Releasing an app feels amazing for about five minutes.
You hit publish. You refresh the store page. Maybe you send the link to a few friends. Maybe you post something like, “Finally launched this thing I’ve been working on.” And then… silence.
Not always, of course. Sometimes you get downloads right away. Sometimes someone finds a bug in the first hour, which is both annoying and oddly exciting. But most of the time, launch day is quieter than people expect.
And that’s where a lot of developers get stuck.
Because shipping the app was the big goal, right? That was the finish line. The final boss. The thing you worked nights and weekends for.
Well, it's not. Shipping is the start.
Once your app is live, you suddenly have a new job. You are no longer just building a product. You are maintaining it, watching it, explaining it, improving it, protecting it, and trying to get people to care.
That sounds like a lot. It is a lot. But it doesn’t have to be chaotic.
Here’s what I started doing after releasing my app, Cloudy, and what I think other indie developers should think about after they launch.
First, protect your data before future-you starts panicking
Let’s talk about backups.
Not exciting. Not cool. Not the thing anyone posts about with a dramatic launch screenshot.
But backups matter.
I use Supabase, and on the free tier, automated backups are not included. That makes sense from a business point of view, but from a developer point of view it means one simple thing: you need your own backup plan.
So I set up backups using GitHub Actions.
Why GitHub Actions? Because it’s free for many small projects, it’s already close to the codebase, and it’s easy to schedule jobs. You can create a workflow that runs every day, exports what you need, and stores it somewhere safe.
Is it the most fancy setup in the world? No.
Does it work? Yes.
And honestly, that’s the point. After launch, you don’t need perfect systems. You need systems that save you when something breaks at 1:37 AM and your brain is made of soup.
A basic backup flow can be enough:
- Run a scheduled GitHub Action
- Export your Supabase data
- Store it somewhere private and safe
- Get notified if the job fails
That’s it. Boring. Useful. Beautiful in the way a spare tire is beautiful.
Then, stop guessing and start watching
Once people can actually use your app, analytics become less of a “nice to have” and more of a flashlight.
I set up a PostHog dashboard so I could see how the app was doing. Not in a creepy way. Not “let me track every breath the user takes.” More like: are people opening the app, using the core features, coming back, dropping off, or getting confused?
There’s a big difference between building based on vibes and building based on signals.
Before launch, you make a lot of guesses.
You guess which feature matters.
You guess what users will tap first.
You guess which screen makes sense.
You guess where people might quit.
After launch, you can check.
That doesn’t mean every product decision should become a spreadsheet debate. Please don’t turn your app into a lifeless KPI machine. But if you see that users keep opening one feature and ignore another, that tells you something. If people start a flow and never finish it, that tells you something too.
Data doesn’t replace taste. It sharpens it.
A daily Telegram report is weirdly motivating
You know what? One of my favorite small things I built after launch was a daily report.
I created another GitHub Action that pulls data from PostHog and sends me a Telegram bot message with a short daily summary of how the app is doing.
Nothing too dramatic. Just enough to know what’s going on.
Downloads are nice, but usage matters more. Are people coming back? Are they triggering key events? Did anything unusual happen? Did yesterday look better than today?
The great thing about a daily report is that it turns analytics into a habit. You don’t need to open five dashboards every morning like some Wall Street trader with an app instead of stocks.
You just get a message.
It’s a small ritual. Coffee, phone, daily report. “Okay, cool, people are using this.” Or: “Hmm, something changed. Let me check.”
That kind of feedback loop keeps the project alive in your head.
And when you’re an indie developer, that matters. Nobody is tapping you on the shoulder saying, “Hey, remember to check retention.” It’s just you. So build little systems that tap you on the shoulder.
Check the crash reports, even when there’s only one
One day I was monitoring Google Play Console and saw one crash report.
Just one.
It would’ve been easy to ignore it. One crash doesn’t sound like a disaster. It’s not a fire. It’s barely smoke.
But that one crash was still a real user hitting a real problem. So I opened it, checked what happened, and fixed it.
That’s the mindset you need after launch.
Not panic. Not obsession. Just awareness.
Your app is now out in the wild. It’s running on phones you don’t own, in languages you may not speak, with network conditions you didn’t test, on devices that somehow still exist even though they feel like they were built during the Roman Empire.
Things will break.
So check:
- Google Play Console or App Store Connect
- Crash reports
- ANRs
- Reviews
- Support emails
- Analytics drops
- Weird user behavior
Small issues have a funny way of becoming big issues if nobody looks at them.
And fixing bugs quickly sends a signal too. Maybe users don’t consciously think, “Wow, this developer maintains a strong release cycle.” But they feel it when things improve. They feel it when the app doesn’t stay broken.
Your store page is part of the product
This one is easy to underestimate.
Your app store screenshots are not decoration. They are your sales pitch.
I translated every screenshot on Google Play into 10 languages. But I didn’t just translate the text and call it a day. I localized the names and examples inside the screenshots too.
For example, if a screenshot shows a user name and top topics that person posted about, I don’t want every country to see the same generic English example. For Germany, I might use “Lucas” and topics like Oktoberfest or other familiar references.
That tiny detail matters.
People can smell lazy localization. They may not think about it in those words, but they notice when something feels copied and pasted. A translated headline helps, sure. But a screenshot that feels like it belongs in their culture? That hits differently.
Good localization is not only language. It’s context.
It’s names.
It’s examples.
It’s jokes, when appropriate.
It’s formats.
It’s the tiny emotional signal that says, “This app was made for people like me too.”
