This guide is based on Mixergy’s interview with Cole Ratias.
Cole Ratias knew his Facebook app might become irrelevant with the release of the official Facebook app, so he added features Facebook lacked to hit 10 million downloads and maintain stable download numbers. It was all done using app development and marketing techniques, so we invited him to teach you how to do it.
Cole is the co-founder of Loytr, which is the developer behind mobile apps like MyPad, Timelines for Facebook, and G-Pad.
Here are the actionable highlights from the course.
Cole noticed that there weren’t any Facebook apps that used the iPad’s touch features, so he built MyPad (then FacePad), which got 10 million downloads.
Cole launched the first version of MyPad before Facebook released their official app, which ranked number one on the app store for three weeks and averaged 150,000 downloads a day.
Cole says 10% of the users who downloaded the free version of MyPad bought the paid one when it was released two weeks later.
Cole monetized MyPad by selling a paid version and by putting ads in the free version, which generated a few hundred thousand impressions within hours of its launch.
Cole built a unique tabbed interface for MyPad and is planning to add Twitter and Instagram integration, which competing apps don’t have.
Updates for MyPad are released every two to three weeks to fix bugs, improve the app’s design, and add new features like a music section and a gaming tab.
Watch the full interview now
Written by Hazel Chua, based on production notes by Jeremy Weisz