[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire
- Thread starter nakamura
- Start date
Mankar Camoran
Junior Member
- Sep 9, 2022
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i think that you no more face suspantions or limit from console and admob ? , I just re-read the thread and congratulations, you struggled a lot in your first year , and thanks for sharing the articke
- Mar 22, 2013
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True. After a certain time your account is trusted and you wont face any limits anymore (if you not try to do fraudulent stuff)
jackmorgan
Regular Member
- Aug 4, 2017
- 301
- 82
How many apps do you have currently? Sorry if this was previously asked.
I dont know but I feel like he must have gotten into this very early because right now all imaginable utility apps that people would search for have already been made
vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
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Yeah, even I feel that whenever I try to find something that I get an idea of, someone has already made it. The problem is how do we know what users want or are searching since there is no reliable playstore keyword data since G does not officially release it. I created so many casual games but the download rates are so low like 1 or 2 per day. It seems that big creators / companies have lots of budget to test which apps/games have potential but we small creators struggle to find that one app that will change our fortune.
- Mar 22, 2013
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The problem with games is: There are too many games in the app store, not only this but people get bombarded with ads. This means the following: Most people just download games from ads they see. Or: They go to the app store and check the top 100.
About the other apps: Have you guys ever searched for a particular keyword/niche, downloaded all apps in the top 20, and checked them? 80% of them are trash. It is just a very small percentage of apps that are actually helpful, high-quality, and fully working.
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IOS passive
Registered Member
- Feb 16, 2023
- 98
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Is it Chat-GPT-4 or normal 3 version? really excited to try this way of developing...
I have noticed this too. Many times the apps are not that great quality. For example, I was trying to find a tally counter app with two requirements: the button should be the size of the screen and it should support pressing the button twice before releasing previous press. There was no apps that fit those requirements. To my surprise many of the apps even had a teany-tiny + button and the - button right next to eachother (which is insane design in my opinion).
I would love a good tally counter app, but I know if I coded one, no one would find it, because people don’t realise the features I listed are useful, or if they do, they can’t search for them or scroll through the 100 garbage apps to find mine.
Now that I wrote this, I got and idea of an utility app that might actually be findable. Maybe I’ll try!
- Mar 22, 2013
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Yes, and since ChatGPT it is super easy to adjust and improve apps. Total gamechanger.
I just built a whole screen, added two more IAP, etc. just with ChatGPT. Didn't code a single line by myself...and everything works well.
In this whole app journey thread I had hundreds of ideas on how to improve my apps, but I either didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars for hiring someone on Upwork (without knowing the results, waiting for days or weeks) or I didn't have enough time/skills to code it by myself. Now I feel like Cell in DragonBall Z who absorbed the C18 and C17 to improve his power and get to the next level
- Mar 22, 2013
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3.5 and 4. But I feel like 4 is better. Cna understand complex code easier and gives better solutions.
IYASS
Regular Member
- Jun 30, 2018
- 337
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@nakamura I have some experience with Flutter I mean I can develop a full app, but never tried mobile apps and I'd love to give it a try.
Do you think now is a good time to start developing and uploading apps or too late?
Will I need any money initialy to bring some installs via paid ads?
And what do you think the best type of apps to work on that gets a lot of organic traffic?
I'm afraid no one will install the apps..!
Thanks.
Do you think now is a good time to start developing and uploading apps or too late?
Will I need any money initialy to bring some installs via paid ads?
And what do you think the best type of apps to work on that gets a lot of organic traffic?
I'm afraid no one will install the apps..!
Thanks.
I think it’s too late but that’s just my opinion
- Mar 22, 2013
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There will always be people who say it is "too late". I genuinely don't believe so. It is the same with saying: Is it too late to become a singer? Because there are so many talented singers already. Or should I open a coffee shop? Because there is McCafe and Starbucks everywhere.
Yes, there is a lot of competition and many app developers but you should also consider: The number of mobile phone users, gamers, etc. keeps rising. So both are going up: The number of apps and also the number of users.
Will you need to spend money initially? It depends on your app and niche. But I would say: Yes. How much? It depends on you. There is no definite answer on this. I just spent around $30 for Google Ads for two games to figure out which one performs better. Now I found a clear winner. Now I know which app is worth ranking and gives me a better return.
Most importantly: New niches or even whole industries always show up. Now it is the AI hype. What's next? Give it a few more months and you will have new opportunities.
In 2020 when I started this thread some people messaged me and said "You are too late to the party" and "The market is too saturated already".
What I can say is: You just need to make an appealing app that is actually useful and well-monetized and you will succeed.
