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10 Comments

Any tips for launching a free app?

Hello everyone 👋

I am currently working on a free web app called iconsizer. It helps developers get their icons/logos in the right resolution for different devices (Android, iPhone, ...) and organize them in folders. There are already apps for this but mine can also generate an SVG from your icon/logo.

It is my first time making something for other people so I was wondering how to launch it. I am planning on writing messages on Reddit, here, and maybe post it on ProductHunt.

I want to ask for some tips that you acquired from experience 🤔

You can check out the app here.

  1. 2

    That is a nifty app!

    You might want to add helpful text that explains the folder structure, so people know what is in the .zip file.

    I launched a free app recently. (https://pixelfaces.io)

    You should definitely post on reddit. Also twitter. Any slacks you are part of. And email your friends :)

  2. 2

    I just checked it. It's neat and does what it claims.

    When are you planning to launch? I have a few suggestions for the app, that's why.

    When I went it was clear to me that it'll generate icons from the source because I already knew about it (from here). What about others who come from Google or other sources? - Add a description text

    Toggle buttons look funny on mobile. Not a big deal anyway.

    As someone living on the internet, it's really annoying to see chatbots popup on every single website I visit - If you could relate you can place a donate button on the header

    As for launch, don't launch on just one platform, also don't try to launch on all platforms.

    • I could see a tweet widget, so if you have a genuine following on twitter build traction before launch and launch on twitter. This would make sense to your Twitter audience too.
    • If you're planning for Product Hunt, then maybe prepare some creatives, a gif thumbnail, and launch there.
    • Reddit has many subreddits dedicated to launching as well.
    • In general, any developer and creative community could work I guess.
    1. 1

      Thanks for the feedback!

      I plan to launch next week.

      I already thought of adding a description text for the same reason you mention.

      Toggle buttons indeed look funny on mobile 😂. I will fix that.

      I am annoyed by chatbot popups too. The goal is to make the donation widget very easy to spot. Because I have seen so many sites that are free and have a donation button but it is really hard to spot. I will put a donate button on the header and see how it looks.

      Do you have any recommendations for subreddits that I can post to?

  3. 1

    Very cool app. I could have used this recently when I was working on a logo / favicon. I've bookmarked it and will use it the next time I need something like this.

  4. 1

    I am launching my name generator 3sName.com on PH tomorrow. It depends on how much effort you want to put in.

    If you want to stay on top on product hunt for the day, it will be very competitive. You need to ask your friends to upvote for you. Prepare professional explainer videos, graphics, etc. Get someone to hunt it.

    If you just want to get some initial tractions, find some close friends to support you. I made a simple demo video and put it on vue.js subreddit. The video stayed for the top list yesterday.

    Launching can only create a traffic spike. In long run, it will require an organic channel to drive in sustainable traffic.

    1. 1

      Thanks for the info! Your generator runs really fast!

      I am not looking to be super competitive on PH or something. Just want to get something like an initial spike, so I can start showing more easily on google results, and maybe the people who see it will find it useful and come back again when they need it. Because my app is completely free I am not worried about getting money (of course it would be nice to get enough donations to pay for the domain name).

      Also can you please share your results after launching?

      1. 1

        The launch was quite successful yesterday. I could reach the PH home page for the whole day, some highlights:

        • the position was between top 15th - 20th
        • there were around 600 - 700 incoming visitors (still having new visitors now)
        • I didn't ask my friends to support me. Just post on IH and Twitter.
        • the result depends on whether there are strong competitors launching
        • I kept replying to comments during the day

        Since my app was simple, I didn't add subscription form. I feel satisfactory with the result given that it's almost organic traffics

        1. 1

          Thanks a lot for the info :)

  5. 1

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