
How to get your app noticed on Google Play - blackpidgeon
http://blog.onyxbits.de/how-to-get-your-app-noticed-308/
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616c
Very fun review from a guy developing some wonderful software to install
needed proprietary apps outside of your phone without using the official
Google Play client (so you can use adb sideload to load directly on your
phone, maybe like me if you do not have it installed) for analysis or to
protect your privacy, really whatever your prerogative.

[http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436](http://forum.xda-
developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436)

[http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon](http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon)

[https://github.com/onyxbits/Raccoon](https://github.com/onyxbits/Raccoon)

I am big fan of his work and as an aspiring Java dev I enjoy looking through
his code to learn.

The only Swing app I ever needed so badly to work! The DummyDroid Android
advert device ID forging, also referenced on his page, is quite a treat!

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TheLML
This didn't exactly tell me how to get my app noticed, but how other apps of
mine may help get my other apps noticed. However, they need to get noticed
first first that..

~~~
thijser
We have built appbrain and launched a bunch of apps with more than 100M+
installs:
[http://www.appbrain.com/dev/AppTornado](http://www.appbrain.com/dev/AppTornado)
Our experience is that you need to generate at least a couple of thousand
(better, tens of thousands) of installs by yourself before Google's discovery
mechanisms kick in and allow your app to be discovered withing Google Play.
Cross promotion is a good tool for that, but if you don't have apps yet, then
you have to find other ways (paid cost-per-install promotion is a commonly
used tactic).

~~~
Ologn
I haven't gotten to 100 million installs, but I have a few Play apps and one
got to 7 million installs. This post is most right on that I've seen here.
Back in 2011-2012 you could have a hit without generating your own installs to
it. With more competition nowadays, that happening would be much rarer.

You need to generate your own installs at first. Google will look at your
uninstall ratio, and perhaps other factors. If those factors are good, Google
will start pushing you up the keyword and then category rankings in various
countries. Then people will start ranking your app, and that will factor in.
Google has made some public announcements about what they take into account,
and there are many outside accounts out there with guesses, some good, some
not, at what helps.

Making an app people want helps. Having a clear, simple icon and clear app
name helps. If the app does offline maps, call it Offline Maps. If several
reviews and e-mails suggest adding a feature, consider adding the feature. And
so on.

I have not found cross-promotion helpful In the mannernthe article says. If
you run ads, and get one cent for every ten ads shown on average, then you're
losing a cent every ten times you show your ad. It might be cheaper to
advertise it in other venues. In some circumstances cross-promotion makes
sense. You can set a minimum bid for your ad network, and show your ads when
the ad network can't make that bid. Also, for new apps, I often put the first
ad in as a cross-promotion ad. I see how the app does, and how much it refers.
If all is well and the app is taking off and doing referrals, I put an ad
network ad in the app.

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giis
I think you need to approach specific users (like forum moderators or
reviewers of similar app) and share your app details. If they like they will
respond to your app otherwise not. And also promoting in app specific places
is good. For ex, xda, reddit's android subreddit where app can get noticed
more quickly than posting it HN, where users have different interests.

Few days back, I posted a new app (that allows you to run mobile apps from
sdcard.) which gained more comments and feedback on android specific subreddit
more than HN. So narrow down to specific group or even individuals is one of
the option.

~~~
blackpidgeon
> I think you need to approach specific users (like forum moderators or
> reviewers of similar app) and share your app details.

This will give you a short time spike in installs. Nothing wrong with that,
but it doesn't last and you can't play that card more than once.

~~~
giis
No, I was not suggesting that one need to ask a favor with moderators or
reviewers. Genuinely try to add them to your app community and constantly seek
their feedback & update the app. I was not suggesting one-time marketing
effort. More like create a community around the app which includes these
reviewers or moderators.

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steamer25
Disclosure: this is from my employer

We released a whitepaper not too long ago about App Store Optimization. I'm
not very involved in mobile/client -side development but I heard the paper was
well received.

Summary infographic: [https://venturebeat.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/04/Native-X-...](https://venturebeat.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/04/Native-X-app-store-optimization.png) Whitepaper:
[http://nativex.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/02/NativeX_ASO_Wh...](http://nativex.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/02/NativeX_ASO_Whitepaper.pdf)

EDIT/Clarification: I'm associated with the paper referenced in my comment--
not the parent article.

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Fifer82
I put an app in your app, so you can get noticed while you get noticed.

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ikeboy
Step 1: get a post linking to your apps on the front page of HN.

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unabst
Ads!

Both the adoption of android and iphone apps are ad driven, and the pros
absolutely know this. So if you're starting out, you buy cheap ads. Think of
all those ad supported free apps. They are the cheap ad ecosystem. If you've
made it to the big leagues, you buy expensive ads. Think high production TV
ads during prime time with Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is a reason there are
so many app commercials on TV all over the world. They work.

Despite all the innovation driven rags to riches mythology, and although you
do need an awesome app that meets the bar first, the app game is practically a
marketing budget slugfest. Google and Apple provide no other options.

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codazoda
How is this shit post the top post right now? Uhg.

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babuskov
That's not all. Coming soon: "How to get your HN post noticed."

~~~
mundo
Relevant to your interests:

"Marketing hacks 4: Hacker News" \-
[http://ineptech.com/index.html?blog&post=20](http://ineptech.com/index.html?blog&post=20)

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Talha-Ansari
Not a good thing to do with your app, You can work with something interesting
or unique to get noticed by users. People are usually searching for different
kinda app, So think out of the box!