Above I posted a link to a blog post. Lets take a quick look on this:
Top Mobile Game Genres by Revenue Share
According to Statista, these were the top mobile game genres in the United States in 2021 by iOS revenue share:- Puzzle (21.18%)
- Casino (18.9%)
- Strategy (17.17%)
- RPG (14.23%)
- Simulation (10.4%)
- Shooter (5.56%)
- Lifestyle (3.86%)
- Sports (3.4%)
- AR/Location Based (1.67%)
- Driving (1.6%)
- Arcade (1.34%)
- Card games (0.62%)
- Hyper-casual (0.06%)
Top Mobile Game Subgenres of 2021 by Downloads
According to AppAnnie’s State of Mobile 2022, these subgenres got the most downloads in 2021:- Action (Hyper-casual) – 4.01 billion
- Puzzle (Hyper-casual) – 3.78 billion
- Simulation (Hyper-casual) – 3.15 billion
- Kids (Other) – 2.57 billion
- Driving (Simulation) – 1.63 billion
- .io (Hyper-casual) – 1.41 billion
- Runner (Action) – 1.20 billion
- Creative Sandbox – 1.12 billion
- Simulation Sports – 1.10 billion
- Pet (Simulation) – 0.90 billion
What Motivates Users to Play Mobile Games?
Here are the main reasons why users play mobile games:- To relieve stress;
- Pass the time;
- To immerse themselves in another character or world;
- To feel accomplished for completing something challenging;
- Express something unique about themselves;
- To connect with people they already know;
- Be dazzled by something unique;
- To connect with a subject they’re passionate about outside gaming.
What Influences Players to Return After 30 Days?
- Someone bringing up the game during an in-person conversation
- Hearing about new content or available updates
- Hearing about a reward for coming back
- Seeing the game mentioned on social media by friends/family
- Seeing news articles or blog posts about the game
Mobile Gaming Statistics: Monetization
- User impressions per DAU are doubling every year. (AppAnnie)
- In-app bidding is now the dominant form of managing ad monetization. It replaced traditional waterfalls – 70% adoption by the end of 2020. (AppAnnie)
- Mobile game influencers affect users’ purchasing decisions by 21% more than non-gamer influencers. (Newzoo)
- 74% of mobile gamers in the United States would watch a video advertisement if they got in-app content in return. (eMarketer)
- 82% of mobile gamers say they are more into free mobile games that include ads than paid games with no ads. (eMarketer)
- In-app purchases account for 95% of all user spend. (TechCrunch)
- Players of hyper-casual games watch two times more ads than players of other mobile game genres. (VentureBeat)
- Women are much more likely to make an in-app purchase than men. (Venturebeat)
- 5% of women players spend on in-app purchases, compared to 3.3% of men. (MoPub).
- More than 30% of female players will pay for a mobile game. (MediaKix)
Just by reading these stats, you can find out who to target, how to monetize, and so on.
I agree it’s never too late for new games, coffee shops and singers, because they’re in constant rotation. However, you probably don’t wanna waste your time on another calculator app because they don’t really have trends and what the user wants is the top downloaded one
- Mar 22, 2013
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Yes, that's obvious. But the top downloaded ones are mostly also high-quality ones.
It is just important to make high-quality and appealing apps that are actually worth downloading and spending money for.
- Mar 22, 2013
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Update:
For the past 10 days, I pushed myself to turn a normal app template into something which could compete with a million-dollar company/app. How? Simply by using ChatGPT. I added countless features, different ways to monetize the app, etc. I also created high-quality screenshots (3 different sets for A/B testing!).
Just finished it and sent it to review.
I am really curious about the performance of this app.
Why? Because it is top-notch quality with a great UI and UX and besides offering the users great value it is also monetized really well.
How so?
Every user has a beginning amount of credits. Whenever they do specific actions in the app, they will have to use the credits + it shows interstitial ads. When they run out of credits, they can watch rewarded ads to get 3+ credits.
But also, they can purchase credits through IAP. Three different packages. 20, 50 & 100 credits.
But if they don't want to deal with credits or ads at all, they can subscribe weekly, monthly, or for life. For a week, it will be 4,99. For a month, 12,99. For life: 34,99.
I tracked everything by setting in-app events using Meta, Appsflyer, and Firebase. I know when they start a purchase, when they complete a purchase, what buttons they press, in what package they are interested the most, how many rewarded ads they watch, how many interstitial ads they watch, etc. everything. This is why I said I am really curious to see how the app is performing.
Before all of that, the app only had two options for monetization: Interstitial ads and lifetime purchases.
I can only encourage you guys to set up analytics as much as possible, so you can analyze user behavior.
I am really proud of myself (also just had two beers...and will have many more) because besides having only a little coding skills, I managed to add all of the functions, reskin the entire app from the core, etc. just by using ChatGPT. Not hiring a single person to do the job.
