Three years. Thirty-two releases. Three major versions. One thousand and twelve downloads. One hundred user ratings.

I first started coding Android apps in late October 2010; three years ago. In that time, I have taken a gentle and gradual approach to developing and refining the apps, including Electric Dawn. Each autumn saw a new surge in downloads, and more constructive user feedback, leading to more improvements ready for the next autumnal wave.

Somewhere in the archives on Joel on Software I remember reading an article (many years ago) that simply stated (I’m paraphrasing here): you get more downloads/sales by improving the product than you will ever get by marketing and advertising. In the early days I did indeed dabble with online advertising (Google Ads and Facebook Ads). But the sum result was a hole in the bank balance and nothing to show for it. After that I focused solely on refining and improving the app based on feedback from some really nice customers. It’s important to remember that it takes time and effort for someone to compose an email detailing the problems they’ve had with your app, or listing out numerous ways they think it could be made better. So I’m always grateful when I receive constructive feedback, and would like to add another big Thank You! to all those who have emailed me or written constructive reviews on Google Play over the years.

As well as the many customers providing feedback, I have also been lucky to have the honest opinion of friends and family. As well as their time taken in trying out early versions. So I’d also like to add another big Thanks! for them.

I believe that I’ve reached an important milestone with Electric Dawn now, and will see how it goes over this winter before making any more changes to it.

Here’s to a winter of sunrises!