How we got 8,861 installs, for free, in 24h

I'm not sure if you have had a chance to explore the course in the classroom yet. This is a copy-paste post from the Classroom > App Growth Club > Rule 3: How to launch like a pro.

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Let me tell you about one of the most powerful, underrated growth hacks.

Not ads.

Not influencers.

Not SEO or ASO.

Not viral TikTok videos.

Just this:

Make your app free for one day. Get it featured on a AppAdvice.com. Collect thousands of installs—and more importantly—hundreds of five-star reviews.

That’s the Apps Gone Free strategy. And it works if you use it right.

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🙌 Credit where it’s due

I first learned this tactic from my friend Steve Young, the founder of App Masters.

Steve is one of the few people in this space who shares actual, working strategies—and this one came directly from him.

Check out his channel, seriously. Subscribe. He’s the real deal.

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🗞 What is Apps Gone Free?

Apps Gone Free is a curated daily feature run by AppAdvice.com, a high-traffic Apple-focused (See Android alternatives later in this lecture) site that showcases 7 apps each day that are temporarily free or heavily discounted.

Each day, thousands of iOS users check the list to grab quality apps for $0.

Here’s how it works:

You submit your app to AppAdvice
You schedule a price drop (either full free or heavily discounted)
If selected, they feature your app in their daily article
On that day, users flock to download your app

It’s simple. Elegant. Explosive.

And yes, it’s free to submit.

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📱 Our Real Case Study: Shadow Work Journal

Let me walk you through exactly what we did.

With

@Evrim Demir

we built a niche app called Shadow Work Journal—a digital space for people to explore and heal their inner world.

The app normally sells for $39/year with a 7-day trial.

But we wanted to boost credibility fast. We needed reviews.

So we submitted the app to Apps Gone Free and scheduled the app to go completely free for 24 hours.

Out of the 7 apps they featured that day, we were the #1 app at the top of the list.

That matters. A lot. The first app gets the lion’s share of attention.

The result?

📈 8,861 installs in one day

⭐ Over 100 five-star reviews within 48 hours

💬 Dozens of heartfelt messages from users discovering the app for the first time

Here’s the real kicker:

We didn’t make a cent that day. But we didn’t need to.

The installs weren’t the real prize.

The reviews were.

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⭐ Why reviews matter more than revenue (at this stage)

If you’ve been in the app game for a while, you know:

Nothing builds App Store momentum like a wave of 5-star reviews.

Apple treats user ratings as a major signal in their ranking algorithm.

Even users themselves use reviews to decide if an app is trustworthy.

One hundred five-star reviews gives you:

Instant credibility
Higher conversion rates from store visitors
A better shot at keyword ranking
A chance to get featured by Apple later
A foundation for long-term, compounding growth

We’ve had apps get featured or climb rankings months after launch—because of the reviews we gathered early.

Apps Gone Free helped us get there in 24 hours.

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🤯 “But doesn’t this kill your revenue?”

Great question. The answer?

Only for that one day. And it’s 100% worth it.

Here’s why:

Reviews compound over time—revenue will follow
You control the calendar: one day free, then switch back to paid
You can use the credibility from the event to run paid campaigns or submit to other platforms

Think of it like this:

You give up $39 per user for one day.

But you gain thousands of users and long-term authority.

It’s not a loss.

It’s a marketing investment paid in goodwill and trust.

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🧠 Bonus Insight: Where to place the review prompt

This is critical—and counterintuitive.

Most developers ask for reviews way too late, or never at all.

Here’s what we do:

🟢 We place the review prompt right after onboarding.

Before users enter the app fully, right after they’ve had their first “Aha!” moment, we say:

“This app is usually paid, but today it’s free. If it’s already helping you, would you take 10 seconds to leave a quick review?”

Make it human. Make it honest. And ask early.

We’ll go deep into this technique later in:

Conversion Captain
Awesome ASO

But if you want to run this campaign right now, that’s how you do it.

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🛠 How to Set This Up (Step-by-Step)

Submit to AppAdvice
Coordinate the date
Schedule the price drop in App Store Connect
Optimize your store listing
Set up your review prompt

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🤖 Android Alternatives to Explore

If you’re building on Android, here are some alternatives that might help you replicate a similar strategy. I haven’t personally used these, so I can’t vouch for their effectiveness—but they’re worth exploring: