Ok so I had a similiar app in the nook market that was released last christmas. It still recieved 100s of downloads a day and is played by at least 80 people a day. I didn't put any ads in it and its basically just cross selling our other children games.<p>This year I was able to submit a version to iOS (last years got declined as it was just another...) Its free and has an ad model. (A version just submitted adds a unlock the full game with a couple modes and difficulties). It has Game Center and Facebook integration. And its FREE! So what gives. I did a whole facebook campaign and it still is dying off with single digit downloads. I expected at least similar numbers to the Nook. So my show is this: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/holiday-blitz-hd/id588226751 and My Question is: What are the ingredients needed to get a successful free app with some type of conversion? What marketing is worth the money?
Any thoughts - I know there is no magic follow this guide to make money. We've been doing a lot of trial and error and I thought after two years we got the formula down to at least get the downloads... but there is something different between the markets making iOS hard. Is it just the sheer number of apps in the iOS or is the user different?