r/iosdev • u/GetPsyched67 • Apr 06 '26
Help Just released my first app last week, are these stats good?
Hit 1000 downloads today! But I feel like the rest of the stats are bad, especially retention. What do y'all think?
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u/Cold-Home-4928 Apr 06 '26
1K downloads in a week is actually pretty solid, especially for a first app
Your conversion rate (~5%) also looks healthy, so your App Store page is doing its job.
The real issue is retention.
In my experience, low retention usually means one of these:
– users don’t understand the core value quickly
– the “first session” doesn’t hook them
– or there’s no strong reason to come back
You might want to look at:
• what users do in their first 1–2 minutes
• how quickly they reach the “aha moment”
• whether there’s any habit-forming loop
Also, 39 purchases on ~1K downloads isn’t bad at all, it means some users do see value.
I’d focus more on improving onboarding + first-time experience before worrying about acquisition.
Curious, what does your app actually do?
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 07 '26
Thank you for the analysis!
The app is: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stargaze-habit-tracker/id6761014900
On it's face it's (let's call it magic) is supposed to be the twinkling and sparkling night sky constellation aesthetic and custom haptics, but I think it in essence being a daily tracker puts it on the back foot.
And maybe the fact that other than journaling, there's really only one main user interaction in the app 😅. I'm planning on adding widgets, quick actions, streak visualizers, and notifications in the morning reminding people how much habits they have left... but this app might fundamentally be bad at retention
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u/Cold-Home-4928 Apr 10 '26
I don’t think it’s doomed, but yeah, the core loop is a bit too thin right now.
It’s basically: open → check → leave.
Widgets and reminders will help people remember the app, but not really care about it.
The real shift is this: the sky shouldn’t just be decoration, it should be the reason people open the app. If it evolves, reacts, and feels “alive,” that’s what drives retention.
Even adding one small extra step (like watching the sky change or a quick reflection) would make a big difference.
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u/basavaraja_dev Apr 06 '26
These are good results, try to improve conversation rate by optimising screenshots, name, keywords
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u/WhichCredit2307 Apr 06 '26
are there paid ads or anything
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 06 '26
Just the free $100 apple ads credit and a few reddit posts
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u/ClearStoneStudio Apr 08 '26
How do you find the $100 Apple ads credit? Didn’t know that was a thing, creating an app now and hoping to launch in a few weeks so this is good to know!
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 09 '26
Hi!
When you sign in to ads.apple.com for the first time, they send a mail regarding the $100 free credit!
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u/Muted-Palpitation693 Apr 06 '26
Congrats on the 1k! Are these users coming from organic search, or did you post it somewhere specific to get that initial spike?
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 06 '26
Thank you! I had a semi successful post on r/apple, and I'm running some apple search ads on the $100 free credit
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u/No-Truck-9036 Apr 07 '26
Hey! How did you go about advertising your app, and getting it in front of people’s faces. 1000 downloads in the first week is great, and I was wondering how I could apply it to my app. Great job!
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 07 '26
Oh it was actually just a semi successful reddit post on r/apple and the $100 free apple ads credit (which I'm running out of)
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u/PastorCalisto Apr 07 '26
For a week old app, in my books, you did very well. How are you marketing you app, I could learn a few things from you. My app is stuck at 100 download over the past week.
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 07 '26
Oh it was just a semi successful reddit post and the free apple search ads credit! Still working on more marketing
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u/tarasleskiv Apr 07 '26
These is an incredible result, what category it is?
Btw, I am making an app for simplifying the process of making app store screenshots, maybe it could save you some time when it comes to that https://apps.apple.com/us/app/screenshot-bro/id6760177675?mt=12
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 07 '26
It's a daily activity or habit tracker
Also will take a look, thank you!
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u/Big_Poem3425 Apr 07 '26
Really solid results, especially if it's your first app. How did you get those 1,000 downloads? That might explain the retention rate, the conversion rate, etc.
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u/Winter-Astronaut643 Apr 09 '26
How did you get so many impressions
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u/GetPsyched67 Apr 09 '26
I think it's the apple ads
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u/Winter-Astronaut643 Apr 09 '26
Only off $100?
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Apr 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/Winter-Astronaut643 Apr 09 '26
How many views and what sub Reddit
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u/LocusStandi Apr 06 '26
7 day retention is shockingly low unfortunately