Super Unlimited · B2C · free VPN app
Walk into elevators with a debug build to test dropped connections
What they did
In their words
How the World's #1 VPN App Reached 1 Billion Downloads – Tanuj Chatterjee, Super Unlimited
Jacob EitingMeaning reacting to all the issues, actually taking the time and investing and finding them-
Tanuj ChatterjeeAnticipating, reacting. Our QA guy actually walked with his phone inside an elevator, down, he had a debug build so you could see all the logs at that time, and he did the whole thing a few times. So, that's how you get better.
Jacob EitingThis is just a mobile thing. I think in a lot of app developers, especially now we're seeing so many app developers coming into the market. And you kind of always assume good wifi, beefy connections, whatever, which is a rarity. Or certainly, it's not going to make your app great. You can be okay, but if it's...
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More from this episode
- Read your reviews and rivals' reviews, then fix what people complain aboutCredited as the main driver to #1 for 'VPN'; no single number tied to it
- Let people use the app right away: no login, one tap to connectVisits last ~30 seconds; guest credits it for organic volume and ratings
- Ask for a rating only after the app has done its job2M+ high ratings on the App Store; no before/after given
- Test modern, prettier store screenshots against your plain old onesModern designs lost 80% of tests; winners gave no meaningful lift, so old ones stayed
- Hire an SEO agency that knows your field to publish programmatic pages~1,600 app downloads a month; poor conversion; some AI-search traffic, not top 5
- Give away an unlimited free version, paid for with an ad or twoLow paid conversion, but 1M+ mostly organic downloads a day and very profitable
- Don't show any ads the first time someone opens the app
- Keep the free service running in poor and censored countries, even at a loss15M downloads in 4 days during a Turkey Instagram ban; each spike leaves a higher baseline
- Charge for no ads, faster servers, more locations and use on every deviceCompany growing and very profitable; no conversion numbers
- Show an ad for your new eSIM app to all existing VPN usersDidn't work: no travel intent; now planning timed promos before summer
- Buy search ads in Apple and Google stores only where the return holds upSpend capped by ROAS; some cannibalization of organic installs accepted
- Have the head of support report to the head of productGuest says product hears about problems right away; no numbers
- Compare your ratings country by country and dig into the low onesGuest says it helped a lot; no numbers
- Launch a new feature in 5 countries behind a switch, then expand
- Start on the cloud, then move heavy traffic to your own rented serversMakes a free tier affordable; cloud still absorbs surges
- Launch a Windows version and promote it to your mobile usersNamed biggest win of the year; people buy on the website directly, no numbers
- Build the product so free users cost almost nothing to supportLets the company keep a generous free tier; no numbers
Tags: qa, edge-cases, offline, network-transitions