So yeah...right now the app is in the review process. I will definitely update you guys on how it is going.
The next step for this app will be: Buying 5-star reviews in Tier 1 countries for social proof. After this is done, I will start TikTok, Meta, and Google ads.
For the past 10 days, I pushed myself to turn a normal app template into something which could compete with a million-dollar company/app. How? Simply by using ChatGPT. I added countless features, different ways to monetize the app, etc. I also created high-quality screenshots (3 different sets for A/B testing!).
Just finished it and sent it to review.
I am really curious about the performance of this app.
Why? Because it is top-notch quality with a great UI and UX and besides offering the users great value it is also monetized really well.
How so?
Every user has a beginning amount of credits. Whenever they do specific actions in the app, they will have to use the credits + it shows interstitial ads. When they run out of credits, they can watch rewarded ads to get 3+ credits.
But also, they can purchase credits through IAP. Three different packages. 20, 50 & 100 credits.
But if they don't want to deal with credits or ads at all, they can subscribe weekly, monthly, or for life. For a week, it will be 4,99. For a month, 12,99. For life: 34,99.
I tracked everything by setting in-app events using Meta, Appsflyer, and Firebase. I know when they start a purchase, when they complete a purchase, what buttons they press, in what package they are interested the most, how many rewarded ads they watch, how many interstitial ads they watch, etc. everything. This is why I said I am really curious to see how the app is performing.
Before all of that, the app only had two options for monetization: Interstitial ads and lifetime purchases.
I can only encourage you guys to set up analytics as much as possible, so you can analyze user behavior.
I am really proud of myself (also just had two beers...and will have many more) because besides having only a little coding skills, I managed to add all of the functions, reskin the entire app from the core, etc. just by using ChatGPT. Not hiring a single person to do the job.
So yeah...right now the app is in the review process. I will definitely update you guys on how it is going.
The next step for this app will be: Buying 5-star reviews in Tier 1 countries for social proof. After this is done, I will start TikTok, Meta, and Google ads.
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
- 10,985
What many won't understand is that in the App and Google Play Store, every app is the same. The users don't care who developed the app. They only care about what the app can bring them.
It doesn't matter if you are Konami, Voodoo, Square Enix, Meta, Google or EA. Companies that have been around for decades. I once outranked Nintendo. Nintendo was founded in 1889 and has thousands of employees worldwide.
Only the quality of your app matters, the presentation (screenshots), how you monetize the app, what value you offer, and emotions matter.
In an ever-changing world, full of superficial people, which mostly have a certain goal (get rich quickly, hook up, become famous, etc.) can you give them what they want, what they desire? Can you understand their desire? Can you actually understand how and when they are willing to pay for something?
Times have changed significantly. Even one person can compete with a million-dollar company if his app/product is good enough. ChatGPT has changed the game for everyone. You don't need to hire a team of developers anymore and spend 50k to develop or improve an app. You can do it all by yourself, without any risks. Just you, your discipline, creativity, and will to make it.
I started this thread with ZERO coding skills. Barely knowing anything. I didn't even know Android and iOS apps have different program languages. I remember sitting at home, opening a playlist on YouTube on how to create iOS apps and I closed the video after 10 minutes thinking I would never be able to publish a single fucking app. I thought it would take months of learning it.
Don't waste time. Don't overthink. Just start.
It doesn't matter if you are Konami, Voodoo, Square Enix, Meta, Google or EA. Companies that have been around for decades. I once outranked Nintendo. Nintendo was founded in 1889 and has thousands of employees worldwide.
Only the quality of your app matters, the presentation (screenshots), how you monetize the app, what value you offer, and emotions matter.
In an ever-changing world, full of superficial people, which mostly have a certain goal (get rich quickly, hook up, become famous, etc.) can you give them what they want, what they desire? Can you understand their desire? Can you actually understand how and when they are willing to pay for something?
Times have changed significantly. Even one person can compete with a million-dollar company if his app/product is good enough. ChatGPT has changed the game for everyone. You don't need to hire a team of developers anymore and spend 50k to develop or improve an app. You can do it all by yourself, without any risks. Just you, your discipline, creativity, and will to make it.
I started this thread with ZERO coding skills. Barely knowing anything. I didn't even know Android and iOS apps have different program languages. I remember sitting at home, opening a playlist on YouTube on how to create iOS apps and I closed the video after 10 minutes thinking I would never be able to publish a single fucking app. I thought it would take months of learning it.
Don't waste time. Don't overthink. Just start.
This is really inspiring. Your journey has really put a fire in me. Thanks so much for sharing and best of luck as you move closer to your goals.