6 ms·

iPhone App Review sites to email when you’re about to launch

92 points by iamjonlee 14y ago

BenSS 14y ago
Shotgunning isn't the best approach either. Ideally, you should be in contact with reviewers BEFORE launch.
- sixQuarks 14y ago
  This is key!
dominostars 14y ago
What about if you're launching a game?
- arn 14y ago
  try to drum up some support from the toucharcade forums http://forums.toucharcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 http://forums.toucharcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 ahead of time and you can try to submit to TouchArcade too (editorial side), but a ton of games come out every day, so it can be hard to get found. (TA is my site)
asveikau 14y ago
Is it me or is publishing a list like this a bad idea? I'm thinking these 50+ (or maybe the first few, since people generally stop reading or get lazy) will be flooded with requests, thereby decreasing the odds that they'll actually pay attention to yours. Basically I read it as "quick fix! get publicity here!" which is probably not a great attitude to encourage.
robjama 14y ago
Following this formula might get you a post or two but are those reviews going to get you up the charts? Nope, not at all. - If your goal is impact and reach...you should be analyzing the traffic of the blogs you're contacting. A lot of those sites probably only have a few hundred readers. A review on Gizmodo & TUAW would probably be 10x more effective than mentions on all of those sites. - We sometimes tend to forget that the R in PR stands relations. So build those relationships don't just spam. - Get to know bloggers (do your research) and get them to know you well before you go pitching (add value, send them tips, get to know them on twitter and IRL) - Intros are also very helpful. Have a friend who got a review on insert blog name? Ask him to make an intro since he's established himself as someone who's made something newsworthy. PR is kind of like trying to get a job. You could blast out 50+ generic resumes + cover letters and hope someone calls. Or you could do your homework, choose the top 3 companies you really want to join, get intros and do something remarkable to get noticed.
- lnanek2 14y ago
  Sometimes you have to work your way up, though. Big guys are more likely to cover something a lot of little guys have picked up, than someone who has gotten no press at all. And once you have the big bloggers you have a shot at the editorials on the really big names. Then you can say you were in the big names, and have a shot at real articles and TV...
- iamjonlee 14y ago
  Thanks for the reply! It's true that these reviews might not help immensely to get us up in the charts, but they have worked for us in the past imo. We've had some of our most loyal users coming from those review sites so we're currently happy to stick with that list as our initial list to use. I agree 110% on building relationships and finding well-known bloggers to write about your post as well as reviews on Gizmodo or TUAW being worth 10x more traffic on the list currently provided. You might've missed the last part where I mention that the list is incomplete though because we usually do end up delivering a better pitch to the mentioned top level tech news sites after a week or two. From just our experience, we've found that doing a blast of 50+ generic "resumes, cover letters" AND posts by the top companies is a perfect combination. Not to mention, it really doesn't hurt to post to the 50+ sites either way.
epaga 14y ago
I think it's easy to overestimate the importance of being blogged about. My app was chosen as "App of the day" by thenextweb.com and it was retweeted about 200 times - I got a download spike of about 100 (remember the link was retweeted 200+ times!) for one or two days, then it quickly dropped back to the normal level.
- tudorizer 14y ago
  what does you app do? The link on your profile is broken.
  - epaga 14y ago
    EmptyInbox - it's a little Inbox Zero helper for GMail. http://app.net/emptyinbox http://app.net/emptyinbox Thanks for the pointer re: the kickfolio link. Kickfolio apparently "kicked" their app portfolio offering for devs (apparently without warning?). Bummer.
    - tudorizer 14y ago
      That's interesting: i never knew that one can host such presentation pages on app.net
      - epaga 14y ago
        That's actually how app.net originally started off as...
stanislavb 14y ago
You might also consider the list at Apptlantis http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews with 175 app submission sites. It is one of the most complete and actual lists. Cheers!
TeeWEE 14y ago
Does somebody have a list like this for Android?
- stanislavb 14y ago
  Here it is http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews?platform=android http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews?platform=android 70+ sites
pat3ck 14y ago
Nice list of app review sites, however, I believe you may have missed one more - Tapscape. http://www.tapscape.com http://www.tapscape.com It has a PR of 5 and ranked in the top 50,000 sites on Alexa. Hope it helps!

