tappr.tv - a stumble and 2 key learnings

I'd like to share with you a hard-earned lesson in app release strategy.

I've been working on tappr.tv for over 3 years now, and I've collected a ton of data along the way. One of the fundamental metrics, of course, is downloads, which is the top of any revenue-generating funnel. Over the years, I've noticed some interesting dynamics around the holidays, and I've been able to increase my download rate 4x year over year.

But with the recent v8 update, something went wrong… very wrong.