nights, my weekends, and giving far more than 100% to complete my app.

Now that I've completed my app, I started contacting people I knew. Result? No reply, no signups, no feedback.

Read through how to pitch Mashable/TechCrunch, how to write that pitch email, what they need, a story, screenshots, etc. etc. My bookmarks are all filled with this stuff now, advices from people who have gotten covered, and I do thank you for those tips. On top of them, contacted many many review sites. What happens? Absolutely nothing.

I'm not angry, maybe a little sad, but more than anything else, I'm extremely surprised.. especially when I see some apps getting covered to death. Sure, TC, and Mash have very high caliber, but no one else?

I understand, esp. now that iPhone 6 and 6+ and the new iOS are out, that the amount of apps getting submitted have increased a lot, but not a single person has interest in my app? The very few who do, just look at the screenshot or whatever - I don't know what they look at - and just say, "not interested". Okay? So, just by looking at the box of pizza, you're going to judge that the pizza tastes bad? Jesus Christ man...

Anyways, here's the app store link: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=905151810&mt=8

I would really appreciate if the community could check out, and provide feedback. I've put a lot of hours into this, and tried to make it awesome. I don't like boring things myself, and I've got 186 broadcasts, so obvio. it ain't boring. :D

Thanks. Cheers!

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#2

Post by pedalpete » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 12:47 AM UTC

I don't have any iOS devices, so I can't download it, but apparently at least one person has downloaded it, as their is a review on the apple store that says the app crashed and never worked on his iOS6 iPhone 4.

As far as getting users, why are you coming to HN looking for users? You clearly read HN, you read about how to do PR and pitch, did you miss everything on how to find product market fit? Did you miss everything on research before building, or building MVP and getting friends to try your app?

I don't think you app is a bad idea, but it isn't something I'm going to jump on until I know other people are using it. If nobody is using it, their are no anon 'broadcasts' to be shared. You have a classic chicken-egg problem. Nobody is using your app, so their (likely) isn't any content their which is making people interested in viewing that content.

This is part of the problem with anon apps, where people can't try before installing. There is no point in me telling a friend, hey download this app because I'm in it, because... if I'm anonymous, they aren't going to see who I am anyway. What is your pitch to your friends as to why they should use this app? What do they say. Get 5 people you know to install and use it, then adjust based on feedback.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#3

Post by avadhbsd » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 12:55 AM UTC

Hey KANDARP,

I guess, It must have been an experience to get through all that. You may have gone wrong this time and who knows.....you just have to be right just one time.

Ship early, fail early.

One more: You need a copywriter.

Best of luck.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#4

Post by 8462646 » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 12:58 AM UTC

You need to relax on the analogy. Consider - why does someone look at a box of pizza and decide that it tastes bad? Why does someone looking to buy a watch walk past a jewelry store? From the app preview alone, I can tell you that there is nothing really standing out here. Why do I want to share anonymous pictures of Katy Perry? If I want to share anonymous pictures, I already know of Snapchat. If I want to share anonymous text with a random group of people, I'll use Yik Yak or Secrets. If I want to share photos, I can use Facebook or Flickr. I can make an 'anonymous' account on Flickr to share photos. Why do I want this app on my phone?

You need to work on the pitch a bit more. Just throwing together the words "anonymous" and "pictures" doesn't do it for me. Also, try not to take it so hard. When you said "Jesus Christ man...", I got the impression that you were taking this pretty rough. It's nothing personal, but in a world with so many apps already, why should I add your app to my home screen? Why should I spend another 10 minutes a day with this app?

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#5

Post by kandarp » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 12:58 AM UTC

avadhbsd wrote: post #3

Hey KANDARP, I guess, It must have been an experience to get through all that. You may have gone wrong this time and who knows.....you just have to be right just one time. Ship early, fail early. One more: You need a copywriter. Best of luck.

Thanks.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#6

Post by benologist » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 1:08 AM UTC

Startup news sites are not a business plan and relying on them is a mistake. Similarly, tons of material about startups is just advertising, the majority of it should be ignored.

