[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire

[MrAinz]

Yeah its quite weird. My friend had a lot of gaming related apps like "tips & tricks for minecraft" or "tracker for fortnite skins" and so on. Which seemed to be fine until 13th november.

in my friends case, it will be interesting to see their reply. because these apps are old already. he didn't change their names for 2 years. they just changed their policies and then terminated his account. it doesn't seem right.

Can you tell us what exactly the new policy means or a link to it ?

 

[nakamura]

hey @nakamura
first of all, thank you so much for the whole detailed journey over the years so far.
I'm following you since a couple of years now and always was thinking about to start something similar like this as well, but never found the time for it and also was too afraid.

I'm pretty sure you get this question a lot, but I wanted to ask about your honest opinion if you think it still makes sense to start something like you did in the current times with claude, GPT, etc. - or do you think the market is too saturated and its way too hard now to create winning apps?

Of course, assuming that things are done correctly, and that apps cant be just simple wrappers, but in general, what would be your adivce?

Again thanks for all your effort, the free knowledge and your crazy journey. Also is there a new version of your e-book?

Thanks!

Apps definitely still work and you can make a lot of money. Sometimes simple wrapper app can be extremely profitable as well. It really depends on your idea and the execution.

For example, Plant Identifier apps are simple wrapper apps, but they make a shit ton of money. Latest version of my ebook is in the store. I am thinking to bring out a version thats focusing straight forward on vibe coding.

Wow, page 86 - I finally finished @nakamura 's epic thread. You probably saw me over the last few weeks making my way through and liking posts as I went It was fun to start off reading before GPT3.5 was released and know what was going to be in store for you in a few years time lol.

A question, I guess you're hosting all of these apps somewhere as they required API and presumably backend db/memory of chats?

1) Any recommendations on tools (i've used railway which has seemed quite straightforward)?
2) How do you manage the 40+ servers/VPS you must have for each app? (or are you partitioning one big VPS?)

I am using Firebase / Google Cloud and its working perfectly fine. They offer all the solutions I need. From security, cloud functions, secret manager, etc. they got it all. Also its easy to use together with Firebase Analytics, Remote Config and Authentication.

Can you tell us what exactly the new policy means or a link to it ?

Here:

1.2.1(a): This new guideline specifies that creator apps must provide a way for users to identify content that exceeds the app’s age rating, and use an age restriction mechanism based on verified or declared age to limit access by underage users.

2.5.10: This language has been deleted ("Apps should not be submitted with empty ad banners or test advertisements.”).

3.2.2(ix): Clarified that loan apps may not charge a maximum APR higher than 36%, including costs and fees, and may not require repayment in full in 60 days or less.

4.1(c): This new guideline specifies that you cannot use another developer's icon, brand, or product name in your app's icon or name, without approval from the developer.

4.7: Clarifies that HTML5 and JavaScript mini apps and mini games are in scope of the guideline.

4.7.2: Clarifies that apps offering software not embedded in the binary may not extend or expose native platform APIs or technologies to the software without prior permission from Apple.

4.7.5: Clarifies that apps offering software not embedded in the binary must provide a way for users to identify content that exceeds the app’s age rating, and use an age restriction mechanism based on verified or declared age to limit access by underage users.

5.1.1(ix): Adds crypto exchanges to the list of apps that provide services in highly regulated fields.

5.1.2(i): Clarifies that you must clearly disclose where personal data will be shared with third parties, including with third-party AI, and obtain explicit permission before doing so.

 

[nakamura]

They sent the same response every time. It was probably a bot and no human involved.
Your friend’s case is quite interesting. They banned so many accounts because of nano banana , veo3, sora but they are generally new apps.

How long did it take them to reply to your appeals?

My friend sent the appeal more than 2 weeks ago and still no reply.

I have kinda mixed feeling about this. It probably means they are taking a deep look into this matter manually. No automated stuff.

 

[DigitalNeeds]

Such an inspirational journey! Best wishes for now and your future. Do multiple things like this and share it with us those happiness. Where did you learn the coding for build the mobile, please share those details as well.

