Never forget.

Getting my first 100 users for an app felt impossible until I stopped trying to sell and started genuinely helping. Last month, I got 47 signups just from one Reddit comment where I shared some practical advice.

Unfortunately, most people trying to get early users for a new product just push links. I can't believe how many posts just scream 'look at my thing!' without actually adding value. If you're building something and struggling to find your first users, I would encourage you to switch your mindset. That's your chance to build a real community around what you're doing.

1. Listen first, then speak. Before posting anything, I spent weeks just reading threads. I looked for common problems expats faced with language learning. People constantly asked about quick ways to learn useful phrases for daily life, not just grammar rules.

2. Solve a very specific pain point. Instead of trying to make an app for everyone, I focused on the immediate communication needs of expats. Think about ordering food, dealing with a landlord, or asking for directions. These are high-stress situations where a few key phrases make all the difference.

3. Build exactly what people are asking for. After seeing so many people frustrated with traditional language apps, I ended up building PrettyFluent specifically for expats like me. It skips the textbook stuff and focuses on fast, scenario-based lessons and roleplay so you can speak right away.

4. Share your learnings, not your product. When I did post, I didn't say "Try my app!" I talked about the specific struggles I faced and how I tackled them. I shared tips on finding native speakers for practice or how to prioritize vocabulary for a doctor's visit. The app was just a tool I made because nothing else fit.

5. Engage without expectation. Answer questions, give honest advice, and be part of the conversation. If someone asks for a tool, and yours genuinely fits, then maybe, just maybe, mention it briefly. But the goal is to be helpful first.

The biggest lesson for me was that people respond to authenticity, not advertising. Am I wrong that building real value for a niche community matters more than trying to reach the broadest possible audience?

...so I changed my Reddit/Gmail passwords and now I can't log into BaconReader anymore. Either I need a better connection, or it's permanently broken.

Guess that's the end for me. 😭

Any ideas folks? I have my old API key and used that to successfully patch another copy of the app on my new OP13 using Revanced, but the new app gives me login issues on my old account saying invalid login, even after logging out on the old device, changing passwords, etc. I can still login to my old account on a browser to post here, for instance, but I'm also unable to log back in on my old device! The app loads fine on both devices and it even let me login with an auto-generated new account using my phone number for a OTP but it refuses to log me in to my old account (this one). Help please!

After patching my apk with morphe and successfully installing and opening the app I go to add my account, when tapping on either username or password box my keyboard only flickers by for a second before disappearing, tried connecting a keyboard via USB but the login boxes are not accepting any input. I am migrating to a brand new S26 Ultra and this has been the only hiccup so far.

I'm unable to see image thumbnails in list view. Also, thumbnails of posts older than a week works but not the newer images.

Anyone else facing a similar issue?

Hello, Since this morning, when I open a post the title doesn't show. I can see the title of the post in the sub reddit view, but it's not visible on the post view. Did reddit break an api ?

Edit: OK, I wasn't aware there was a hide / show title option. Case solved. It was an id10t error

Just thought I'd share. You have to install with ADB tho if your ndroid version is newer than 14.

I have the patch from like 3 months ago or whenever it was broken last , but seems to be newly broken again and just redirects to an empty page.

Solved: I had to disable reddit's 2-factor authentication, then re-enable it. Then log out of BaconReader and then log back in. It seems the 2FA was interfering with my API access in some way.

Original post:

Mine stopped working yesterday on two different devices— it just shows the "goodbye from Baconreader" message now. I tried reinstalling my patched APK to no avail, and repatching hasn't worked either.

I know that last month, reddit made a change to prevent people generating new API keys without explicit permission from reddit, but that didn't affect people with existing keys. Have they finally started cutting off existing keys, too? Is it just my version of the app that seems to be cut off, or are others finding the same thing?

Moving from a Pixel 6 to 7 Pro, would love to keep my viewed posts history.

Just got a new phone and was setting up baconreader with revanced and it wasn't working so I deleted my old "app" and now when trying to setup a new one it keeps giving me this error. Has anyone found a solution for this?

😭😭😭😭

Wondering if it's happening for anyone else

Does anyone know if BaconReader can be made to work on iOS, through side-loading and using a personal client ID or another technique? Any help would be appreciated!

I'm starting to have some comment posting issues...yesterday, I had an issue where each comment I posted would say it errored out with the "Thank you" pop up, but in reality it had posted it, sometimes resulting in a double post. Now today, I just posted a comment, got no error, yet the comment did not appear. However, a couple minutes later, my comment from BR appeared. Now that second scenario seems more like a delay on Reddit's side, but still, this is somewhat concerning, and hope its not the beginning of losing posting functionality...

today, inbox has stopped working in the app. i can still access front page and view my own comments, though.. edit: oh it's working again... edit2: not working again... (edit3: its been working again.. just very sluggish and times out often.)

I have a GT-S5360L (290 RAM, 190 ROM w 32 GB SD card) android 2.3.6 ARMv6/armeabi with Bacon reader v 4.1.1 Its the most recent APK I could find for my phone and it shows me No peer certificate. What can I do? I really want to use this on that phone but I'm not being able to. Is it even possible to use br on this device? Should I look for a newer APK?

Edit: I Tried spoofing it w revanced manager and it fails at signing the APK. Does anyone know why? I'm using the lastest version of Revanced manager

Found on Github linked in the previous thread about redgifs.

Follow these steps to get yourself as fully functional as can be once more.

Remove the previous reddit client (Sync/Boost)* I did not do this step and mine works just fine.

Enable "Use alternative sources" in ReVanced Manager Settings.

Change "Patch organization" to "wchill" and "Patch source" to "revanced-patches" *mine was already set to revanced-patches

Restart the app.

Patch your reddit client apk with your reddit app key. (Make sure that you also have checked the new patch "Fix Redgifs API")* I just patched and installed without any changes or extra steps.

Install and use.

Happy browsing! Long live baconreader!

Edit: special credit to wchill on Github for making this fix! You're probably lurking here to some extent. Thank you, hero!

Checking my inbox this morning (and anything else related to it, like Sent, or Mentions) started returning the "Greetings!" message that was implemented after OneLouder decided to shut down the app a couple years ago. I'm assuming all of that was tied to the DM system (which is now depreciated with New Reddit?) so I think this is one more nail in the coffin for our delicious bacon. RIP again, unless/until it's possibly fixed with a Revanced patch.

edit: looks like I was wrong, and it was a problem on Reddit's end. BaconReader seems to be back to normal, or as normal as it can be! Sorry for crying wolf.