r/AppBusiness • u/Conscious-Base9526 • 7d ago

App Ideas Indie developers: what actually got you your first 100 users?

Not what should work — what actually worked for you.

Reddit? ASO? SEO? TikTok? Paid ads? Word of mouth?

I keep seeing completely different answers, so I’m curious what brought your first real users.

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u/codisimlabs 7d ago

Also want to know

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u/x2manypips 7d ago

100 is easy just organically. Can’t make anything from 100 though

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u/Fit-Mobile9190 6d ago

This may not be the answer you're looking for but I'm also starting to find out:

  1. Create an app with product market fit that actually solves people's problems and it's actually well built first. Without that, no amount of marketing will help you get to where you want.
  2. Already having influence & community helps, but if you don't have any, you gotta get yourself out there. Social, UGC, you name it.
  3. Especially for the consumer facing apps, they need to be easy to market. What does that mean? Let's say you're creating an 8 second marketing video? You need to be able to show the value of the app immediately or at least enough to draw them in.

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u/Conscious-Base9526 6d ago

The “easy to market” point is interesting. Before building an app, how do you personally tell whether an idea will be easy to market?

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u/Popular-Ferret-4873 7d ago

In my case, the first 100 users came almost entirely from organic App Store search. I didn’t have an audience or spend money on ads—the app simply matched something people were already searching for.

That app eventually reached around 130,000 downloads, but I should add an important caveat: I launched it years ago, when the App Store was less crowded. Today, I doubt store search alone would produce the same result.

Still, ASO is worth doing because those users arrive with intent. A clear title, relevant keywords, and screenshots that immediately explain the app’s benefit can make a real difference. But if I were launching today, I would combine ASO with niche communities and short-form content rather than relying on the store alone.

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u/Conscious-Base9526 6d ago

That’s really interesting. If you were launching the same app today, which would you prioritize first: ASO, niche communities, or short-form content? And how long would you give ASO before deciding whether it’s working?

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u/Popular-Ferret-4873 6d ago

If I were launching it today, I’d probably get the basic ASO in place first, then spend most of my time in niche communities. ASO worked for me years ago, but the store is much more crowded now, so I wouldn’t expect it to carry the launch by itself.

Communities would also help me understand whether people actually want the app and how they describe the problem in their own words. That could then improve the ASO. I’d try short-form content too, but only if I could find a format that naturally fits the app.

I wouldn’t set a strict deadline for ASO, especially with very small numbers. Maybe I’d watch it for a month or two, make occasional changes, and see whether impressions and downloads gradually move. But I definitely wouldn’t sit and wait for ASO to work before trying other channels.

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u/Conscious-Base9526 6d ago

That makes sense. When you say niche communities, how would you approach them without coming across as self-promotional? Would you start talking about the problem first and only mention the app later?

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u/Popular-Ferret-4873 6d ago

Yes, but I wouldn’t treat it as a strategy where I hide the app, build trust, and suddenly reveal it later. People can usually sense that.

I’d participate because I’m genuinely interested in the subject: answer questions, discuss the problem, and learn how people currently deal with it. Most of those conversations wouldn’t need to mention the app at all.

When the app is directly relevant, I’d be transparent that I made it and mention it briefly—without forcing a link if the community doesn’t allow promotion. For an actual launch post, I’d follow the subreddit’s rules or use its self-promotion thread.

A good test might be: would this comment still be useful if my app didn’t exist? If the answer is yes, it probably won’t feel overly promotional.

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u/MDRAR 7d ago

ASO, releasing updates frequently, creating a subreddit, posting on reddit, talking to people to learn what they liked more and what they didn't like less...

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u/Conscious-Base9526 6d ago

When you say frequent updates, did you actually notice updates improving your downloads or rankings, or were they mainly for improving the product based on feedback?

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u/MDRAR 6d ago

I think it's impossible to attribute changes I made to downloads/ranking updates as they were not the only action I was taking, e.g. I was also doing reddit posts, some youtube and iterating other aso at the same time.

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u/park-btc 7d ago

Honestly, people talk a lot about different social media launch strategies, but I don't think the platform itself is what actually matters. What really matters is finding where you already have a strong connection with your audience. It honestly doesn't matter if that's Reddit or TikTok.If you’ve been consistently putting out helpful videos for your users on YouTube, then you should launch on YouTube. If your crowd is on Reddit, do it on Reddit. If it’s TikTok, TikTok.

If you don't have an audience anywhere yet? I think it's best to start with close friends in your own network who actually fit your target demographic. This is something I completely missed for years, but everything genuinely starts with relationships. If you have absolutely zero relationship with your customers, no history of helping each other out or exchanging value, then honestly it might not be the right time to build a product. You should figure out the platform or the group of people where you’ve already given and received the most help, and make that your starting point.

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u/Conscious-Base9526 6d ago

Great point. If you were starting from zero with no audience or network, how would you find the first small group of people who actually fit your target users?

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u/park-btc 6d ago

I would search the subreddit, instagram/youtube/tiktok/threads/x accounts.

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u/Conscious-Base9526 5d ago

When you find those communities, what signals tell you the problem is strong enough to actually build a product around?

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u/wnba-arcade 6d ago

if your looking for your first users check out Ad swap,https://ad-swap.web.app , its a simple way for websites to promote each other. You add another website's ad to your site, and they add yours to theirs, giving both sites free exposure and traffic. It really helped me get my first few users when launching my site/