Almost all people who have built a web or mobile application are familiar with this frustrating situation: you get really close to the launch, and the functionality that you desire is right there; however, bugs keep appearing. Launching an app while bugs are still present is a recipe for disaster. The developer ends up going through hours and hours of testing, fixing bug after bug, and still the process does not end. Is the app ready for launch? Definitely not. This scenario is a common one, and things start looking up when the bugs are finally solved. The problem is that in many cases, although developers believe that the app is done and bugs are removed, they unfortunately find many others after launch. According to marketing professionals at Monetary Library, one of the biggest problems that appears for app promotion after launch is the appearance of numerous bugs that are identified by users. Many developers may never even launch their apps, because they want them to be perfect and continue to find bugs during testing.
Impossible To Have Zero Bugs
The goal for developers should never be to write code that is bugless. Aiming for perfect code is an impossible goal, and there is a strong possibility you do not actually understand how complex software can be. The most important thing to understand is that all apps developed will run on operating systems. The program itself is not working in a system that is perfect, in isolation. That’s why all programs, even the simple ones, are going to be susceptible to bugs that may already be present in the operating system.
Access to libraries causes everything to become even more complex. Operating systems are usually relatively stable, but the libraries can cause more instability. Some are great, while others should never be used. In order to have created code be completely free of bugs, every single library that the app is run against must be free of bugs as well. This is basically close to impossible, since the source code is usually not obtained.
When Should You Launch The Mobile App ?
This is the main question. After realizing that having bug free code is not really your number one priority, it will be simpler to make a decision. The main idea is to test as much as you can. Generally speaking, it is great to have professionals test the app, since they will offer a really good bug list that you can use. Some of the bugs are going to be minor and should not actually be your focus, as solving them would not drastically improve your app experience. For instance, if the app shuts down as the user does something that happens once in hundreds of thousands of instances, the bug is not serious, and you can launch with such bugs. When the bugs are serious and would potentially affect many of the app users, you will need to postpone the app launch.
Getting The App Ready For Launch
Besides the bugs aspect mentioned above, you need to also do other things that will increase the likelihood the app will be successful. Contrary to what many think, most of the work that is done for promoting an app is carried out before the actual launch. Always do the following to get the app ready:
Building Buzz
One of the easy things you can do is to create a good landing page, a simple one on a standalone domain. The goal is to collect emails, so buzz can get started. This should be done way before the app is ready. When people are interested in the app idea, tell them to sign up. Then, use this launch pad to start building buzz mainly around the idea of the app.
Pick A Launch Date
You will have to coordinate various different things in order to successfully launch the app. Having a launch date set up way ahead of time helps you to do just that. As a simple tip, try to launch your app on a Sunday, since statistics show that this will normally bring in better results. The worst results normally appear with Friday launches.
App Store Optimization
App store optimization (ASO for short) is a huge part of marketing the new app, since one of the main ways in which people discover apps is through app store searches. That is why ASO strategies are so important. You will need to be sure you choose the proper title, include great screenshots, keywords, an icon that is catchy and more. Character limitations are always in place, so you will want to be sure you make the proper choices. Just as with search engine optimization, it’s more important to rank higher for the average keywords instead of simply stuffing with keywords that are very competitive.
Set Up The Help Desk
Besides bug testing, you need to set up a communication channel that users can use in order to report the missed bugs or simply get in touch with you. User feedback is really important early on. You should have a beta test phase. This is when you need to communicate with the users that participate in order to drastically improve the quality of the app you will launch.
Create A Video
Video simply works a lot better for promoting anything than all the other media you can consider. Developers can now add short videos about apps. Work hard to make these videos as compelling as they can be since videos are visuals that convince people to download.
Pitching The App To The Press
Some days before the launch date, reach out to the press or hire PR specialists to do this for you. There are not many things that will increase download rates and traffic like articles written by the major tech publications. For instance, an article on featured on Techcrunch or Mashable can bring in hundreds of thousands of people who will at least take a look at the application.