And no, you don’t need a huge team for this. You can start simple. Translate the store listing. Translate screenshots. Adjust examples. Check that the text doesn’t overflow. Make sure the UI still looks good in longer languages like German or Finnish.
Is it tedious? A bit.
Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Keep releasing, even if the updates feel small
After launch, I released an update that fixed some UI elements and handled streak freezes. Now I’m working on a widget.
That’s the rhythm.
You release.
You watch.
You fix.
You improve.
You release again.
Not every update needs to be a giant feature with fireworks and a launch video. Some updates are small. Some are just cleanup. Some fix the annoying thing you noticed but hoped nobody else would see. Spoiler: someone saw it.
The important part is momentum.
A living app feels different from an abandoned one. Users may not read your changelog, but they notice polish. They notice fewer bugs. They notice when the app slowly becomes smoother, clearer, less clunky.
Also, small updates are good for you as a builder. They keep the project moving. They stop the codebase from becoming that dusty drawer in the kitchen where batteries, receipts, and mystery keys go to die.
Marketing without a budget is awkward, but not impossible
Here’s the part many developers hate.
You have to talk about the app.
I know. It feels weird. You built the thing. Shouldn’t people just find it?
Sadly, no.
If you have a marketing budget, great. Run ads. Test creatives. Try Google App Campaigns, Meta ads, TikTok ads, whatever fits your audience. Paid acquisition can work if you understand your numbers.
But I don’t have a marketing budget, so I don’t do that right now.
That doesn’t mean there are no options. It just means the work gets scrappier.
Go on Instagram. Go on TikTok. Watch what’s trending. See what formats people are already reacting to. Then recreate the structure with your app.
Not copy the video exactly. Copy the pattern.
A simple short video can be:
- A clip of you using the app
- A strong caption
- A quick shot of your face reacting to something
- A trending song
- One clear reason someone should care
That’s it.
Will every video work? No. Most won’t.
But one video can change everything. One video gets 1 million views and suddenly you might get 1,000 to 10,000 downloads. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on the app, the audience, and how clear the video is.
The point is not “go viral or fail.” That’s a terrible mindset.
The point is: distribution is part of the product now.
You can build the cleanest app in the world, but if nobody hears about it, it’s like opening a great coffee shop in the middle of a forest. Nice latte art. Zero customers. Occasional squirrel.
Build in public, even if you start late
I made one mistake with Cloudy: I started building in public only after I released it.
I should’ve started earlier.
Still, even in just a few days, I got more than 10 followers by talking about what I was doing. That’s not a huge number, but it’s real. And it came from simply posting.
People like following progress. They like seeing messy middle parts, not just polished launch posts. They like bugs, charts, lessons, tiny wins, and honest “I tried this and it didn’t work” updates.
Building in public doesn’t mean turning your whole life into content. It doesn’t mean posting fake hustle threads or pretending every small decision is a founder masterclass.
It can be simple:
“Fixed one crash today.”
“Localized screenshots into 10 languages. Took longer than expected.”
“Set up daily analytics reports through Telegram.”
“Working on a widget now.”
“Streak bug is fixed. Finally.”
That’s enough.
Keep posting. Keep talking. Keep showing the process.
Not because followers are the only goal, but because attention compounds. Trust compounds too. Someone sees one post, then another, then another. Eventually they remember the app. Maybe they try it. Maybe they tell someone. Maybe they just cheer you on, which sounds small until you’ve spent three hours fighting a weird Android bug and need one human being to say, “Nice work.”
Make a landing page before people ask for one
Your app needs a home outside the store.
A landing page makes the app feel more real. It gives people a place to learn what it does, see screenshots, read updates, find legal pages, and maybe contact you.
It doesn’t need to be a massive site. A simple page is fine.
Have:
- A clear headline
- A short explanation
- App store links
- Screenshots or a demo video
- Contact info
- Privacy policy
- Terms, if needed
- Data deletion instructions
The landing page is also useful for social links, SEO, press, and support. If someone Googles your app, you want them to find something you control.
And please, make it look decent on mobile. It’s an app. Most people will check it from a phone.
Legal pages are boring until they save you
Nobody launches an indie app because they’re excited to write a privacy policy.
But you need one.
You should make sure your app and landing page have the right legal pages. Privacy policy, terms, cookie notice if needed, contact details, and anything required by your platform or region.
Also, think about GDPR and similar privacy rules.
If users can create an account, they should be able to delete their data. Don’t hide that behind a treasure map. Add a delete data button or clear instructions.
This stuff is easy to postpone because it doesn’t feel like “real product work.” But it is real product work. Trust is part of the product. Safety is part of the product. Compliance is part of the product.
And yes, it’s boring.
That’s fine. Some parts of running an app are boring. Boring can be good. Boring means fewer angry emails later.
So… what now?
After you release an app, the job changes.
You go from builder to maintainer, marketer, analyst, support person, privacy department, QA tester, and occasionally therapist for your own stressed-out brain.
But that’s also the fun part.
The app is alive now. Real people can touch it. Real data comes in. Real bugs appear. Real feedback shows up. You get to make it better not based on imagination, but based on contact with the world.
So after launch, don’t vanish.
Set up backups.
Watch analytics.
Create simple reports.
Check crashes.
Localize your store page with care.
Ship updates.
Post about the journey.
Try short-form videos.
Build in public.
Create a landing page.
Handle the legal stuff.
None of this guarantees success. Apps are hard. Distribution is hard. People are busy, picky, distracted, and already drowning in icons on their home screens.
But doing these things gives your app a real chance.
And honestly, that’s the part you can control.
You released the app.
Great.
Now keep going.
