What happens when Apple puts your app on the front page of the App Store

So I’m getting ready to get on a plane, open up the App Store, because ChordBank has been getting some good reviews lately. And the App Store app cold starts on the first tab. And I see this:

There is no better spot for promotion on the App Store. There just isn’t. Literally the very first thing on the very first page. Yeah, yeah, there’s those leaderboards up above, but to me those look like ads. This looks like content. This looks like. Hey. Here’s an app for me to check out. This was a complete. Surprise. I hadn’t been in contact with anyone at Apple. I don’t know how they found it. So many questions. How long had this been on there? Had it affected downloads? Ummmm… yes. Yes it had:

Just a straight line, straight up. And it kept. Going. Up. Here it is, edging out Microsoft Excel on the productivity charts:

It’s currently comfortably ahead of Evernote. And then, someone put it on Product Hunt:

Where it became #1 in tech. (That’s a screenshot of what the Product Hunt homepage looks like, right now. Better Notes is the lead story.) So what happens when Apple features your app on the front page of the App Store? Liftoff. I could never have imagined the app would get this kind of following so quickly—the plan was always to build an audience slowly, work with them to get the features right. But, here we go.

Thanks Apple, thanks Product Hunt. And, hello, Better Notes users! Welcome to the end of the beginning!