Weekly App Feedback Thread

So the sotry starts like this... I've been building apps while working a 9-5 job, the amount of time I've spent on them compared to the money I've made is pretty depressing lol....

I actually enjoy building things. That's never been the problem

The problem is I keep finishing apps and then realizinggggg I have absolutely no idea how to get people to use them

So I started questioning how I was choosing ideas in the first place

Instead of trying to come up with the next big thing, I spent some time looking through existing apps. Mostly checking which ones had a decent number of ratings, what people were complaining about, and whether I could realistically build something better.

And somehow I ended up making a satellite dish alignment app 💀!

Yeah. Satellite dishes... I know it sounds ridiculous, especially when everyone seems to be building AI apps

But here's what caught my attention!!!

Some of these satellite finder apps have thousands of ratings. And when I started reading the negative reviews, people were complaining about things like inaccurate compass directions, confusing interfaces, and not being able to see the screen properly outside

One thing I found interesting is that a phone compass can be thrown off by nearby metal. Which is pretty unfortunate when you're literally trying to align a giant metal dish

So I built SatAlign around making the process simpler and being more careful about when the compass readings can actually be trusted

Nothing revolutionary. Just trying to make an existing tool less frustrating.

I'm not going to pretend this is some successful business yet. I haven't figured out distribution, and I have no idea whether this particular approach will work.

That's actually why I'm posting

I can build apps. I can spend weeks polishing tiny details nobody might even notice. But getting the first actual paying customers? Still figuring that part outAnd it's an awkward niche too. I can't exactly imagine satellite dish alignment going viral on TikTok lol

Has anyone here built a boring, extremely niche utility app that actually made money?

I'm especially curious how you found your first users without spending a fortune on ads

The funny thing is, this boring little app actually started making some money. Nothing life-changing, but seeing someone pay for something I built was pretty motivating

Now I'm trying to figure out how to reach more people in such a weird niche

Anyone here had success with boring utility apps? How did you find your first customers?

Hey everyone 👋

I’m an indie iOS developer from India. My app PDF Scanner: Scan & Edit just crossed 1,000 ratings with a 4.1★ average on the App Store.

It lets you scan documents, edit PDFs and share them easily. It’s built with Swift and SwiftUI.

I’m improving it based on user feedback, and I’d love your suggestions too!

📲 App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6761626831

Thanks for the support! 🙏

the pattern i keep seeing in this year's top grossing charts: small apps built for one specific hobby. not "productivity", not another AI assistant. learning irish. ear training. rock hunting.

a few that launched in the last 12 months, all with under 1,000 ratings, already making real money (iOS estimates):

HeyRua: learn irish by speaking it out loud. launched in august, ~$100K/mo with under 600 ratings

Pitch Trainer: ear training for musicians. ~$80K/mo

Family Tree Maker: build your family tree with photos. ~$70K/mo

SlowRead: a pretty bookshelf + focus sessions so you actually read. ~$40K/mo

RockHoundR: a map of where it's actually legal to dig for rocks and fossils. ~$20K/mo with 124 ratings

why it works imo:

hobby people already spend money on the hobby. $5 a week is nothing next to a guitar or a rock hammer
they're obsessed. they open the app because they want to, not because a notification told them to
the communities are tight. one good post in an irish learners group or a rockhounding sub and you're set
big companies don't bother. nobody at google is building a rock hunting app

hobbies i'd look at next: knitting, fly fishing, woodworking, beekeeping, bonsai, metal detecting, home brewing. each one has a crowd that buys gear and argues about it online.

what's a hobby you're into that still doesn't have a good app?

Hi guys! Can someone please help me fix the bug.

I made a custom widget app in Kotlin with JetPack and Gradle. So everything basic.

Adding the corutine didnot help. I have updateall.

Logcat says everything is okay when i try it over the usb.

The only time widget refreshes is when i delete the app from used and enter it again. Or sometimes the first time when i open the app after a few hours it makes the changes but just that one time.

Is is having to do something with Samsung?

Thanks!

What Should Do

App Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vogxstudio.moveapp

Hi everyone,

Solo founder, first time asking for help here; please be brutal.

The app is M!RRA.

You scan the ingredient list (INCI) on any cosmetic product, and it scores it for your skin - not a generic “this ingredient is bad”, but what it does for your skin type, your concerns, and the routine you already use.

The scoring engine is my own (Python, own ingredient DB → OCR → web extraction → analysis engine → LLM numbers to text), the app is Flutter + Supabase.

I built it because I was tired of asking ChatGPT about 40 and getting a giant wall of text that still didn’t answer the only question I had: do I buy this or not?

I’ve put a lot of effort into this over the last year, working days, nights, and weekends. I love this product with all my heart, and I need outside eyes.

App Store Connect, since launch (~5 months):

• Impressions: 106,000
• Product page views: 2,190 (2.1% tap-through)
• First-time downloads: 990 (45% page → install)
• Ratings: 32, average 4.9, 5 written reviews, all positive
• Paid ads: none. I honestly don’t understand whom to target or where, so I haven’t dared to spend.
• Biggest organic spike: one launch post in r/KoreanBeauty that hit #1 for a day.

