[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire

[nakamura]

How strict is Apple these days?
The last app i published was Aug 2025 and I was publishing 1 app a month with no issues.

Are they cracking down on mass production due to "Ai Slop" apps?

Yes, they got much stricter since November 2025. They changed their policies/guidelines. Do NOT use any copyrighted words or brand names in the title, subtitle or screenshots. Some people got their Developer account terminated immediately after they sent their app for review.

How much are the API costs if the app goes viral?

Depends on the API provider and how many requests you are sending. Some have fixed prices. Some have pay per usage.

 

[CNfan]

Hello Nakamura,

After reading your post, I immediately registered for a BHW account just to leave a comment and thank you.

I first came across your work during your previous ebook sale. To be honest, I’ve always been skeptical of ebooks sold online, assuming that truly valuable strategies aren't usually shared publicly. However, after reading about your journey, I’ve completely changed my perspective.

Your story isn't just a testament to your six years in app development; it’s an inspiration for any field. I truly admire your perseverance and how you navigated those challenges. Huge congratulations on finding your first "winning" product-it's clearly well-deserved. I especially resonate with your mindset of building the product yourself while placing an even higher value on the marketing side.

I’ve been a graphic designer and amateur advertiser for about 6 years now, but I haven't quite hit a major milestone yet. I’ve also been "vibe coding" about 10 apps to streamline my workflow, and I'm eager to expand my horizons. I have a couple of questions:

1. Could you share the fundamentals of how you advertised this winning product? You mentioned experimenting with a new approach, and I’m curious about the core logic behind it.

2. Is it better to wait for your upcoming book, or would you recommend buying the older version now to master the basics first?

 

[nakamura]

Hello Nakamura,

After reading your post, I immediately registered for a BHW account just to leave a comment and thank you.

I first came across your work during your previous ebook sale. To be honest, I’ve always been skeptical of ebooks sold online, assuming that truly valuable strategies aren't usually shared publicly. However, after reading about your journey, I’ve completely changed my perspective.

Your story isn't just a testament to your six years in app development; it’s an inspiration for any field. I truly admire your perseverance and how you navigated those challenges. Huge congratulations on finding your first "winning" product-it's clearly well-deserved. I especially resonate with your mindset of building the product yourself while placing an even higher value on the marketing side.

I’ve been a graphic designer and amateur advertiser for about 6 years now, but I haven't quite hit a major milestone yet. I’ve also been "vibe coding" about 10 apps to streamline my workflow, and I'm eager to expand my horizons. I have a couple of questions:

1. Could you share the fundamentals of how you advertised this winning product? You mentioned experimenting with a new approach, and I’m curious about the core logic behind it.

2. Is it better to wait for your upcoming book, or would you recommend buying the older version now to master the basics first?

Hi, massive thank you for the compliment and reading through this entire thread, i know its a lot.

1. i am just testing it right now. I dont wanna give wrong information, so I am about to test it for other apps as well. I mean, it could be possible I just got lucky

2. Better to wait for the new one if its more about vibe coding

 

[adhek]

Hi
Awesome milestone! Congratulations on hitting the $100/day mark. I have two quick questions about your process:
What is your step-by-step method for app keyword research?
Once the app is live, what are your top promotional tactics to get a lot of downloads quickly?
Thanks in advance for the advice

 

[lucas999]

Following you Best of luck

 

[nakamura]

Hi
Awesome milestone! Congratulations on hitting the $100/day mark. I have two quick questions about your process:
What is your step-by-step method for app keyword research?
Once the app is live, what are your top promotional tactics to get a lot of downloads quickly?
Thanks in advance for the advice

Thank you mate.

I was hitting the $3000/day mark tho

Following you Best of luck

Thank you

 

[adhek]

Thank you mate.

I was hitting the $3000/day mark tho



Thank yo

Do you use google ads ? How much conversion rate you get ? And how many app install and app uninstal per day you get ?

