[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire
- Thread starter nakamura
- Start date
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
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True, but what is even more important is marketing. My competitors got 10 million downloads but have an app far worse than mine. No kidding. Yet, they got 1000x downloads than me.
I think I made a huge strategic mistake on focusing on making more and more apps, than on focusing on marketing (especially paid ads) first.
So right now I am totally focusing on marketing for my winning app.
Luckily, Google released its video AI model Veo 3.1 with which I can easily make high quality ads (+ using reference images of my app!). So its much easier for me to create really high quality video ads for Meta, TikTok and Google Ads.
Furthermore, I will use n8n to auto create daily content for TikTok. TikTok is probably the number one source for organic traffic. Will then publish the content manually. I know guys making $50k per month who just released their app 30 days ago just because of TikTok.
I will keep you guys updated.
- Mar 5, 2016
- 996
- 322
30 days ago and 50k , care to share link in PM , would love to take a look
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
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Check out Twitter/X in the "Build In Public" community. Lots of guys making this amount just by using TikTok as a funnel.
Jerichomiles
Newbie
- Jan 11, 2024
- 41
- 3
Lol not the best advice for life. Especially since it's paid yearly. If it doesn't matter are you offering to pay me back the $75 for mine? I guess we just found out how much it matters. Countless developers paying Apple four times less for the developer cost obviously makes a huge difference to their earnings. That's just simple maths.
I'm yet to find any evidence of it at all anywhere. Like I said, why subsidise that but not subsidise the cost of the Apple hardware or anything else for that matter? Makes no sense. I'm surprised particularly it's such a huge subsidy. Normally it would be like $75 or at the most, half price at $50.
- Mar 22, 2013
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- 10,984
Update:
I made some competitor research and made a deep dive into two of my competitors which got a worse product than I have but got 1000x more downloads and make millions.
Now I am focusing on checking their paid ads (especially Meta and TikTok) and get inspiration from their ads.
I also saw they run around 10-15 TiKTok accounts. It seems like they are heavily invested in TikTok. So far I haven't used TikTok that much.
So here is my game plan:
- Focus on winning apps
- Sort out the Meta Ads to get the lowest CPI
- Make a n8n workflow to create (and if possible also autopost) content on social media (IG, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest) on a daily basis on different accounts (might use Blotato API)
First I will focus on the TikTok accounts I created manually.
Later, I will buy US TikTok accounts here on BHW and get more into automation (will get a VPS, etc.) to auto post to 30+ accounts daily.
I made some competitor research and made a deep dive into two of my competitors which got a worse product than I have but got 1000x more downloads and make millions.
Now I am focusing on checking their paid ads (especially Meta and TikTok) and get inspiration from their ads.
I also saw they run around 10-15 TiKTok accounts. It seems like they are heavily invested in TikTok. So far I haven't used TikTok that much.
So here is my game plan:
- Focus on winning apps
- Sort out the Meta Ads to get the lowest CPI
- Make a n8n workflow to create (and if possible also autopost) content on social media (IG, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest) on a daily basis on different accounts (might use Blotato API)
First I will focus on the TikTok accounts I created manually.
Later, I will buy US TikTok accounts here on BHW and get more into automation (will get a VPS, etc.) to auto post to 30+ accounts daily.
jackyok
Newbie
- Oct 4, 2012
- 19
- 13
Since the document is 80 pages long (I’ve read it, though), I made a quick recap video of the journey using NotebookLM.
If it’s inappropriate in any way, I’ll delete it-but I believe it could really help newcomers catch up.
It also shows just how wild the times we’re living in are-it took me 30 seconds to make this (and probably who knows how many Nvidia cards churning away somewhere).
And no, you can’t use it to start a faceless YouTube channel-it got zero traction.
@nakamura, how do you feel? How well does it describe your story?
If it’s inappropriate in any way, I’ll delete it-but I believe it could really help newcomers catch up.
It also shows just how wild the times we’re living in are-it took me 30 seconds to make this (and probably who knows how many Nvidia cards churning away somewhere).
And no, you can’t use it to start a faceless YouTube channel-it got zero traction.
@nakamura, how do you feel? How well does it describe your story?
vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
- 310
most people there are building web based saas tools as they are easier to build and launch.
IYASS
Regular Member
- Jun 30, 2018
- 337
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vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
- 310
yes, apps like brain rot etc are great ideas with well implemented strategy and a successful buildup momentum using social media and product hunt etc. But what about us solo devs with apps already in the store generating about 10 to 100 MRR solely relying on ASO algorithm which is unpredictable now, with no marketing budget and we know if there are more eyes on our apps then our sales will increase. How do we create viral content for our apps or is there any reliable budget service that can promote our apps on socials? Creating viral content is not everyone's cup of tea and requires time and patience but we devs don't have that since we focus on building new apps and improve existing ones.
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
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You have to do marketing. Thats the game. You got a product, now you need to find a way get customers. Thats with every single product/niche/service.
You are right, creating content is definitely also not my cup of tea, but luckily there is AI now that can help you to create hyper realistic videos, etc. so there is basically no limit anymore. You can fully automize this process. I am going to automize it as well with n8n workflows.
vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
- 310
Can u give me some links/examples where people have posted social content for their apps....I want to see what kind of content they are posting for their apps which convert well. maybe we can create some templates/prompts using that.
IYASS
Regular Member
- Jun 30, 2018
- 337
- 637
You don’t even need videos these days. AI slideshows are the best. They convert really well and they're scalable.
Take a look at this account (the app is making around $22k per month according to the owner’s X account)
https://www.tiktok.com/@smartnotetips
He also runs other accounts to promote the app but take a look at this one for inspiration.
vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
- 310
So what should be the strategy here, create a new acct and start posting content daily or first need to warm up....how will the followers come. I've tried on Insta but their algo is messed up...after a few views the post just dies....its not like old days where using correct hashtags sometimes the post itself got traction. Similar with YT shorts.
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
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Thats a great example. I will do exactly this, but all just automated.
Instagram algorithm is really messed up. Almost no organic reach. Only if you post something racist or controversial, then it will get all the views. TikTok works best for organic reach. YT shorts have worked so so for me, seems like YT shorts is more used by large YouTubers themselves to promote their long content to short form content.
meanyack
Registered Member
- Jun 18, 2021
- 50
- 15
- Mar 22, 2013
- 6,272
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Nahh, I never had a terminated account or suspended app. I know for a fact that Google is scanning the Android code, etc. and they can identify previously suspended apps, but for iOS, I am not sure at all.
What I would recommend is to reverse engineer the entire app using Cursor / Claude Code. Or tell it to change the entire code.
Basically make sure you dont leave any footprints, you cahnge the code, change the design, logo, etc.,
Also, it seems like Apple became stricter since a lot of guys are submitting apps that have been vibe coded. Lots of people spam apps into the App Store. They became less tolerant
vin42
Power Member
- May 24, 2016
- 577
- 310
Why are people building apps mostly on the categories like Habit-tracker, Mood tracker, water tracker or To Do app or Pomodoro or Timer, etc. There are already hundreds of such apps and how are they approved despite being low functionality and copy cats?
- Mar 22, 2013
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Because they just get started and they probably have no idea about market research. Everyone is making habit tracker apps because they see it all over Twitter, Reddit, etc. there are even free GitHub reps for habit tracker iOS apps where people can simply download, reskin and publish it.
The only way to succeed in these niches is to make apps that are outstanding or focus on one specific subniche (elderly, kids, etc.) or have extraordinary marketing