Planning Launches And Releases
A great approach to launching a mobile app is by planning release stages. This method allows for multiple testing scenarios to make sure your app is polished and ready to go before the big and final "launch." Choosing to launch your app in stages allows you to test your product and get feedback from a sample audience. To begin testing, the initial launch should occur internally or with a small group of hand chosen beta testers.
Beginning with a small group of beta testers or testing internally within the company is the ideal way to get the initial feedback you need. Keeping the first beta small allows you to better manage the feedback and interact with every tester to best understand how the product is being used.
You should always ask your beta testers "Would you use this app again? Why? Why not?" If the answer isn't satisfactory you haven't made a valuable product yet. Once you have learned and iterated through a couple versions with your small beta group, the next step is to do a full launch through an app store.
Now, your first launch in the app store should not be in the United States or the specific country that you may be targeting. From an American perspective, launching an app in Canada is a great way to test the app and gather feedback with minimal risk of having negative reviews affect your business. Canada has 10% of the population of the United States but the lifestyle and culture between the two countries are extremely similar.
Smaller app store launches can provide real live data and provide instances to see how quickly your team can respond and react to any bugs or problems that occur.
After beta testing and launching in an alternative app store you
should be confident for the official launch. By reaching this point
you have already tested your app on small and large scales, and
should be prepared to handle any new problems if they arise.
When officially launching the app be prepared for new problems, but due to the multiple launches and tests you can be confident that you are releasing a quality product into the marketplace. Don't forget to take a break, and reward yourself and your team for the successful launch of the app.