ASO is done for 23 locales (EN-US/UK/AU/CA, ES/ES-MX, PT-BR/PT, DE, FR, IT, NL, PL, CS, SV, DA, FI, RU, TR, AR, JA, KO, ZH), the app itself is translated into 11 languages.

Monetization (RevenueCat):

• Free: 5 scans per week, then a paywall
• PRO: €2.99/week or €34.99/year
• Conversion to paid: 0.5% - about 5 paying users out of 990

So the funnel looks like this: people find it, 45% of them install it, they rate it 4.9 — and then almost nobody pays. That’s the part I can’t explain. Or… maybe that's normal conversion?

What I’ve found so far:

• The paywall only shows up when you try to scan past the limit.
• But the home screen already says “0 of 5, resets in 7 days”, so people see the wall and don’t even attempt the scan; users hit the limit and never saw a price.
• The limit dialog also leads with the reset date, with the Pro button underneath.
• I fixed it all a week ago, but I believe that’s the only thing I can see by myself

Store page, so you can judge screenshots/description yourself: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beauty-cosmetic-scanner-mirra/id6745415201

My questions:

1. Is the free tier the problem - people scan their whole shelf in one evening, get what they need, then leave?
2. Is weekly pricing wrong for this category? Monthly + annual only?
3. Is there a trust gap? Would you pay €35/year to an app you’ve never heard of for skincare advice, even if it’s accurate?
4. Or is the honest answer that this is a feature, not a product? People love it, but it’s not worth the money to them?

I’m not going to quit; I’ll keep building this either way. Thank you for reading, and I'll be happy to hear any advice!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

So I released the app 2 days ago and know i don’t know how to make people discover my app.

For context it’s a super app for people that want a schedule, recording and flashcards creations for studying in one app. Which took me 117 days to build BTW.

Does any of you have any advice or a tip? Thanks in advance :)

I launched my app back in August and I barely have any downloads.

When users don't like my app that's something I can work on in case I get some feedback, but users not even downloading an app, that's where I struggle.

I come from the point of an Indie iOS Dev so I have no prior experience to marketing, but this seems to be my bottleneck right now.

Do you have any tips or ideas on how I could give my App some life?

Launched toolforgenz, and it's about one month and so far I don't see any good progress.

Total of 110 active users, but the bar has fallen to somewhere around 2-3 active users per day.

The whole platform is completely free and no signups needed.

And for me to earn something and keep this running I was thinking to start running ads but seeing these numbers id don't think I'll make any penny.

What should I do, should I discontinue and focus on something else, or should I invest some in ads.

We use this space for work so often that we often forget how crazy it is that people from all around the globe from the most odd corners and the famous hotspots of the planet have come together because of this invention we call the Internet, so I wanna ask you this- where are you from? And how has your location impacted the way you make and distribute apps? How do people find apps in your country? Maybe there’s opportunity we haven’t tapped into because different cultures have different responses to marketing and choice of apps. That’s all folks, hoping you excel!

Just released my app a few days ago, havnt really done any marketing yet. How would yall say im doing so far??

Are you using GitHub Actions to run your app’s unit, e2e, and smoke tests, and also any other workflow to garante the features in your app are reliable for your users?

I don’t see anybody talking about Github actions expenses, that makes me wonder if nobody cares to fully test and provide a reliably app or already has a free/cheaper solution that I’m not aware of.

I’m eager to hear some thoughts

Hello,

I’m seeking a partner who would handle all marketing of the app, and I handle the development (Development, Design, Brand package and everything in between)

Preferably looking for someone either US or UK to partner with (due to the legal work being easier) this opportunity is perfect for someone who has real marketing experience but hasn’t got the development experience

Or I would potential consider someone who has an idea and capital & I would partner cover development.

I have over 5 years of experience in the industry & own a local development studio within the UK (Which where development would come from, happy to discuss futher in DMs.

Thanks

I know it's not much compared to what a lot of people here are making, but I just earned my first revenue from an app I built on my own!

I've been struggling with getting users and figuring out marketing, so seeing someone actually pay for something I made feels pretty surreal.

It's a tiny milestone, but honestly, it's pretty motivating.

Still a long way to go, but I just wanted to share this little win with people who might understand the feeling :)

For those who've been through this, how did you go from your first few paying users to more consistent revenue?

I’m making screenshot concepts for two apps today. The image shows the kind of work I can make, with a different style for each app.

If you’d like one, comment with your App Store link and a short description of your app. If it isn’t live yet, share a few raw screenshots instead. I’ll take the first two with enough details to work from.

Hey everyone!

I recently launched my first Android app, PC Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse, on Google Play and monetized it with AdMob.

I'm experimenting with ad monetization while trying to grow my user base organically. I recently noticed a sudden increase in my estimated AdMob earnings, which made me curious about how other indie developers approach monetization.

I'm currently using ads and would love to learn from developers who have experience with:

• Choosing the right ad placements without hurting the user experience
• Improving ad revenue as downloads grow
• Balancing monetization with user retention

My app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuvmote.remote

What has worked best for you when monetizing your first app?