Launching My Reads
Launching new apps is a pretty frequent activity for me. I will think up an idea, develop it, test it, and then launch it. Typically, these launches don’t grab much attention from people. However, with My Reads, I decided I would try to generate some attention on social media and different platforms to get some excitement with My Reads. I was shocked at the response. I’ve received so much support from users who were testing My Reads and wonderful feedback. Today, I want to talk about what I did and the results I have seen on launch day. Then, I’d like to quickly touch on some last-minute changes.
Designing My Reads
In my last blog post, I wrote about designing for others, I took that to heart when building My Reads. At the time of that blog post, My Reads was just a thought in my head. I wanted to make My Reads feel native to the iPhone and iPad, while at the same time taking a different approach than I typically would when designing apps.
I wanted My Reads to have a “personality,” a design that said this is My Reads. I started by breaking down the core components in the app and found two basic functionalities that everyone would always expect. First, they would want to add links to My Reads. Secondly, they would want to come back and see those saved links. That was easy, I made a big red button with a plus that’s on the bottom corner of the app, with a list of the saved links. This approach quickly and easily explains to the user what is going to happen. It also makes it very easy for one-handed use, something I considered very important with My Reads.
While making the design as straightforward as possible, I also added a Welcome screen and a quick walk-through. This is my first time doing a welcome screen in an app, and I plan to continue to use them. It’s a great way to greet new users and show them in a few moments how to use the app. This makes the app immediately familiar with the user as soon as they're done with the walkthrough.
Pushing Yourself
Something else we expect from reading list styled apps is the ability to add links from another app. This had always seemed challenging to me because I have never added an interactive extension to my app before. I almost shipped the app without the extension, because in my head, I wasn’t able to do it.
At the last moment, I stopped and pushed myself to try. I knew this would make a much better experience for the app, and something I would expect of an app I downloaded from the App Store. Within about an hour I had the extension working and you could add links from other apps on your iPhone or iPad. The lesson here is to push yourself when you’re feeling challenged by something new. That being said, you may notice I did not include the Mac app in that list. That’s because I’m still pushing myself through that challenge, especially since it’s not as familiar of a platform to me as iOS.
Pricing
When I was testing My Reads, I received a TON of feedback and support from people across the internet and the world. I was blown away by the response I had seen. It was by far the best beta launch I had ever done. I was so excited to share it on an even bigger platform, the App Store. But I made one huge mistake during the testing. I did not test or even disclose, the price I had planned in my head. Beta versions of your app don’t cost money, so why would I have ever even asked about pricing. Because without asking about pricing you’ll end up with two downloads on launch day. Which is exactly where I ended up. I had two paid downloads on launch day, and then sales stopped. I made three mistakes here. First, I assumed people still pay for apps upfront, they don’t. Second, I didn’t ask people who genuinely liked the app, how much they would be willing to pay. Lastly, I didn’t ask myself how I act as a consumer on the App Store.
People don’t pay for apps anymore
Remember the good old days? When people bought apps, yeah me too. Those days are over now. The subscriptions and in-app purchase model has become such a better model for apps. It’s a shame because while I was developing My Reads I was able to focus just on the features and not worry about checking for access or how to handle something if a user hadn’t paid yet.
The Switch from Paid to Free
I had originally planned on making My Reads a subscription-based app. However, I had decided that I wanted to try a paid upfront app. There were multiple reasons for this the main one was that I did not have to worry about the code aspect and hearing how every app is a subscription. So, I had launched My Reads on the App Store for $4.99. However, within a day, I knew very quickly that I’d have to switch to a subscription. This switch was a huge success and is how I should have launched My Reads from the beginning. My Reads easily became my number 1 downloaded app and received more launch day/week attention than any of my previous apps. I’ll write more about the benefits I had expected in a paid app and the downsides of subscription in a later post.
To Users Who Feel Tricked and/or Lied To
I am deeply sorry if you feel as though I tricked you or lied to you. That was not my intention. As soon as I launched My Reads and saw two paid downloads and nothing else. I knew I needed to switch to the subscription model I had considered during development and got to work. Within two days I had the subscription version of My Reads ready for the store. This switch had to happen very quickly if I was going to invest more of my time and money into the app. Apps that don’t get attention from users on the store go to the app graveyard and never come back. I knew My Reads wasn’t ready for the graveyard and needed an immediate change ASAP. That being said, I believe everyone who paid for the app has been given lifetime access to My Reads and I do assure you, I’m not trying to trick anyone. I simply did not want to see My Reads die after a week. With that said, the switch was a success and My Reads will live on for a while, and I can’t wait to share more updates with you.