What's a good way to get new people to try your app that actually work?

Agree with referral program! An ambassador program typically works well if the product calls for it. Brand partnerships are always an interesting avenue as well if you can find alignment to cross promote.

I would check out Reddit. Spend some hours researching which sub-Reddits might be relevant for your app, and start communicating with people on there. In this case, communicating doesn't mean posting your website link everywhere, as that's against Reddit's rules. Instead, try to insert yourself naturally into conversations where your product can bring value to the community. There are probably quite a few sub-Reddits where a post along the lines of "Some podcasts are just too long, so I've spent the past months working on a platform for sharing bite-sized audio clips from podcasts and more. Do you have any thoughts and ideas?" would work well. Consider making the post as a text post as opposed to linking directly to your website, as that seems less spammy. With a text post, you can still link from within the text, but you can also add a few more words about what sort of feedback you'd like etc. Reddit is huge, so finding the proper sub-Reddits might take some hours :)

I think you really do not need to do much for the first users. Your first users should be the people you know - friends and family or your followers on tik tok? Also, the product working really well is no guarantee for users - a product that does not have great code but solves a problem you are trying to solve would do much better. I would validate if you actually solve a problem v/s if the product works well. Do lots of customer interviews.

With low budget I think that DM is the best way to get new user. Go on forum, Facebook, Twitter or any social media where your user can be and just .. contact people by hand :). If you don't know "who" is your customers, you can check the people that follow your competitors account!

Connect with Bloggers who can write a good review of your app and share it to their followers https://www.producthunt.com/post...

I have spent the past months working on a platform for sharing bite-sized audio clips from podcasts and more. Do you have any thoughts and ideas?" would work well. njmcdirect

I would go where your target audience spends the most time. if, according to your predictions, the audience likes TikTok, go to TikTok. create creative content and aim to get featured. I also think a referral program is a good idea. try to offer your existing clients what they appreciate in return for distributing your product.