[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire

[nakamura]

Thank you for your reply. What are you using instead of Appsflyer?
I also have the issue that my app depends on another business that has a trademark on the name. Although all competitor apps have that name in their title, whenever I try to add it, the review gets declined telling me the metadata cannot contain trademarked terms. I think because of that download rate will be a lot lower because also unrelated apps show up in search.

Right now I only use Firebase.

Yes, for some trademarks they are really strict. My recommendation is really to avoid using any trademark. Sooner or later they will find out.

For example, just a few days ago I got an email from OpenAI with a bunch of screenshots, etc. telling me to remove all of their name, etc.

 

[nakamura]

Guys, by the way. If you want an easy solution for keyword research, especially when its about languages like Japanese, Korean, Chinese or any language that you have no idea about: Use Deep Research tools from ChatGPT, Gemini 2.5 Pro and Grok 3.

 

[nakamura]

March Update

Finally, here is the March update. Unfortunately, so far I didn't have much time to check everything, and so on. I was traveling a lot: China, South Korea, Japan. Now I am in the airport and relax a bit.

Earnings:

Total: Around $24000
- Admob: $4500
- IAP: $19500

Expenses:

Paid Ads: $2900
- Apple Search Ads Basic: $700 (switched more to Advanced)
- Apple Search Ads Advanced: $1300
- Google Ads: $200 (focused more on Search Ads Advanced)
- Facebook Ads: $250 (just trying different stuff)
- Keyword Installs: $500

Other expenses:
- API: $750

So the breakdown is: $20300-20400 in profit


Milestone: I had my best day ever with earning $1600 in one single day!

_______________________________

So far in April I have worked on one app primarily. Complete update of UI and functions. In my opinion, it took me way too long to get it done, but I was on holiday and I faced multiple difficulties. Since I only use AI to code, it is hard to get complex stuff done.

What complex stuff am I talking about? User management + Token management, dealing with the backend and frontend. This is some next level shit and I know if I would want to hire someone, I would probably spend a few thousand dollars.

Now I have started using Google Gemini Advanced Pro 2.5. It is not that bad, but still not as good as Claude. The huge advantage of Gemini Pro 2.5? You can upload your enitre code project (yeah, giving Google even more data, I know) and it has insight over everything, making it even better to code.

Whats up next?

- hire Upwork guys to make screenshots for 3-4 of my apps
- publishing important updates for 3 of my apps
- working a entire new app

Time to get locked in again and get stuff done as fast as possible. Speed is key.

And I want you to know my approach:

Publish as many apps as possible as fast as possible, targeting the best possible keywords. Not caring about branding so far. Its just about making money and getting users as fast possible. Everything else doesn't matter. Make the money, then reinvest the money into the top-earning apps growth.

If you make a new app and you focus on branding, you make a mistake. Why? Because you don't have the funds/marketing money to come up with a huge marketing strategy for branding. You first must make money.

If you have 20 apps that make you $200 per month. If you have 2 more apps, that make you $2000 per month each, then you should take the $600 of the 20 apps and use it for the 2 apps that make you $2000 each.

 

[AllOutAnime]

March Update

Finally, here is the March update. Unfortunately, so far I didn't have much time to check everything, and so on. I was traveling a lot: China, South Korea, Japan. Now I am in the airport and relax a bit.

Earnings:

Total: Around $24000
- Admob: $4500
- IAP: $19500

Expenses:

Paid Ads: $2900
- Apple Search Ads Basic: $700 (switched more to Advanced)
- Apple Search Ads Advanced: $1300
- Google Ads: $200 (focused more on Search Ads Advanced)
- Facebook Ads: $250 (just trying different stuff)
- Keyword Installs: $500

Other expenses:
- API: $750

So the breakdown is: $20300-20400 in profit


Milestone: I had my best day ever with earning $1600 in one single day!

_______________________________

So far in April I have worked on one app primarily. Complete update of UI and functions. In my opinion, it took me way too long to get it done, but I was on holiday and I faced multiple difficulties. Since I only use AI to code, it is hard to get complex stuff done.

What complex stuff am I talking about? User management + Token management, dealing with the backend and frontend. This is some next level shit and I know if I would want to hire someone, I would probably spend a few thousand dollars.