 

[nakamura]

Update:

Its been some time since I made a really long update.

Here is what happened during the past 2-3 months.

I had a bunch of apps that were making me around $300-600 per month on autopilot. All of the traffic just organic and at the same time I just kept making new apps.

So I decided to sell some of them using acquire.com.

How people usually would calculate the app price is 2-4x of the annual profit. I took a multiplier of 2.5x. So on the lower end of the valuation, but I just wanted to sell it.

I sold 3 apps so far for around $22.5k in total. These apps were just existing, I only made updates if something stopped working or had to be updated. Easy money.

For the rest of the income, the number have been quite stable. Around $15k per month + Admob. I tried new marketing / ads formats here and there, spent some money here and there. Something I didn't try at all is influencer marketing and I might get into it soon.

I could sell my highest earning app for quite some money I think, but then my monthly income would drop to zero.

__________________________________________

What I did in the past month:

I started using more and more Flutter. Turning my most profitable apps also into Android apps. Not only this, I also started building for Web now.

So from now on my plan is to ship for:

- iOS
- Android
- Web

My setup for web is:

- domain (through Namecheap or Vercel)
- hosting (Vercel)
- app (Flutter web app)
- payment provider (Stripe through RevenueCat)

I create the landing page with Claude Code and Gemini. I do SEO keyword research with semrush and then I write content for the landing page using Claude Code.

Main goal of the landing page is to get organic traffic through SEO. So I get traffic through for the niche through iOS, Android and Web.

Right now I am in the process of rebuilding all my older iOS apps for Flutter and creating Android and Web Apps as well!

 

[inspectorgad]

Wow what an amazing thread. I spent about 5 hours reading the entire thing!

I'm so inspired by this, and the fact you've made an ebook about this is insane, cannot wait to buy it. Do you have any plans to update the ebook since the last update in 2024?

In terms of things needed before buying, am I correct in the following?
1x Macbook (imac etc) for coding and publishing iOS apps.
1x Apple Developer account
1x Admob account - paired with an Adsense account.
1x iPhone for app testing, screenshots etc
$100-$300 ad budget for Google Ads for paid traffic installs

Would you say anything else is missing from that list before buying your ebook and getting started?
Obviously there are other tools needed etc for keyword research but I imagine your ebook details those directly and they are smaller investment costs due to being subscriptions.

Also - I see that throughout your journey you offer IAPs and then for those that don't want to make an IAP, you offer the user the ability to view an ad to earn premium features for free, have you also considered letting people share their progress / your app to their social media accounts in return for these premium features AND view an ad? I'm just thinking this could be a great way to gain organic social growth for free on top of your already existing traffic sources.

I'll be honest, there's no way I'd consider buying your ebook if it wasn't for the dedication you've made to keeping this journey thread updated. I'm an Android user myself, but from reading your journey, i think investing and starting with iOS is the right path and then expand to Android later once you have some revenue coming in.

I've also used Cursor and ChatGPT for other coding projects so it's great to see that you've used these too. They really do speed up the process!

 

[contact_yeasin]

best wishes for you. keep updating the thread

 

[nakamura]

Wow what an amazing thread. I spent about 5 hours reading the entire thing!

I'm so inspired by this, and the fact you've made an ebook about this is insane, cannot wait to buy it. Do you have any plans to update the ebook since the last update in 2024?

In terms of things needed before buying, am I correct in the following?
1x Macbook (imac etc) for coding and publishing iOS apps.
1x Apple Developer account
1x Admob account - paired with an Adsense account.
1x iPhone for app testing, screenshots etc
$100-$300 ad budget for Google Ads for paid traffic installs

Would you say anything else is missing from that list before buying your ebook and getting started?
Obviously there are other tools needed etc for keyword research but I imagine your ebook details those directly and they are smaller investment costs due to being subscriptions.

Also - I see that throughout your journey you offer IAPs and then for those that don't want to make an IAP, you offer the user the ability to view an ad to earn premium features for free, have you also considered letting people share their progress / your app to their social media accounts in return for these premium features AND view an ad? I'm just thinking this could be a great way to gain organic social growth for free on top of your already existing traffic sources.

