u/Adventurous-Sale2944

I’ve been told that subreddit is a good place to find app testers, before publishing. However, I also see people saying to avoid it as copycats are a real problem.
What are the chances someone sees my app and decides to copy it? It’s nothing groundbreaking, but also not simple enough to vibe code in a day (has a lot of layers).

I’d love to share it here as I really need some feedback that comes from actually using it (I can only do so much, and don’t have people in my life who can help me with testing), but also don’t want the entire year I’ve spent working on it to be wasted cause of a thief.

What should I do?

I’ve been sharing my app’s website link with ppl I know and have gotten some traction, but people aren’t actually using it since it’s not a “true app” yet. So I’m looking forward to releasing it on TestFlight to hopefully nudge people cause it’s like “look it’s an actual app you download normally”, BUT I’m worried if anyone actually will. In my experience, it was near impossible to get reliable users via my Android closed testing due to the “join a Google group or give your email rule.”

I don’t blame people for not wanting to use a beta app, or a website that functions like one, or anything that isn’t a quick and easy download, however I need a few people to try it out seriously so I know what to fix. I’ve already gotten 2 people to try it, and both times they pointed out bugs that made me think there’s a lot more to fix before publishing.

So, for those of you that used TestFlight before publishing, do people actually try it out? How do you find testers outside of dev communities without coming across some annoying self publisher? I know fellow devs will want to help but I need people in my niche to try it, and from what I’ve seen they don’t respond well to any self promotion, even if the app is designed to help them.