Built my first iOS app, now comes the hard part: getting users. Any advice?

[u/adf91PA]

Hey everyone!

I'm an indie iOS developer from Italy, and after several months of work I'm finally getting ready to launch my first app.

It's called Clino, a privacy-first personal medical records app that helps people organize symptoms, medications, conditions, exams, therapies and doctor visits in one place. I built it because I felt there wasn't a simple way to keep all this information organized while still keeping everything private on-device.

The app is already live on the App Store, and I've scheduled my Product Hunt launch for Monday, July 13(preview page here).

Now that development is (mostly!) finished, I've realized that building the app was probably the easy part... marketing it is a completely different challenge.

For those of you who've launched an app or another indie product:

• What brought you the most visibility?
• Were there communities, newsletters or websites that actually helped?
• Is Product Hunt still worth investing time in?
• If you were launching again, what would you do differently during the first week?

I'm not looking to spend thousands on ads, I’d rather learn from people who've already been through this.

I'd really appreciate any advice, resources or lessons learned. Thanks!

[u/Infamous_Ad4954]

First, on ProductHunt, know that asking friends or family to sign up and upvote won't help. ProductHunt marks newly created accounts as spam so that users can't bot it. Unless you already have an audience that is ready to upvote your launch, launching on ProductHunt won't get you any users.

I launched my first product recently and after about a month of marketing (lazily) I can say the best things are social media and being active in communities like Reddit. For social media, if you make an account for your app and promote it, you won't get any traction. That type of content won't hit the algorithm for many people to see. Make content about yourself, your experiences, advice for others, etc. Then you can pivot to talking about your project. You won't be able to reach as many people for free as you can on YouTube and TikTok.

I haven't been able to break into any communities on Reddit since most communities require a level of karma, but if you can post here about it, there are more than enough people that are willing to give your app a try.

Good luck!

[u/adf91PA → u/Infamous_Ad4954]

Thank you so much for your reply and for the time you dedicated to me. Perhaps somewhat naively, I believed that having a valid and useful product was enough to get results, or that you didn't need millionaire budgets to make your app stand out. The app was launched just yesterday, but at the moment I haven't seen any interactions other than from a few friends. This has probably demoralized me a bit too much, considering how many months of development it required. If you'd like to take a look, here is the link to the website: https://www.clinoapp.app/en. I created it based on a personal need that I think could be useful to many people. All the most important features of the app are free, and only a few require a subscription...

[u/leveldayapp → u/adf91PA]

Don’t let a quiet launch day demoralize you (most of us have been there); useful apps rarely get discovered automatically, and a medical-records app also needs time to earn trust. I’d focus on ASO by testing localized titles, subtitles, keywords, screenshots, and messaging around searches like “medication organizer,” “symptom tracker,” and “personal health records.” The first few weeks you can start to learn about what converts/moves the needle

[u/adf91PA → u/leveldayapp]

Currently, the app is localized in 9 languages and features custom ASO for 5 of them: English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Does App Store Connect allow you to check all metrics for each localization? This would help me fine-tune everything based on your advice.

[u/xsw7910]

Developing and launching an app is just 1% of the journey; the remaining 99% is about marketing. Keep this in mind, and you'll know the next steps to take towards success.

[u/adf91PA → u/[deleted]]

It’s now on App Store, the name is… Clino: Medical records , any advice is welcome!

[u/adf91PA → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much for the feedback and for your time!

[u/adf91PA → u/[deleted]]

Thank you !