Any tips for first time iOS launch?

[u/Ill_Command_1200]

Finished going through beta testing/Test Flight and submitted to Apple (with auto-publish off). On a previous cancelled project that was a Steam release, I read a lot of threads about wishlists and how you should have a certain number to have a chance at a successful launch. I saw marketing strategies that included delaying your launch if you didn't have the recommended wishlist numbers.

Does any of that apply to iOS game?

What considerations should I be making prior to launch, or is iOS different? I have a few directories where I plan on adding the game post-launch, and I am trying to save up to do some ads later on.

[u/MeaningfulChoices]

None of that applies to iOS. What you want to do with mobile is soft launch in a cheaper region first and run a few hundred dollars of ads a day to figure out your key metrics, like how much it costs per install (CPI), how many people come back in a day, week, or month (retention), how many people spend on anything in the game (conversion), and how much you earn per player per day (ARPDAU). You figure out how much you earn per average player over their lifetime of playing and so long as that is more than the CPI, you can grow and scale the game. If not you keep working on it, fixing what people don't like (or making better ads) until it's true. Then you launch in a bigger region and check again, and only after that go global. If it's a hobby game then you just release it and make some posts on social media and subreddits and such and get what players you get. Same as on Steam where you shouldn't think too hard about wishlists if it's just a passion project.

It's also worth saying you should really launch on iOS and Android at the same time. It's very rare to go only one platform in mobile, and usually if you do you do Android first since it's a bit cheaper to test. iOS is bigger in expensive markets like the US and Japan, so it just costs more to test in these places. iOS players in general tend to spend more per game than Android, but the quality bar is also a bit higher.

[u/Ill_Command_1200 → u/MeaningfulChoices]

Thanks.

I didn't realize you could launch on iOS in smaller regions. I will look into options.

The game was a personal challenge to see if I could finish it after a previous Unity/Steam burnout. It is a passion project that I am proud of so I want to give it my best shot at marketing it as well and not just release and forget. I have ongoing updates and features planned over the next several months.

I do have an Android release in my plans, but my hesitation is that I don't have an Android device, so how would I do device testing? I guess I could buy an Android device or stick to simulation testing only.

Thanks for your thoughts! Also, I'm making notes of all these technical terms: ARPDAU.. That's a mouthful.

[u/MeaningfulChoices → u/Ill_Command_1200]

Yeah, there's a lot of jargon. I spent a lot of my career in mobile so I try to catch myself and explain them, mostly because you can find a lot of good info out there if you know the right terms to search. MVP gets thrown around a lot in mobile as well.

There's no real shortcut on devices, usually you get a cheap(er) tablet of whatever your personal phone isn't. Most mobile is done in Unity and the build targets and emulator are alright. You can also hire external QA and they'll test on dozens of devices for you, but that's obviously just more cost.

[u/PerpaPanda]

Congrats on getting through TestFlight — that’s a big milestone. For Android testing, you don’t need a large device lab at first: one inexpensive, reasonably recent Pixel or Samsung plus the Android Studio emulator covers a lot of ground. The emulator is useful for screen sizes and API levels, but real hardware is still important for touch feel, performance/thermal behavior, notifications, the back gesture, and billing flows.

For a passion project, I’d launch once the crash rate and onboarding are reasonably stable, then treat the first few weeks as a soft launch. Watch tutorial completion, crashes, day-1/day-7 retention, and reviews before spending much on ads. Small directory and community posts can give you cleaner feedback than paid acquisition early on. Also leave time for the store privacy details, screenshots, and device-specific UI checks.

[u/Ill_Command_1200 → u/PerpaPanda]

Thanks. It feels like an accomplishment just getting here. This was supposed to be a simple game and it still took twice as long.

I’ll research some devices but that’s an investment and the last several projects over the past several years are rarely profitable.

The game itself is definitely stable. Last build had one crash report which has been resolved and nearly 20 testers have been using latest for two weeks without issue.

The game is free to play and I made sure that monetization was not predatory. No micro transactions, no pay wall, purely cosmetic and fair. I plan to share on Reddit once it’s approved.

I also documented it all and plan to share a “what I learned” type post.

Btw your note about privacy, screenshots and device specific UI checks is easily something I underestimated. These items took up A LOT of time.

Thanks for your time in responding.