 

[nakamura]

Do you use google ads ? How much conversion rate you get ? And how many app install and app uninstal per day you get ?

Hard to say. For iOS the numbers are wildly unprecise. Google Ads, App Store Connect, Appsflyer - all of them show me a different download number. This is because of the iOS 14.5 Update a few years ago. Reporting has been incredibly awful.

So yeah, I only care profit and I do not focus too much on these metrics because they are mostly unreliable. Its a waste of time to set it up the best possible way because it will still be unreliable.

Yes, I use Google Ads tho

 

[Nicololo]

Would you say that your main source of traffic is TikTok? Are you using any tools to post content?

 

[goldengate2334]

any updates on the course????

 

[AllOutAnime]

Thanks a lot!


Before it was purely SwiftUI.

Then I would add different SDKs:

- RevenueCat
- Google Mobile Ads
- Firebase Analytics, Remote Config, Firestore, App Check, Storage
- Meta / Facebook SDK
and some others as well depending on what I need. For example video player, image cropping, etc.

But now I have switched to Flutter to build for iOS, Android and Web at the same time. I have a SEO background so its smart for me to make a website and also offer a Web App / SaaS and get organic traffic from SEO.

Why did you switch to Flutter?
I always disliked this "one thing fits all", I am pretty sure the web experience is lacking.

Did you ever consider using Expo for React Native?
Like this you could have your mobile apps with Expo but then have a comprehensive website in any environment that supports JS/TS.
For example you could build your entire app in TS, then host the website using NextJS, this could also be the back-end for your mobile app.
Then you could use Expo for the mobile apps reusing the things you already built and have a 1:1 feature parity between app and website while maintaining the best of both worlds (web + apps).

 

[nakamura]

Would you say that your main source of traffic is TikTok? Are you using any tools to post content?

No, I would say depending on the niche TikTok content can be difficult to monetise. It really depends on the niche, the video, etc.

any updates on the course????

Sorry I have been terribly busy. I am trying to getting it done asap.

Why did you switch to Flutter?
I always disliked this "one thing fits all", I am pretty sure the web experience is lacking.

Did you ever consider using Expo for React Native?
Like this you could have your mobile apps with Expo but then have a comprehensive website in any environment that supports JS/TS.
For example you could build your entire app in TS, then host the website using NextJS, this could also be the back-end for your mobile app.
Then you could use Expo for the mobile apps reusing the things you already built and have a 1:1 feature parity between app and website while maintaining the best of both worlds (web + apps).

I switched to Flutter because I wanted to publish as fast as possible without headache. Flutter can do exactly this.

I have no experience with React Native, never used it. The things you wrote all sound good, my problem was I started out with SwiftUI a few years ago, so most of my apps were created first with SwiftUI, so I already had all the backend with Firebase etc. Then I started migrating to Flutter and it was super easy to do.

Even now I would just use my existing Flutter app as foundation/template and build on top of it. It's just about speed. I want to get these things done as fast as possible.

Right now I am a one man army. Means, I have to take care of everything. Marketing, research, building all the apps, building the websites, backend stuff, support for the apps, etc. and lots of this stuff is super time consuming.

For example with the new ebook, I wanted to finish it already 2 months ago, but I just really didn't have the time at all

 

[AllOutAnime]

No, I would say depending on the niche TikTok content can be difficult to monetise. It really depends on the niche, the video, etc.


Sorry I have been terribly busy. I am trying to getting it done asap.


I switched to Flutter because I wanted to publish as fast as possible without headache. Flutter can do exactly this.

I have no experience with React Native, never used it. The things you wrote all sound good, my problem was I started out with SwiftUI a few years ago, so most of my apps were created first with SwiftUI, so I already had all the backend with Firebase etc. Then I started migrating to Flutter and it was super easy to do.

Even now I would just use my existing Flutter app as foundation/template and build on top of it. It's just about speed. I want to get these things done as fast as possible.

