How to get the first users for your app

The best first users are people who have the problem your app solves and told you so: a waitlist, followers who replied to a post, people in a community where you have been helping, friends who fit the audience. Ask them directly and personally before you post anything public, and post where your future users already are, not only where other makers are, with each community’s self-promotion rules read first. A handful of people who use the app for its real job tell you more than many who open it once.

On iOS, TestFlight takes up to 100 internal testers from your team and up to 10,000 external testers; the first build for outside testers goes through App Review for TestFlight, and then you invite by email or turn on a public link you can post anywhere. On Android, Google Play has internal, closed and open testing tracks; a closed test run through a Google Group lets anyone who joins the group opt in, and an open test lets anyone join. If your personal Google Play developer account was created after 13 November 2023, you need a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 days in a row before you can publish, so your first users are also how you get to production. The full walkthrough is in how to find beta testers.

People you reached weeks before launch forget. A pre-order on the App Store publishes a limited product page; the app downloads onto people’s devices automatically on release day and they get a notification, and a brand-new app can set a release date 2 to 180 days after the pre-order goes live. Pre-registration on Google Play does the same job: pre-registered users get a push notification when you publish and eligible devices install the app on launch day; a campaign lasts up to 90 days, and new personal accounts must meet the testing requirements first. Both are covered step by step in the app launch checklist, how to promote an iOS app and how to promote an app on Google Play.

For press, creators and communities, give the app rather than ask for anything. Apple’s promo codes give early access, up to 100 per version of your app per platform, and offer codes give a free or discounted in-app purchase or subscription for a limited time. Google Play promotions give a paid app, a one-time product or a subscription for free with a promo code, up to 500 non-subscription codes per quarter, with subscription trials of 3 to 90 days, and you must state the terms clearly. Store events help after launch too: an App Store In-App Event can appear on the Today, Games and Apps tabs and in search, and Google Play promotional content shows on your listing and can be put forward for featuring; see how to get featured.

A new listing with no ratings is the hardest page to convert, so your first users are also your first reviewers. Use the native prompt only: on iOS Apple’s standard prompt can show up to three times in a 365-day period and custom review prompts are disallowed; on Android the In-App Review API shows Google Play’s card, with a quota Google keeps private. Ask right after a user completes something, never in exchange for anything: both stores prohibit incentivized or fake reviews, and Google names a discount offered for a high rating as a typical violation. More in how to get more app reviews.

Censuus ranks apps by the real visit traffic they draw on the web. Once your app is in a store, adding it is free on the submit page, and it can rise on the visits it earns. Sponsorship raises placement and adds a followed link to your website; details are on the sponsor page. For more places to list a new app, see our checked list of free app promotion sites. We do not promise users, installs or store rankings.