Now I have started using Google Gemini Advanced Pro 2.5. It is not that bad, but still not as good as Claude. The huge advantage of Gemini Pro 2.5? You can upload your enitre code project (yeah, giving Google even more data, I know) and it has insight over everything, making it even better to code.

Whats up next?

- hire Upwork guys to make screenshots for 3-4 of my apps
- publishing important updates for 3 of my apps
- working a entire new app

Time to get locked in again and get stuff done as fast as possible. Speed is key.

And I want you to know my approach:

Publish as many apps as possible as fast as possible, targeting the best possible keywords. Not caring about branding so far. Its just about making money and getting users as fast possible. Everything else doesn't matter. Make the money, then reinvest the money into the top-earning apps growth.

If you make a new app and you focus on branding, you make a mistake. Why? Because you don't have the funds/marketing money to come up with a huge marketing strategy for branding. You first must make money.

If you have 20 apps that make you $200 per month. If you have 2 more apps, that make you $2000 per month each, then you should take the $600 of the 20 apps and use it for the 2 apps that make you $2000 each.

In this day and age, I wouldn't hire an external dev anymore, the risks are too high and AI is advancing quickly.
Get to know the fundamentals of coding and you should be good to go. If you really only do the "vibe coding" stuff, you are in for a rough ride.
For Xcode related projects I found o1-pro works best.
I also write most of my code using AI nowadays because it's much faster for me but I am an experienced dev and I can see if the end result is garbage or usable.
Also if the AI is stuck, I can tell it how to get it done and then it works.

 

[scottledeuce]

Keyapp is fine for installs, but I wouldn't buy reviews/ratings

I would not use this service at all anymore,

ran a 100 usd test today and the results were pathetic
Link to review: https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/boost-your-app-ranking-with-keyword-installs.897922/post-19143283

 

[nakamura]

In this day and age, I wouldn't hire an external dev anymore, the risks are too high and AI is advancing quickly.
Get to know the fundamentals of coding and you should be good to go. If you really only do the "vibe coding" stuff, you are in for a rough ride.
For Xcode related projects I found o1-pro works best.
I also write most of my code using AI nowadays because it's much faster for me but I am an experienced dev and I can see if the end result is garbage or usable.
Also if the AI is stuck, I can tell it how to get it done and then it works.

You are absolutely right. Its not only that it takes so long to get the job done if you hire a dev, its also you need to spend so long telling/explaining them what to do, how to get it right, and so on, then you must deal with their personality as well.

yes, basic knowledge is definitely important and can help a lot, makes it so much faster overall

I would not use this service at all anymore,

ran a 100 usd test today and the results were pathetic
Link to review: https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/boost-your-app-ranking-with-keyword-installs.897922/post-19143283

Well, I can only speak for myself. Its important you optimized your ASO for these keywords you are targeting: Title, subtitle, keyword field. For me, it always took 3-4 days until I saw results. In App Store connect you should see a spike in downloads if you ordered downloads.

Besides this, I would recommend to make paid ads (google, search ads, facebook) while running these keyword campaigns in order to make everything look more legit. in the end of the day it is apple and apple's algorithm that decide whether your app should climb the rankings or not. For some low competition keywords I can literally just buy 5 keyword installs and it goes from #70 to #1. While others require hundreds, if not thousands of downloads per day. I had one campaign that where I would have 200+ downloads per day for one keyword and it went from #5 to #4. Why? Because my competitors probably spent a shitload of money on ads for these countries and got thousands of downloads per day.

 

[nakamura]

Here's What Stands Out (and Why You’re on the Right Path):​

• You're purpose-driven, not chasing fast cash (which ironically leads to more money over time).
• You’ve already earned $5k+ — that’s proof of concept, and you're just getting started.
• You understand policy limits and learned from experience, which most devs ignore until it’s too late.
• You're using whitehat-only methods, which means you're building something that can scale without the fear of bans or shutdowns.
• You’re thinking cross-platform (iOS + Android) and mastering tools like Flutter, which is great for productivity and code reuse.
• Your monetization plan is realistic — ad-only to start, which is smart while you validate ideas and build users.

Bro, please f*ck off with these AI replies, didn't even read

 

[ShadowRealm_11]

Nice journey, but are you currently more focused on user growth or retention?