92 points by iamjonlee 14y ago

BenSS 14y ago

Shotgunning isn't the best approach either. Ideally, you should be in contact with reviewers BEFORE launch.

sixQuarks 14y ago
This is key!

dominostars 14y ago

What about if you're launching a game?

arn 14y ago
try to drum up some support from the toucharcade forums http://forums.toucharcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 http://forums.toucharcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 ahead of time and you can try to submit to TouchArcade too (editorial side), but a ton of games come out every day, so it can be hard to get found. (TA is my site)

asveikau 14y ago

Is it me or is publishing a list like this a bad idea? I'm thinking these 50+ (or maybe the first few, since people generally stop reading or get lazy) will be flooded with requests, thereby decreasing the odds that they'll actually pay attention to yours. Basically I read it as "quick fix! get publicity here!" which is probably not a great attitude to encourage.

robjama 14y ago

Following this formula might get you a post or two but are those reviews going to get you up the charts? Nope, not at all. - If your goal is impact and reach...you should be analyzing the traffic of the blogs you're contacting. A lot of those sites probably only have a few hundred readers. A review on Gizmodo & TUAW would probably be 10x more effective than mentions on all of those sites. - We sometimes tend to forget that the R in PR stands relations. So build those relationships don't just spam. - Get to know bloggers (do your research) and get them to know you well before you go pitching (add value, send them tips, get to know them on twitter and IRL) - Intros are also very helpful. Have a friend who got a review on insert blog name? Ask him to make an intro since he's established himself as someone who's made something newsworthy. PR is kind of like trying to get a job. You could blast out 50+ generic resumes + cover letters and hope someone calls. Or you could do your homework, choose the top 3 companies you really want to join, get intros and do something remarkable to get noticed.

lnanek2 14y ago
Sometimes you have to work your way up, though. Big guys are more likely to cover something a lot of little guys have picked up, than someone who has gotten no press at all. And once you have the big bloggers you have a shot at the editorials on the really big names. Then you can say you were in the big names, and have a shot at real articles and TV...
iamjonlee 14y ago
Thanks for the reply! It's true that these reviews might not help immensely to get us up in the charts, but they have worked for us in the past imo. We've had some of our most loyal users coming from those review sites so we're currently happy to stick with that list as our initial list to use. I agree 110% on building relationships and finding well-known bloggers to write about your post as well as reviews on Gizmodo or TUAW being worth 10x more traffic on the list currently provided. You might've missed the last part where I mention that the list is incomplete though because we usually do end up delivering a better pitch to the mentioned top level tech news sites after a week or two. From just our experience, we've found that doing a blast of 50+ generic "resumes, cover letters" AND posts by the top companies is a perfect combination. Not to mention, it really doesn't hurt to post to the 50+ sites either way.

epaga 14y ago

I think it's easy to overestimate the importance of being blogged about. My app was chosen as "App of the day" by thenextweb.com and it was retweeted about 200 times - I got a download spike of about 100 (remember the link was retweeted 200+ times!) for one or two days, then it quickly dropped back to the normal level.

tudorizer 14y ago
what does you app do? The link on your profile is broken.
- epaga 14y ago
  EmptyInbox - it's a little Inbox Zero helper for GMail. http://app.net/emptyinbox http://app.net/emptyinbox Thanks for the pointer re: the kickfolio link. Kickfolio apparently "kicked" their app portfolio offering for devs (apparently without warning?). Bummer.
  - tudorizer 14y ago
    That's interesting: i never knew that one can host such presentation pages on app.net
    - epaga 14y ago
      That's actually how app.net originally started off as...

stanislavb 14y ago

You might also consider the list at Apptlantis http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews with 175 app submission sites. It is one of the most complete and actual lists. Cheers!

TeeWEE 14y ago

Does somebody have a list like this for Android?

stanislavb 14y ago
Here it is http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews?platform=android http://www.apptlantis.com/app_reviews?platform=android 70+ sites

pat3ck 14y ago

Nice list of app review sites, however, I believe you may have missed one more - Tapscape. http://www.tapscape.com http://www.tapscape.com It has a PR of 5 and ranked in the top 50,000 sites on Alexa. Hope it helps!