As of January 2011 there were more than 300,000 apps in the US iTunes App Store and 150,000 in the US Android Marketplace (source: Distimo). If you release an app into such a crowded market, how do you get noticed? It’s a dilemma that every app developer faces, and one that we face with every application we release or update.
While we have the power of an audience receptive to us and our work, both in the printed newspaper and online at theguardian.com, it’s interesting to note what happens when that option is already being used for a priority app (Guardian for iPhone v2).
For Guardian Eyewitness v1.0.0, we had the incredible luck (and joy) of being used as a demo app during Steve Jobs’ iOS keynote speech, but even Apple’s most darling apps don’t get the spotlight forever and the app was coming up for a year old when we came to our recent updates – old news in keynote land.
Guardian Eyewitness v1.0.4 was released on 20 January 2011, followed by v1.0.5 on the 16 February 2011. While v1.0.4 was mostly bug fixing, v1.0.5 had a new feature (pinch and zoom) which we were hoping would be a welcome evolution and generate new interest. But apart from people getting notified that there is an update available when next they next fire up the App Store, what else could we do to let existing, and especially new, users know what we’d been up to?
Well, it turns out that, on this occasion, the answer was to do nothing and enjoy fortuitous inclusion in a number of App Store lists. The graph above (you can click to zoom in) comes from the (very useful) iTC Mobile App that Apple makes available to registered developers (itunesconnect.apple.com). The actual numbers have been removed as they are confidential, but the shape tells us plenty without needing the figures.
As the beginning of the snapshot we can see that the release of v1.0.4 had made an impact on the number of downloads, but it wasn’t massive and was waning. We were being featured in the Apps Starter Kit at this point, though this was by no means a new section. Then Apple included in a new Coffee Table Apps list and things start to go a bit crazy, pushing us back into the Top 100 iPad Apps and Top Photography Apps, which all helped drive more downloads, which in turn pushed us further up the lists. Are you beginning to see a pattern?
During that success, we were busy readying version 1.0.5 and this was ready just in time for the Coffee Table Apps effect to have worn off. This release got us some nice coverage in the New & Noteworthy section of the App Store, which, combined with users downloading the upgrade, gave us another welcome peak, but this list has a very quick turnover so it is short lived.
The first and final peaks, incidentally, coincide with the arrival of the weekend, a time which we’ve learned is very good for increasing downloads – probably due to a combination of new iPads being bought and users having the time to download updates and/or browse for new apps to play with.
In a sea of apps, users are looking for filters and highlights. These lists that Apple generates are a primary means of discovery and should be courted by every developer. Although updating your app causes a peak in downloads (the “Pocket God” effect), just by the nature of people upgrading to it, getting onto the right lists – ones with a longer life – has a much greater impact.
In short, a list makes all the difference.