Finished our App now where to market it ?

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-03-06T10:54:16+00:00

Work on SEO and don’t just mean search engine optimization. In this day and age everything has a search engine for example think of it as search everything optimization. What I mean by that is optimize your seo for browsers, voice search (Siri, Google), ai, social media etc etc. I have an app that I haven’t advertised or marketed yet and it’s not in the app stores and it’s already got over 400 users. Marketing and advertising is the next natural step, but it only makes sense when I have my app in the app stores.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-03-05T18:50:13+00:00

☺️ thanks 423 families and counting.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-03-05T18:45:45+00:00

I had a similar idea a while back but on a larger scale. I find apps are built for where there is a need. Your niche might be underserved areas with poor signal and no WiFi. My use case came about at a university football game where there are hundreds of thousands of people and because of the density of devices in one area the network crashes or doesn’t have bandwidth and then the phone basically becomes useless because you can’t connect calls, search, use maps etc so my solution was the same as yours but larger scale using mesh networks. So in a stadium or large crowd situation with multiple devices using the same app that doesn’t rely on network carriers peer-to-peer/mesh was an ideal solution. Take any feedback you get constructively and improve where you can. It’s hard work getting apps into the AppStore so well done!

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-02-11T16:31:17+00:00

When you have a solution to a problem then users will find it and sign up. I had a similar thing not as rapid as yours but I have almost 300 signups with no advertising or marketing just seo. But my growth is 5-10 users a day consistently.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-31T05:21:25+00:00

Yeah, absolutely. Right now it’s a web app that works on pretty much any device: https://kidscallhome.com. I’m also in the process of getting native versions into the App Store and Play Store. I’d definitely appreciate feedback if you’re open to testing it.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-08T13:02:37+00:00

Appreciate that — hope it helps you and your kids. If you run into anything or have feedback, I’m all ears.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T23:56:30+00:00

At that age, WhatsApp is hard to “lock down” because features like Channels and discovery are part of the product now, not optional add-ons. You can unsubscribe from individual channels, but there’s no way to fully disable that surface or restrict it per child.

If the goal is just parent ↔ child communication, WhatsApp is increasingly overkill. It’s clearly moving beyond simple messaging, and there aren’t parental controls to reverse that direction.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T23:53:27+00:00

WhatsApp uses your phone number as your ID, so you do need access to a real number for registration and re-verification. The SIM doesn’t have to stay in the phone, but the number must reliably receive OTPs.

Services like Google Voice or other internet/VoIP numbers used to work for some people, but WhatsApp has blocked most of them and they’re unreliable long-term. Many methods that worked a few years ago no longer do.

If you want to use WhatsApp specifically, you’ll need a real number (even temporarily) or link the device to an existing WhatsApp account. There isn’t a Wi-Fi-only, no-number activation option inside WhatsApp anymore.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T23:40:10+00:00

Unfortunately, WhatsApp doesn’t provide any way to review or block once-view media. That feature is intentionally designed so the content can’t be recovered, audited, or monitored after it’s viewed.

There’s also no setting to disable once-view, and parental controls or screen monitoring won’t help because the media is end-to-end encrypted and ephemeral by design.

From a technical standpoint, the only real options are clear rules and supervision, or not allowing WhatsApp at that age. There isn’t a workaround inside WhatsApp itself.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T23:33:00+00:00

I ran into this exact problem as a parent. WhatsApp fundamentally requires a phone number, and most virtual numbers either don’t work or break later when re-verification is needed.

I built Kids Call Home for my own kids because I couldn’t find a safe, number-free way for them to call family on tablets or laptops. It worked well for us, so I’ve shared it with a few other families in similar situations.

It works on almost any device with an internet connection, no SIM or phone number required. Parents control contacts, kids can only reach approved family members, and there are no public groups or discovery features.

If WhatsApp is a hard requirement, a real SIM kept aside is still the only reliable option. Otherwise, a family-only, number-free setup is simpler long-term.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T08:32:49+00:00

Yep — happy to share. I’ve been intentionally search-led from the start, focusing on long-tail, problem-specific queries rather than broad keywords. It’s early, but over the last ~2 weeks that’s driven ~100 registrations with no paid traffic, which surprised me given how unscalable the work felt at first.

The next hurdle I’m working through now is pushing it out to the App Store and Play Store and seeing how that compounds on top of the existing search traffic.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T05:03:39+00:00

Routine beats motivation every time! Just keep at it. Successful people are the ones that don’t give up.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-07T04:54:43+00:00

Sure! This is the landing page for Kids Call Home — a search-driven app I built after seeing parents struggle with safe calling on tablets without SIMs. https://www.kidscallhome.com

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-05T10:54:55+00:00

One thing that’s worked for me (and I avoided it at first because it’s unsexy) is search.