Right now I am a one man army. Means, I have to take care of everything. Marketing, research, building all the apps, building the websites, backend stuff, support for the apps, etc. and lots of this stuff is super time consuming.

For example with the new ebook, I wanted to finish it already 2 months ago, but I just really didn't have the time at all

"It's just about speed.", how fast do you need to complete a new app?

I can have a new app production ready along with the website in 1 day for easy and 1 week for complex ones.
I would never re-use code, just principles. With GPT and Claude you can run multiple agents and finish any kind of tasks quickly.
They can also start the emulators and inspect the app and fix it.

If you have some app in programming language A, they can quickly translate it into programming language B.
It is all fluid nowdays, you just need to know how to use it.

 

[kong888]

Hello Mr. Nakamura, will you continue to produce and sell new ebooks? We've been waiting for this for a long time, but seeing you earning thousands of dollars a day, I guess you've lost interest in selling ebooks?

 

[kaitorsim]

keep this, im mobile app engineer also

 

[nakamura]

"It's just about speed.", how fast do you need to complete a new app?

I can have a new app production ready along with the website in 1 day for easy and 1 week for complex ones.
I would never re-use code, just principles. With GPT and Claude you can run multiple agents and finish any kind of tasks quickly.
They can also start the emulators and inspect the app and fix it.

If you have some app in programming language A, they can quickly translate it into programming language B.
It is all fluid nowdays, you just need to know how to use it.

I know how to use it and I do it as well. I usually make the entire app within a week. The website within 1-2 hours. It all depends on functionality, how complex, etc.

The real time killer is ASO. Finding the best possible keywords for the main markets; US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, etc. Then creating the screenshots (can also be done by AI now) and also translating them into these languages. Setting up the App Store listing and also translating all of it. Adding the IAPs and also translating them, etc.

Right now Apple started a crack down on "Vibe Coded" apps. Means, it is more important than ever to make outstanding apps and not making them look generic.

Hello Mr. Nakamura, will you continue to produce and sell new ebooks? We've been waiting for this for a long time, but seeing you earning thousands of dollars a day, I guess you've lost interest in selling ebooks?

No no, I am writing it. The thing is: it keeps evolving. When I started writing, OpenClaw didn't exist. Just an example. So I just keep writing and adding new stuff.

 

[AllOutAnime]

I know how to use it and I do it as well. I usually make the entire app within a week. The website within 1-2 hours. It all depends on functionality, how complex, etc.

The real time killer is ASO. Finding the best possible keywords for the main markets; US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, etc. Then creating the screenshots (can also be done by AI now) and also translating them into these languages. Setting up the App Store listing and also translating all of it. Adding the IAPs and also translating them, etc.

Right now Apple started a crack down on "Vibe Coded" apps. Means, it is more important than ever to make outstanding apps and not making them look generic.


No no, I am writing it. The thing is: it keeps evolving. When I started writing, OpenClaw didn't exist. Just an example. So I just keep writing and adding new stuff.

Regarding the ebook, it sounds like you should not release it as ebook but something more interactive.
You could start a skool community that is charged monthly or make your own website, put there what you have until now and then update it as you go.

 

[nakamura]

Regarding the ebook, it sounds like you should not release it as ebook but something more interactive.
You could start a skool community that is charged monthly or make your own website, put there what you have until now and then update it as you go.

I know, would be smarter and probably make more money, but would also be way more time consuming..and right now my time is super limited. Its also the reason I havent published the ebook yet. I dont wanna charge people money for something that is only half finished. I know some people might put trust and their hopes into me, I dont wanna disappoint them

 

[GIDEON6155]

I know, would be smarter and probably make more money, but would also be way more time consuming..and right now my time is super limited. Its also the reason I havent published the ebook yet. I dont wanna charge people money for something that is only half finished. I know some people might put trust and their hopes into me, I dont wanna disappoint them

Correct

 

[vin42]

Have apple algos started removing ratings during onboarding? It seems they are penalizing apps which ask ratings during first session? Can someone confirm/