What does it take (and bring) to be in the top of the Mac App Store
We released Breaks For Eyes only 2 weeks ago. Today it’s the Top 1 free app in Health & Fitness and Lifestyle categories of the Mac App Store in 30 over countries, including the United States.
So, being in the App Store means everyone who opens a corresponding category of the App Store instantly sees your app there.
Probably, some of you think (especially app developers) that being in the App Store top can instantly make you a millionaire (if not in the dollar but at least in the downloads equivalent). I’m here to tell the truth!
So, how many downloads does it bring, you may ask if you’re #1? Not much, to be honest.
How to get to the top?
Lists of the most popular apps are formed independently in each country and in each category of the App Store. I.e. top health & fitness apps are different in the US and Germany, for instance.
Rankings are based on the number of downloads in a contracted period of time (just one or a couple of days). It means if you manage to get more downloads than the other apps in the top, for example, today and maintain this number tomorrow — most likely, you’ll get to the top.
It took us just around 350 downloads on 3 consecutive days to become #2 in the US. We were lucky enough to get mentioned by MacRumors in their monthly “apps worth checking out” compilation. It gave us good traffic for the next couple of days after publication. Then, Breaks For Eyes organically moved one position up.
What does the top bring?
So, how many downloads does it bring, you may ask if you’re #1? Not much, to be honest.
Today (Nov 9, 2018) is the 4th day for us being in the top. Every day it brings us around 1,000 downloads. Yes, only 1K for a free app!
That’s so little. For instance, when our other app — Mate Translate — was topping the productivity category in the Thai iOS App Store (not even the US, which has the heaviest traffic), it brought us 47K downloads in just one day!
Conclusion
Getting to the top of the Mac App Store is way easier than on the iOS App Store, but it’s way less valuable at the same time.
In the essence, I agree with those who advocate that Mac App Store is dead :)
Apple is definitely making an effort to breathe new life into it with their recent redesign in Mojave. I’m kind of curious what will it bring.