I'll be honest, there's no way I'd consider buying your ebook if it wasn't for the dedication you've made to keeping this journey thread updated. I'm an Android user myself, but from reading your journey, i think investing and starting with iOS is the right path and then expand to Android later once you have some revenue coming in.

I've also used Cursor and ChatGPT for other coding projects so it's great to see that you've used these too. They really do speed up the process!

Thanks for taking the time to read. Its been a rollercoaster.

Yes, but you dont necessarily need an iPhone. You can just use the Simulator in Xcode (the software to make iOS apps).

Whats missing is maybe AI to code the apps or help you. You can aalso use Flutter to code for both: Android and iOS.

Yes the sharing function is super important. Just its important to keep everything the guidelines from Apple. Sometimes they are sensitive about pushing people to share something.

What I can tell you is that iOS user spend way way wayyyyy more money than Android users. This is just facts from what I see from my own apps. Even I have the exact same app for Android and iOS and I drive the same traffic, the iOS users do the IAPs.

Soon I will write an ebook for Vibe Coding specifically to code apps with AI, publish them and do marketing. Price will be lower. So wait a bit and get it then

 

[nakamura]

I appealed 6 times or so.
- Wrote a long formal appeal using ChatGPT
- A casual one explaining all the details
- A pitiful tone that I regret for what I did (I don't know what I did lol)
- A short explanation and a link to a blog post explaining all
- Shorter explanation and a link to blog post
- Same as above

Posted to Apple forums (got deleted) and Apple developer forums
Posted to Reddit
Posted here

What's your friend's reason? Did they know what did they wrong? DM me, maybe I can help.

Did you just keep sending appeals after you got appeal rejection? What appeal style worked for you?

my friends appeal got rejected and now he made a P2B complaint. Like a legal complaint.

The problem is they called him fraud, but actually it was just a meta data issue. He didn't act like he owns "Fortnite", he wrote the apps are "for Fortnite". Big difference.

 

[inspectorgad]

Soon I will write an ebook for Vibe Coding specifically to code apps with AI, publish them and do marketing. Price will be lower. So wait a bit and get it then

I think I will grab both, no offense but I don't think I want to wait for you to have time to write your ebook. You seem to be very busy prioritizing your apps (rightfully so) and I'm pretty good at vibe coding and from what I see, your current ebook goes into the marketing and publishing too.
My boss at work is also going to give me an iMac to get started

I think the biggest challenge I see will be the research into the current apps on the market and deciding what to actually build. I appreciate you being honest in telling me to wait though. I guess worst case scenario, I gain some experience while waiting for your updated ebook! I think i'll follow your path too of, build for iOS and then popular apps port to Android and web.

 

[MahinaLevana]

Good luck.

 

[inspectorgad]

I thought i'd share an additional update, I got the iMac, never used Mac before so just learning things about xcode. I've also already got an active adsense account due to a website i run so i was instantly approved for Admob.

 

[osxxen]

Update:

Cool. Love the hustle.
1. Did you arrive at a marketing strategy? Do you focus on Tiktok still? I am getting ready to release a branded gen Z-focused app, but I'm super bad with social. Thinking of hiring a tiktok creator.
1. What's your approach to competitor/keyword research on AppStore? Astro has been really unreliable, or I am bad at doing keyword research on AppStore generally. I either land on super saturated or dead niches.

 

[olivier]

Admob?

In your original book you wrote that Google is bad for apps, that better make ios apps.

Now youre back in Play store?
Why?
Did they calm down?
Or you made corporate account? I see that they ban average joes accounts every day.
Because seems that they dont want noobs to make apps or money from apps.
Reddit is full of "I have been banned" topics. From Playstore.

Another big problem for casual coders: they want 20 testers. Which is stupid.
But corporation accounts dont need it.

