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Lapse , a picture - share app thatgrowth hacked its direction to the top of the App Storeearlier this year , is start to suffer steam . The app , which had forced exploiter to invite their friend to get in — a technique now being used bynew societal app ID by Amo , saw other success with this method of “ going viral . ” This September , the app jumpstart from No . 118 Overall to reach No . 1 on the U.S. App Store . However , growing hack alone can not sustain an app , a new story read . Throughout this calendar month and the last , Lapse ’s downloads have start to drop and have now fall as far as 70 % down from their October peak .
The data , which comes from app word firmAppfigures , indicates that increment hack your way of life to the top of the App Store is n’t a formula for on-going achiever unless your product is capable of retaining its fresh users over the farsighted term .
in the first place launched in 2021 , conscientious objector - founders ( and blood brother ) Dan and Ben Silvertownsaid they build up Lapsewith the melodic theme of recreating the feel of a tip - and - shoot photographic camera , where user would take flick but viewing the photos was delayed . This artificial limitation is a feature that ’s been test before by other photo apps , likeDispoandLater Cam . But after a while , Lapse ’s team noticed that users were using Lapse as more of a photo daybook , so they pivoted to speak this motivation . The new version of Lapse still retained the gubbins of “ arise ” its photos at random intervals later in the mean solar day but refocused on curating photo into albums and creating user profiles with monthly photo mopes — mime a movement also meet on larger apps like Instagram .
With TikTok ads and then its invite mechanism fueling growing , Lapse ’s pivot was not always well - received . Sheel Mohnot , a VC at Better Tomorrow Ventures , post on X,“I matte dirty , ” when cite the app ’s invite scheme . He also added that Lapse “ stick to the top of the App Store on a Pyramids of Egypt scheme . ”Othersalso called out this character of onboarding as “ annoying , ” say it demand them to “ spam ” their friends .
But Lapse held onto its top ranks for a bit . Appfiguresnotesthat Lapse had started the month of September with just 8,000 downloads per day on fair but , by calendar month - end , had seen daily downloads of 210,000 per day . It had also become the most download app on the U.S. App Store and continued to outrank in the top 5 daily . By October , daily downloads grew to a superlative of 218,000 in a single solar day . But then affair started to slide .
While Lapse is gaining new installs , its downloads drop last workweek to 63,000 per daytime this past workweek , down 70 % from its vizor . By Friday , November 24th , they were as abject as 44,738 .
This follows alike movement pick up by apps likeDispoandPoparazzi , the latter of which hitover 5 million downloadspost - launch , buthad to shut down earlier this yearafter break down to win meaning traction among users . In summation , information from analytics firm Similarweb also cite BeReal as another photo app lose its clench in the U.S. , observe that monthly users had refuse from 3.7 million in November 2022 to 3 million this August . But BeReal pushed back at that depiction , say that it still has more than 25 million active usersworldwide , without annotate on U.S. usage .
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In any issue , it does seem to be difficult for newbie in the social or social photograph app space to wield their momentum , no matter how quickly they ’ve climbed their way to the top of the App Store . Meanwhile , despite the bombilation aroundID by Amo — a quirky Modern appthat combines the montage - making ability of something likePinterest ’s Shuffleswith a social connection — the same movement may already be underway .
ID , which was also pushing user to ask in friends so as to get in , has get wind its installs decline post - launch , as well , Appfigures ’ data appearance . More to come on that one in time …
In reaction to Appfigures ’ data , Lapse co - founder Dan Silvertown had this to say :
“ We never expected our late growth flight to continue at its volatile rate . When create a newfangled networked product , breaking the cold scratch line job is key to catalyzing the internet . We have succeeded in solving that problem and make a platform on which there are now millions of users enjoying the app every day with friends , without us spending a dollar mark on selling , ” he told TechCrunch .
“ We always fuck we would need to transition to a Modern form of increment and so for the past two calendar month , we have been experimenting with ways of allowing users to join without inviting protagonist . We knew this would touch on download numbers and App Store rate in the forgetful terminus but when we took that decision we and our investors were well-heeled that it was the ripe time to startle transitioning into our next phase of growth . We ’re take on a Brobdingnagian challenge but we ’re ahead of where we expected to be 6 calendar month ago and remain 100 % focalize on our substance abuser and product , ” Silvertown added .
update , 11/27/23 , 2:21 pm with comment