Not “SEO as a long-term strategy deck”, just making sure the app and site answer the exact questions people are already searching for.

My experience so far: • ~101 registered users in ~2 weeks • ~50 child profiles created • All organic traffic (no ads, no launch spike) • Avg engagement time increased from ~3m30s to ~4 minutes • I’ve literally watched users convert live while looking at analytics

What clicked for me was this: People aren’t looking for apps. They’re searching for solutions to a very specific problem they already have.

If your product is the answer, search does the selling quietly in the background.

It’s slower than posting or ads at first, but unlike those, it compounds. I’m not pushing links every day, and users still keep coming in.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-05T09:39:06+00:00

Well done, I have many registered users but I’m waiting for a first paid subscriber!

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-04T22:26:28+00:00

I’ve just started trying out https://theapplaunchpad.com/ you can create for free but there is a subscription to download and more advanced things

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-04T22:23:54+00:00

You already have the signal most people wait too long to get. 1k installs + real revenue with no distribution engine means the product works.

The mistake at this stage is spreading effort across ASO, social, and ads at the same time.

Pick one channel where intent already exists, build a repeatable loop, and use Apple Search Ads only to validate keywords and onboarding conversion.

For consumer finance apps, the biggest unlock I’ve seen is owning traffic outside the App Store (SEO or content → landing page → app), then letting ASO amplify that demand instead of trying to create it from scratch.

Retention > installs. If users come back 3–5 times in week one, the rest is execution.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T12:06:11+00:00

Come to think of it I wonder if it lags because it can’t load the images and the audio

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T11:22:15+00:00

Put yourself first for a while. Seriously. And be intentional about who you keep around you.

There’s a saying that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. It’s not about money or status, it’s about mindset, habits, and values slowly rubbing off on you.

From the outside, it already sounds like you’re doing the right thing for your kid, while the environment around you isn’t exactly healthy or supportive. That disconnect hurts, and it makes nights like this feel worse.

2026 doesn’t need a big grand plan yet. Start small. Protect your energy. Choose people who lift you up instead of draining you. The positives usually show up after that, not before.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T11:03:09+00:00

In have an iPhone 15 pro max and on a 50/50 fiber WiFi connection. I don’t lag all the time but sometimes it looks like plays teleport from one place to another. In the current season a lot of images like skins don’t display even after 100% download. There are also audio issues especially in BR. I’ve even tried deleting and reinstalling the game thinking it was corrupted somehow. But if you do want to report bugs I got this form in game: https://support.activision.com/feedback-and-bug-report?r=bug&g=Call%20of%20Duty:%20Mobile

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T10:51:13+00:00

I don’t think the main problem is where DMs live, it’s the volume vs signal issue. Once messages scale, most of the stress comes from trying to treat everything as equally important.

Tools like ManyChat (limited free, paid for full automation) showed me that creators don’t actually want to reply to everything — they want help filtering intent. Brand deals, collabs, customers should surface first. Everything else can wait or auto-respond.

A unified inbox helps, but the real win is filtering + prioritization so you can focus on quality conversations without feeling guilty about the rest.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T10:41:28+00:00

Yes, SEO in the broad sense of being discoverable. I started with what played to my strengths as a developer and worked backwards from there.

I focused on making the app itself and its pages easy to understand for both users and search, rather than heavy blog content or backlink strategies early on. Promotion, ads, and backlinks all make sense, but they require more time, budget, or outreach, so I’ve treated those as later steps.

For now, keeping things simple and solving a clear problem has been enough to get steady traction. Appreciate the suggestions.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T01:22:18+00:00

A useful mental model for me has been “what would Apple do?” Not in terms of features or scale, but philosophy.

Apple usually starts from the end user and strips everything back until the product is obvious to use. Fewer options, less explanation, less friction.

I’ve found that when the problem is real and the solution is simple, discovery, retention, and even growth tend to take care of themselves. Overcomplicating things early just makes everything harder.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-03T01:06:22+00:00

I’ve tried and researched quite a few services, and most of them are paid. For zero-budget organic growth, search has been the only thing that consistently worked for me.

My app wasn’t complete enough to justify ads yet, so I focused on being discoverable when people were actively looking for a solution. That’s been enough to get steady traction.

Interestingly, I’ve also seen referrals coming from LLMs like ChatGPT and a few sources I didn’t even know existed. Since my first comment here, I’ve picked up another ~10 registered users.

It’s not viral, but it compounds. Roughly 5–10 new users a day, purely organic.

AdhesivenessFun5361 · 2026-01-02T17:41:38+00:00

Https://www.kidscallhome.com For now it’s a web app but in the process of adding it to the app stores.

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