How to get your first 100 app users
You get your first hundred users by going where your problem is already being discussed and being useful there, not by waiting for App Store search to deliver them. Direct outreach to people you can already reach, then targeted participation in communities built around the problem, then content that answers the question your app solves. In that order.
App Store search is a distribution channel that rewards apps which already have downloads, ratings, and retention. It is an amplifier, not a starting engine. Expecting it to produce your first users is the single most common reason a technically solid indie app never gets past a couple of dozen installs.
Why the store will not give you these users
App Store ranking is driven by signals that only exist after usage. Download velocity, retention, ratings volume, and conversion from impression to install. A brand new app has none of these, so it ranks nowhere for anything competitive, and the keywords it can rank for have almost no search volume by definition.
This is not a reason to skip store optimisation. Your listing needs to convert the traffic you send it, and a weak listing wastes every user you work hard to bring. But treat it as the conversion layer rather than the acquisition layer, which is exactly the framing in [App Store optimization](/blog/app-store-optimization) and in [App Store screenshots that convert](/blog/app-store-screenshots-that-convert).
Layer one: people you can already reach
The first twenty users should come from direct, individual contact. Not a broadcast post, not an announcement. Messages to specific people who plausibly have the problem, asking them to try it and tell you what is confusing.
- Anyone who described the problem to you before you built anything. These are the highest quality users you will ever get, and if you validated the idea properly you already have a list of them.
- Your TestFlight testers, who already installed once and are far more likely to return than a cold user. The pipeline for building that group is in [the TestFlight beta testing guide for Expo apps](/blog/testflight-beta-testing-guide-for-expo-apps).
- People in your existing network who work in the space, even if they are not the target user themselves. They forward things, and a forward from a credible person outperforms an ad.
- Anyone who replied to you while you were building in public. Interest expressed during development converts far better than interest generated after launch.
Twenty individual messages is one evening of work. The reason people avoid it is that it does not feel scalable, which is true and irrelevant. Nothing about the first hundred users is supposed to scale. The scalable channels come later and they need this data first.
Layer two: communities where the problem lives
The next fifty users come from communities organised around the problem your app solves. The critical distinction is problem communities, not app communities. A forum full of indie developers showing each other apps produces installs from people who will never open it again. A forum full of people struggling with the thing your app fixes produces actual users.
How you show up there decides everything. Posting a link and leaving reads as spam and frequently gets removed. Answering the question properly in the thread, in full, and mentioning that you built something for it, reads as helpful and converts several times better.
- Find threads where people describe your problem in their own words. Those exact words are also your best App Store keywords and your best marketing copy.
- Answer completely without requiring the app. If your answer only works when someone installs something, it is an ad and it will be treated as one.
- Go narrow. Five people in a community of two hundred who have exactly this problem beats indifference from twenty thousand.
- Stay after launch day. The people who accumulate real users from communities are the ones still answering questions in month three.
Layer three: content that answers the search
The final thirty users, and the ones that keep arriving afterwards, come from content that answers the question people search before they know your app exists. Someone searching for how to solve the problem is a better prospect than someone searching for an app to solve it, because the second person is comparing and the first person is still forming an opinion.
This is slower than the first two layers and it is the only one of the three that keeps producing users while you sleep. Start it early precisely because it is slow, and let the first two layers carry you while it takes hold.
Paid acquisition belongs after all of this, not instead of it. Paying to acquire users for a product you have not yet validated with real retention data means you are buying downloads rather than customers, and it hides the signal you actually need. If monetisation is part of the plan, get the [paywall screen that converts](/blog/paywall-screen-that-converts) working on organic users before spending anything on ads.
What to measure while you are doing this
Downloads are the least useful number available to you right now. A hundred downloads with four people still opening the app in week two is a failing product with good marketing. Twenty downloads with twelve still active is a working product with no distribution, and that is a far better position.
What to watch during the first hundred users
| Signal | What it tells you | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Day 7 retention | Whether the app solves a real recurring problem | Below roughly 20 percent, stop acquiring and fix the product |
| Onboarding completion | Whether people understand what to do first | A large drop means rework the flow before adding users |
| Where each user came from | Which layer is actually producing | Double down on the channel producing retained users, not raw installs |
| Unprompted feedback | Whether anyone cares enough to complain | Silence from a hundred users is worse news than complaints |
If onboarding is where you are losing people, that is the highest leverage fix available, because it affects every user you will ever acquire afterwards. The approach is in [how to design an onboarding flow that keeps users](/blog/how-to-design-an-onboarding-flow-that-keeps-users). And once you have retained users, asking them for reviews at the right moment is what starts to make the store work for you, which is covered in [how to get your first app reviews](/blog/how-to-get-your-first-app-reviews).
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Frequently asked questions
How long should it take to get 100 app users?
Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on whether you already have a group of people who described the problem to you. Speed here matters far less than retention, since a hundred users who leave teaches you almost nothing useful.
Should I run ads to get my first app users?
Not yet. Paid acquisition before you have retention data means buying downloads for a product you have not validated, and it masks the signal about whether people actually want it. Get organic users retaining first, then consider paid.
Why is my app not showing up in App Store search?
Because ranking depends on signals that only exist after usage, such as download velocity, retention, and ratings. A new app ranks nowhere competitive by design, so treat the store as your conversion layer and drive traffic to it from elsewhere.
Is Product Hunt worth it for a new app?
It can produce a visible spike, but the audience is largely people who try many products and keep few. Use it for credibility and feedback rather than as your acquisition plan, and judge it on week-two retention rather than launch-day downloads.
What retention rate is good for a new app?
Day 7 retention is the number worth watching, and below roughly 20 percent the right move is to stop acquiring and fix the product. Adding users to an app people abandon just spreads the disappointment more widely.
Last reviewed by David on August 14, 2026