Building something people want is really hard, can take a lot of trying and failing, and is the reason why almost every startup fails. You have to keep trying until you figure it out. Think about who your ideal customer is and how/where you can find them. Then do that until you have many of them.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#7

Post by itazula » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 1:13 AM UTC

I think it is unclear what "... sharing your life anonymously" means. For example, if I told my friend that I'm using this app, and he follows my broadcasts, and he pretty much knows that I'm the only one using this app, won't he be able to deduce that it is me that is broadcasting? (You mention a "broadcast map" as well; well, if I live in Timbuktu, and I'm the only person there, won't my friend know it's me?) Also, in the text accompanying the first screenshot, you say, "... sharing it with the entire world." Saying that doesn't match up with the idea of having "followers." Now, I think I know what you mean, but the two groups ("followers" and "the entire world") don't match, and create a dissonance in my mind that gets me close to just rejecting the whole thing outright.

I'm sure you gained a lot of valuable experience programming-wise. To a programmer, that's something tangible. Not only that, but you persevered and got the app into the App Store.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#8

Post by kandarp » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 1:14 AM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #2

I don't have any iOS devices, so I can't download it, but apparently at least one person has downloaded it, as their is a review on the apple store that says the app crashed and never worked on his iOS6 iPhone 4. As far as getting users, why are you coming to HN looking for users? You clearly read HN, you read about how to do PR and pitch, did you miss everything on how to find product market fit? Did you miss everyt…

Yeah, and that's another thing when the app is new. It's kind of a human nature to quickly write a bad review, than a good one. I'm in touch with the App Store on the removal of that review, because it doesn't accurately represent the app's functionality.

Back to the main point... I do have 186 broadcasts, and each of these broadcast stories have 1 or more pics. I love taking pics, and sharing with the world, and I have uploaded quite a lot of content. I do agree with you that the apps like mine can have chicken-egg issue, but when there are in total 300+ pics to get started, you'd think at least someone would be interested.

The app has anonymous profiles, so it is an anonymous network, where you can follow other users, like their broadcasts, comment, etc.

The purpose of this app is, you take pics (random, nature, selfie, whatever you like) and anonymously share with the world by creating a broadcast story (that can have 1 or more pics). Kind of like Tiiny by Kevin Rose, but in a network.

Yeah, I know what you're saying - if you're anon., how will you tell your friend "Hey, I'm on this by this name, let's share pics."

Thanks for the feedback.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#9

Post by flinkblinkhink » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 1:16 AM UTC

Said gently, but this app isn't interesting. That might be why. This is the hardest thing about software development, building something people want. You have built something people don't want.

Re: Not 1 person after all this work? Is a sick joke being played with me?

#10

Post by kandarp » Thu, Oct 16, 2014, 1:24 AM UTC

8462646 wrote: post #4

You need to relax on the analogy. Consider - why does someone look at a box of pizza and decide that it tastes bad? Why does someone looking to buy a watch walk past a jewelry store? From the app preview alone, I can tell you that there is nothing really standing out here. Why do I want to share anonymous pictures of Katy Perry? If I want to share anonymous pictures, I already know of Snapchat. If I want to share ano…

Hmm. The people I've talked to so far think this app has a place, it's not "nothing" definitely. But, I think I do need to work on the pitch more. Clarify it to the point that people can associate them or their lives with the app, and realize why they need to use it.

About taking it hard. Believe me, it has been insane the last few weeks. After working so hard, launching this, writing emails and contacting so many people and whatnot, when absolutely nothing happens, it feels bad.. True, no one is obliged to use it, or even look at it, but ya, it felt bad. Nothing much. :) It might look like it, but I didn't take it that bad. I've gone through this type of stuff in this field before, and the thing is - take the rejection, learn from it, move on, and build something even better next time.

I posted this is another reply, but the main purpose of this app is to share your life anonymously. Take a bunch of pics to create a broadcast story, give it a caption, and broadcast. Now anyone with the app can see it. It's like how Secret and Whisper are, but with Broadcast, you are part of an anonymous network. Another huge difference between those apps and Broadcast is that you can take more than a single pic. Why's this of importance? Because many times when you need to share something, you can just snap-snap-snap (or choose) multiple pics easily, and share. This creates a broadcast story, and aligns more with expressing yourself.

Thanks for the feedback. :)