App launch
LaunchThe dated moment an app is publicly released or presented to a new audience, together with the coordinated activity around it. An event, not a piece of software.
Launch
Soft launch
Releasing a product quietly, to a limited audience or market, to gather data and fix problems before a full public launch.
Also called limited release, staged launch
A soft launch makes a product genuinely available, but quietly: to one country, one segment, a percentage of users, or simply without any announcement. The point is to collect real usage data and fix what breaks while the audience is small enough that breaking is survivable.
In mobile this is often literal, using a limited geographic release or a staged rollout percentage before a worldwide release. On the web it is usually a quiet release with no announcement, sometimes behind a flag.
The tension with launch directories is worth understanding. A soft-launched product is live and usable, which means it satisfies the bar that rejects waitlists. But submitting it starts a permanent page and, on many directories, consumes your one launch. If the plan is a loud public launch six weeks later, submit then, and use the soft launch period to fix the things that would have embarrassed you.
The exception is when a directory’s launch window is itself the data-gathering exercise, which is a reasonable use of a smaller directory: real traffic, real comments, and low stakes if the reception is mixed.
Last reviewed .
See also
Waitlist
LaunchA signup form collecting interest in a product that is not yet usable. Widely rejected by launch directories, which require a live product.
Launch window
LaunchThe fixed period during which a listing is live and competing for attention and votes, after which it becomes a permanent listing that no longer moves in the feed.
Changelog
LaunchA dated, public record of what changed in a product, written for the people who use it rather than for the people who built it.