 

[nakamura]

Nice journey, but are you currently more focused on user growth or retention?

well, i try to do both at the same time

 

[Rank Vortex]

Good luck, this is such an interesting and nice project

 

[WarlordYT]

March Update

Finally, here is the March update. Unfortunately, so far I didn't have much time to check everything, and so on. I was traveling a lot: China, South Korea, Japan. Now I am in the airport and relax a bit.

Earnings:

Total: Around $24000
- Admob: $4500
- IAP: $19500

Expenses:

Paid Ads: $2900
- Apple Search Ads Basic: $700 (switched more to Advanced)
- Apple Search Ads Advanced: $1300
- Google Ads: $200 (focused more on Search Ads Advanced)
- Facebook Ads: $250 (just trying different stuff)
- Keyword Installs: $500

Other expenses:
- API: $750

So the breakdown is: $20300-20400 in profit


Milestone: I had my best day ever with earning $1600 in one single day!

_______________________________

So far in April I have worked on one app primarily. Complete update of UI and functions. In my opinion, it took me way too long to get it done, but I was on holiday and I faced multiple difficulties. Since I only use AI to code, it is hard to get complex stuff done.

What complex stuff am I talking about? User management + Token management, dealing with the backend and frontend. This is some next level shit and I know if I would want to hire someone, I would probably spend a few thousand dollars.

Now I have started using Google Gemini Advanced Pro 2.5. It is not that bad, but still not as good as Claude. The huge advantage of Gemini Pro 2.5? You can upload your enitre code project (yeah, giving Google even more data, I know) and it has insight over everything, making it even better to code.

Whats up next?

- hire Upwork guys to make screenshots for 3-4 of my apps
- publishing important updates for 3 of my apps
- working a entire new app

Time to get locked in again and get stuff done as fast as possible. Speed is key.

And I want you to know my approach:

Publish as many apps as possible as fast as possible, targeting the best possible keywords. Not caring about branding so far. Its just about making money and getting users as fast possible. Everything else doesn't matter. Make the money, then reinvest the money into the top-earning apps growth.

If you make a new app and you focus on branding, you make a mistake. Why? Because you don't have the funds/marketing money to come up with a huge marketing strategy for branding. You first must make money.

If you have 20 apps that make you $200 per month. If you have 2 more apps, that make you $2000 per month each, then you should take the $600 of the 20 apps and use it for the 2 apps that make you $2000 each.

learned so many things , definately going to apply this in my upcoming app

 

[nakamura]

After asking my consultants (DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok) the following question:

I started a business focusing on making iOS Apps. It is all self-funded and my primary goal is to make as much money as possible to fund future products by myself. Now I have to make a decision:

- Should I focus on spending a lot of time making one specific app and trying to make it as best as possible?
- Should I publish as many different apps as possible in different niches, but keep the UX and UI minimal to see which apps is the most popular and gets the most traffic?

Please just give me a 2-3 sentence reply with the final decision with short explanation.

Every single one of them gave me the answer to publish as many apps as possible as soon as possible and I think is the right apprach.

I spent one month to update an app (big update, changed the entire UI and UX, added features, etc.) and I think it took too long.

I don't have any investors or anyone who gives me money. I didn't enroll in any program (I will do for sure in the future!). I keep reinvesting my own money.

So what I wanna do is the following now:

- I want to publish as many apps as possible, but keep the quality high
- I don't want to spend more than a week for an app
- I already wrote an entire list of apps that I want to make, sorted it for the time it might require (less time first)
- I don't want to overcomplicate the app or features
- I won't do any branding, I will only go for keywords and organic traffic

I found out the best apps, that generates the most money, are extremely simple, so everyone can use them. And from my experience and especially all the emails I get, I know for a matter of fact that there are so many people out there who do not know how to use their phone or app AT ALL. So making things as easy as possible, also means I don't have to spend a lot of time coding or coming up with a concept.

So I am thinking about the approach. The best would be if I build a template, which can be easily modified (I already got it) and then I simply change the core function, which would take 1-3 days depending on the complexity. I won't start every app from scratch because it would be a waste of time. The biggest waste of time is not the app itself. It is integrating RevenueCat, Facebook SDK, Firebase, and all the other basic SDKs from scratch over and over again.

Then, I will upload a bunch of apps, even if they only make me $300 per month, if I make 10 of them it will be $3k per month.

