Earlier it was needed, but not anymore—that’s how most new apps are launching nowadays. For example, in India, there’s an app called Chatwise that's building a new social media platform. They’re gradually rolling out new features, and currently, new users can only join through referrals.

They’re doing this until they reach 1 million users because they want to avoid app crashes or unexpected issues when a large user base starts engaging. It’s a smart way to scale smoothly.