Apple lets developers generate 50 promo codes so they can give out their paid apps for free. Developers can use these for reviewers or to get some good PR on Twitter. Apple made it really easy to redeem the codes by making it possible to embed them in a URL that will open up iTunes and take you right to the page to redeem it for you.
Lots of people don’t know that you can do this with promo codes and URLs. I’m not sure who figured it out, but it seems like Tap Tap Tap was the first to figure it out. One problem with this is that once someone clicks the link and redeems the code, it’s invalid. So only the first person to click the link gets it, otherwise they get a dead link that shows you an error message in iTunes.
So I tried to solve those problems with my App Store Promo URL Generator. It lets you paste in your App ID and some promo codes and it will generate a URL you can use to share multiple promo codes with one link.
It works by using your App ID as a key to pull out a promo code from the list you entered. It will pull a new code from the database until it runs out. When it is out of promo codes, instead of getting an error message, you will be redirected to the apps page in the App Store.
I threw this together using the Twitter bootstrap page template to make it look nice. I used some simple php and MySQL to take care of the rest.
I hope you find it useful and would appreciate any feedback you have.
This is very handy. I am giving away 35 codes and was scratching my head about the best way to do it…. And this is exactly what I needed … Brilliant stuff!!!
A nice handy tool for if you just want to give away your app for nothing in return however promo codes should be used as a way of promoting and generating interest in an app.
We at http://www.appgiveaway.com also promote apps by you guessed it ‘giving away promo codes’ but we offer more in the sense that we ask the users that want to get their hands on a promo code to help promote the app on twitter, facebook, etc…
From all the users that entered the giveaway and helped in promoting the app we randomly choose a select few and send them a promo code with instructions on how to redeem the app. The website http://www.appgiveaway.com is also good for an apps SEO.
Give it a try, and let me know what you think…
I’ve been using CrowdSquared to do the same thing. It does much of the same thing without bombarding your users with “PDF CREATOR DOWNLOAD” spam links.
This is very handy. I am giving away 35 codes and was scratching my head about the best way to do it…. And this is exactly what I needed … Brilliant stuff!!!