Also, there is one very important factor that most people do not consider: You only need ONE app to blow up and generate you $20k or more per month. The more apps you publish, the higher is the chance your app will blow up/go viral. The more lottery tickets you got, the higher is the chance of you accidentally winning. This is a work life philosophy that most people don't understand. There is a chance of getting "lucky" or accidentally be successful if you just keep working.

What could possibly make me more money? If I spend 1-2 months updating my old app and making it fantastic. Or making 10 apps in 1-2 months and one of them might be a success? In a long enough time frame, I can only make more and more money. It is impossible to fail.

 

[GIDEON6155]

After asking my consultants (DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok) the following question:



Every single one of them gave me the answer to publish as many apps as possible as soon as possible and I think is the right apprach.

I spent one month to update an app (big update, changed the entire UI and UX, added features, etc.) and I think it took too long.

I don't have any investors or anyone who gives me money. I didn't enroll in any program (I will do for sure in the future!). I keep reinvesting my own money.

So what I wanna do is the following now:

- I want to publish as many apps as possible, but keep the quality high
- I don't want to spend more than a week for an app
- I already wrote an entire list of apps that I want to make, sorted it for the time it might require (less time first)
- I don't want to overcomplicate the app or features
- I won't do any branding, I will only go for keywords and organic traffic

I found out the best apps, that generates the most money, are extremely simple, so everyone can use them. And from my experience and especially all the emails I get, I know for a matter of fact that there are so many people out there who do not know how to use their phone or app AT ALL. So making things as easy as possible, also means I don't have to spend a lot of time coding or coming up with a concept.

So I am thinking about the approach. The best would be if I build a template, which can be easily modified (I already got it) and then I simply change the core function, which would take 1-3 days depending on the complexity. I won't start every app from scratch because it would be a waste of time. The biggest waste of time is not the app itself. It is integrating RevenueCat, Facebook SDK, Firebase, and all the other basic SDKs from scratch over and over again.

Then, I will upload a bunch of apps, even if they only make me $300 per month, if I make 10 of them it will be $3k per month.

Also, there is one very important factor that most people do not consider: You only need ONE app to blow up and generate you $20k or more per month. The more apps you publish, the higher is the chance your app will blow up/go viral. The more lottery tickets you got, the higher is the chance of you accidentally winning. This is a work life philosophy that most people don't understand. There is a chance of getting "lucky" or accidentally be successful if you just keep working.

What could possibly make me more money? If I spend 1-2 months updating my old app and making it fantastic. Or making 10 apps in 1-2 months and one of them might be a success? In a long enough time frame, I can only make more and more money. It is impossible to fail.

very important tricks

 

[codingMinds]

After asking my consultants (DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok) the following question:



Every single one of them gave me the answer to publish as many apps as possible as soon as possible and I think is the right apprach.

I spent one month to update an app (big update, changed the entire UI and UX, added features, etc.) and I think it took too long.

I don't have any investors or anyone who gives me money. I didn't enroll in any program (I will do for sure in the future!). I keep reinvesting my own money.

So what I wanna do is the following now:

- I want to publish as many apps as possible, but keep the quality high
- I don't want to spend more than a week for an app
- I already wrote an entire list of apps that I want to make, sorted it for the time it might require (less time first)
- I don't want to overcomplicate the app or features
- I won't do any branding, I will only go for keywords and organic traffic

I found out the best apps, that generates the most money, are extremely simple, so everyone can use them. And from my experience and especially all the emails I get, I know for a matter of fact that there are so many people out there who do not know how to use their phone or app AT ALL. So making things as easy as possible, also means I don't have to spend a lot of time coding or coming up with a concept.

So I am thinking about the approach. The best would be if I build a template, which can be easily modified (I already got it) and then I simply change the core function, which would take 1-3 days depending on the complexity. I won't start every app from scratch because it would be a waste of time. The biggest waste of time is not the app itself. It is integrating RevenueCat, Facebook SDK, Firebase, and all the other basic SDKs from scratch over and over again.

Then, I will upload a bunch of apps, even if they only make me $300 per month, if I make 10 of them it will be $3k per month.

