I’m launching a new mobile app in the productivity/organization space. I’ve already optimized the app store listing, but early traffic is naturally low.
I’d love to hear what marketing channels founders typically use for their first users. What are the most effective early‑stage strategies for getting initial traction for a new consumer app?
Any insights or examples would be appreciated.
We were using Cozi for a while as a family. It's fine, but the ads got really annoying — especially on the free plan — and there were always a few things we wished it did differently. At some point I thought, "I'm a developer, I could just build what we actually need." So that's what I did.
It's called **Domus** and we've been using it ourselves for a while now. It's available on iOS and Android. Here's what it does:
- **Shared lists** — groceries, chores, to-dos, whatever. Everyone sees updates in real time, so no more "wait, did you buy milk?"
- **Family calendar** — month, week, and agenda views. Soccer practice, dentist appointments, school stuff, all in one place everyone can see
- **Documents** — store the things you always need but can never find: warranty cards, insurance papers, school forms, vaccination records
- **Circles** — you can organize people into groups (family, extended family, etc.) so you're not mixing everything together
There's no subscription wall for the basics, and no ads. We made it for ourselves first, so the goal was always "does this actually make our day easier" rather than "how do we monetize this."
Meals and recipe planning are coming next — that was actually one of the big gaps we felt with Cozi too.
If you're looking for something clean and ad-free to keep your household in sync, give it a try. Happy to answer questions — I built the whole thing so I can actually explain how stuff works lol.