So if that average Joe makes / registers LLC then he dont need app testing and is less likely to be banned.
Nonsense

 

[nakamura]

Cool. Love the hustle.
1. Did you arrive at a marketing strategy? Do you focus on Tiktok still? I am getting ready to release a branded gen Z-focused app, but I'm super bad with social. Thinking of hiring a tiktok creator.
1. What's your approach to competitor/keyword research on AppStore? Astro has been really unreliable, or I am bad at doing keyword research on AppStore generally. I either land on super saturated or dead niches.

1. Yes, I also focus on TikTok. I do all social media platforms: FB, IG, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube shorts

2. I am using AppFollow. Astro is ok too, much cheaper. They all pull the information from Apple Search Ads anyway. Saturated niches still work tho.

Admob?

In your original book you wrote that Google is bad for apps, that better make ios apps.

Now youre back in Play store?
Why?
Did they calm down?
Or you made corporate account? I see that they ban average joes accounts every day.
Because seems that they dont want noobs to make apps or money from apps.
Reddit is full of "I have been banned" topics. From Playstore.

Another big problem for casual coders: they want 20 testers. Which is stupid.
But corporation accounts dont need it.

So if that average Joe makes / registers LLC then he dont need app testing and is less likely to be banned.
Nonsense

Yes, you are 100% right. Google is definitely bad for apps. iOS user spend much much more money on apps than Android users. Its definitely not worth the headache if you have a problem with Google.

Yes, I am back on the Play Store for the following reason:

I switched from SwiftUI to Flutter again. And with Flutter I can easily build an Android app as well. So I think to myself: Why not just publish and see what happens? If they suspend my apps or ban my account, its fine for me. I don't do any blackhat or even greyhat. I just publish the app, using the same app title and description like on the Apple App Store and thats it. I don't do paid ads or anything. Its all organic.

Also, I am publishing videos on TikTok, IG Reels, YouTube Shorts and not everyone who watches this video has an iPhone. So I dont want to miss out on this traffic. I also want to monetize the people who see my app on Tiktok but only have an Android phone.

What do you mean by 20 testers? I completely missed out on that. But my Google Play Developer account is already 2 years old. Two years ago I published 1-2 apps and didn't use it since then. Now I start to use it again.

 

[kong888]

Sir, do you have plans for version updates of your e-books? I inquired about purchasing them a while ago, but AI programming wasn't as advanced then. Now they're doing a much better job, and I think it's time to follow you. If there are plans to update with the latest content, should I wait? Or should I just buy an older version?

 

[osxxen]

1. Yes, I also focus on TikTok. I do all social media platforms: FB, IG, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube shorts

What do you do there? I get Tiktok/Shorts/Reels are reusable, but it seems FB and Pinterest need different account management strategies? And do you still create Tiktok vids yourself?

2. I am using AppFollow. Astro is ok too, much cheaper. They all pull the information from Apple Search Ads anyway. Saturated niches still work tho.

I mean, how do you find app ideas? It's a very specific kind of search, after all. Google is questions, App store is solutions.

 

[nakamura]

Sir, do you have plans for version updates of your e-books? I inquired about purchasing them a while ago, but AI programming wasn't as advanced then. Now they're doing a much better job, and I think it's time to follow you. If there are plans to update with the latest content, should I wait? Or should I just buy an older version?

I will make an ebook specifically about vibe coding, but the price will be much lower.

What do you do there? I get Tiktok/Shorts/Reels are reusable, but it seems FB and Pinterest need different account management strategies? And do you still create Tiktok vids yourself?

I mean, how do you find app ideas? It's a very specific kind of search, after all. Google is questions, App store is solutions.

it depends on the app and your niche. pinterest is good for designs of all kind. tiktok is good for viral content, etc.

you can find app ideas in so many different ways. you can also come on with app ideas yourself and then advertise it through tiktok, etc.

 

[olivier]

you can also come on with app ideas yourself

Haha, easier said than done.

Every app is already made. There are no new niches.
The market is oversaturated.

 

[WarlordYT]

Haha, easier said than done.

Every app is already made. There are no new niches.
The market is oversaturated.

yes heavyly saturated