Also, there is one very important factor that most people do not consider: You only need ONE app to blow up and generate you $20k or more per month. The more apps you publish, the higher is the chance your app will blow up/go viral. The more lottery tickets you got, the higher is the chance of you accidentally winning. This is a work life philosophy that most people don't understand. There is a chance of getting "lucky" or accidentally be successful if you just keep working.

What could possibly make me more money? If I spend 1-2 months updating my old app and making it fantastic. Or making 10 apps in 1-2 months and one of them might be a success? In a long enough time frame, I can only make more and more money. It is impossible to fail.

Hey, What tips will you give to a mobile dev who has strong experience in android, iOS, and react native wants to start his own journey. Can you please also tell how much fund it requires? Thanks in advance.

 

[nakamura]

Hey, What tips will you give to a mobile dev who has strong experience in android, iOS, and react native wants to start his own journey. Can you please also tell how much fund it requires? Thanks in advance.

- Developer account (Apple: around $90 per year, Google Pay: $25)
- Macbook (if its for iOS)

Everything else is additional

 

[codingMinds]

- Developer account (Apple: around $90 per year, Google Pay: $25)
- Macbook (if its for iOS)

Everything else is additional

I have macbook. I can buy a developer account. Do I need to run ads from start or I can first build some apps and try to grow them organically without ads?

 

[nakamura]

I have macbook. I can buy a developer account. Do I need to run ads from start or I can first build some apps and try to grow them organically without ads?

depends on you and your app

 

[raxpro]

Very motivating journey, how much time do you spend every week?

 

[nakamura]

Very motivating journey, how much time do you spend every week?

It really depends man. Its very inconsistent. Usually 2-3 hours per day. Sometimes 10 hours per day. Usually when I am working in a office I am really productive and focused.

 

[WarlordYT]

After asking my consultants (DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok) the following question:



Every single one of them gave me the answer to publish as many apps as possible as soon as possible and I think is the right apprach.

I spent one month to update an app (big update, changed the entire UI and UX, added features, etc.) and I think it took too long.

I don't have any investors or anyone who gives me money. I didn't enroll in any program (I will do for sure in the future!). I keep reinvesting my own money.

So what I wanna do is the following now:

- I want to publish as many apps as possible, but keep the quality high
- I don't want to spend more than a week for an app
- I already wrote an entire list of apps that I want to make, sorted it for the time it might require (less time first)
- I don't want to overcomplicate the app or features
- I won't do any branding, I will only go for keywords and organic traffic

I found out the best apps, that generates the most money, are extremely simple, so everyone can use them. And from my experience and especially all the emails I get, I know for a matter of fact that there are so many people out there who do not know how to use their phone or app AT ALL. So making things as easy as possible, also means I don't have to spend a lot of time coding or coming up with a concept.

So I am thinking about the approach. The best would be if I build a template, which can be easily modified (I already got it) and then I simply change the core function, which would take 1-3 days depending on the complexity. I won't start every app from scratch because it would be a waste of time. The biggest waste of time is not the app itself. It is integrating RevenueCat, Facebook SDK, Firebase, and all the other basic SDKs from scratch over and over again.

Then, I will upload a bunch of apps, even if they only make me $300 per month, if I make 10 of them it will be $3k per month.

Also, there is one very important factor that most people do not consider: You only need ONE app to blow up and generate you $20k or more per month. The more apps you publish, the higher is the chance your app will blow up/go viral. The more lottery tickets you got, the higher is the chance of you accidentally winning. This is a work life philosophy that most people don't understand. There is a chance of getting "lucky" or accidentally be successful if you just keep working.

What could possibly make me more money? If I spend 1-2 months updating my old app and making it fantastic. Or making 10 apps in 1-2 months and one of them might be a success? In a long enough time frame, I can only make more and more money. It is impossible to fail.

about this i was doing same , i was improving 1 app for about 5months then my dad told me this story



Hey friends,


There was once a pottery teacher called Brian. One month, he decided to split his class into two groups. Group A had to make a pot every day for 30 days (so 30 pots in total). Group B had to work on a single pot for the whole 30 days.


At the end of the month, Brian judged the quality of the pots. Without exception, every one of the top 10 pots came from Group A, the guys that made one pot per day. None came from the group that focused on perfecting their single pot.


after that i decided not to waste time on a product developing its MVP , instead just launch with good quality and see what happens