Comment by pedalpete | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pedalpete | Hacker News Reader

I don't have any iOS devices, so I can't download it, but apparently at least one person has downloaded it, as their is a review on the apple store that says the app crashed and never worked on his iOS6 iPhone 4.

As far as getting users, why are you coming to HN looking for users? You clearly read HN, you read about how to do PR and pitch, did you miss everything on how to find product market fit? Did you miss everything on research before building, or building MVP and getting friends to try your app?

I don't think you app is a bad idea, but it isn't something I'm going to jump on until I know other people are using it. If nobody is using it, their are no anon 'broadcasts' to be shared. You have a classic chicken-egg problem. Nobody is using your app, so their (likely) isn't any content their which is making people interested in viewing that content.

This is part of the problem with anon apps, where people can't try before installing. There is no point in me telling a friend, hey download this app because I'm in it, because... if I'm anonymous, they aren't going to see who I am anyway. What is your pitch to your friends as to why they should use this app? What do they say. Get 5 people you know to install and use it, then adjust based on feedback.

Yeah, and that's another thing when the app is new. It's kind of a human nature to quickly write a bad review, than a good one. I'm in touch with the App Store on the removal of that review, because it doesn't accurately represent the app's functionality.

Back to the main point... I do have 186 broadcasts, and each of these broadcast stories have 1 or more pics. I love taking pics, and sharing with the world, and I have uploaded quite a lot of content. I do agree with you that the apps like mine can have chicken-egg issue, but when there are in total 300+ pics to get started, you'd think at least someone would be interested.

The app has anonymous profiles, so it is an anonymous network, where you can follow other users, like their broadcasts, comment, etc.

The purpose of this app is, you take pics (random, nature, selfie, whatever you like) and anonymously share with the world by creating a broadcast story (that can have 1 or more pics). Kind of like Tiiny by Kevin Rose, but in a network.

Yeah, I know what you're saying - if you're anon., how will you tell your friend "Hey, I'm on this by this name, let's share pics."

Thanks for the feedback.

i'd say the most damning thing i see here is that you are indeed getting feedback, but your answer is basically "sorry, you people are wrong."

your response to a bad review is to try to get apple to remove it? good luck with that. even if you could, which is doubtful, your response should be to figure out that guy's crash and fix it.

also, why on earth would you exclude the ipod touch? it has a camera, and therefore should be fully equipped to run your app. and i bet you are now going to state a reason for that which as lame as all your other "reasons."

i did much the same thing you did: i wrote an iphone app by myself, and did what i could to promote it. it was a modest hit, and ended up making me about 15 grand. but that was way back at the dawn of the app store, when the competition was less. my not terribly flashy app wouldn't stand a chance today.

lol, where did I say you people are wrong. I've, in fact, said "thank you" for the feedback.

I didn't mean it that way, anyways, sorry if you think that way.

If the app's got problem, sure, I'll fix it. But I've tested it on multiple devices, and there are definitely a few people who have used it, and it has worked. I didn't test on ipod touch, so I can't say for sure if it'd work on it. I had built it mainly for iPhone, but the way it works is if you select device family 1, ipod touch gets included. And this person's review says something like ipod user.

So, the app could've crashed, because it was ran on a device I didn't build for? idk. I'll be taking a closer look next time.

Thanks anyways.

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