[Mobile Apps/Games Empire] Journey to $10,000/month with iOS & Android Empire

After reading your previous journey, wish you good luck

still wordk?

Travel + Work Grind Mode
Monthly Update – May 2025

Story
May was a mixed bag — two apps published, but only one took off. My first app was kind of a mess at launch. I rushed the icon, botched the keyword research, and basically learned the hard way that a bad start hurts. I had to redo the whole thing from scratch.

The second app? It’s actually flying on its own. I built it ASO-first — found a niche with only one competitor, scraped all its reviews, asked ChatGPT what people really wanted, and added that to my version with better UI. It’s getting traction with zero marketing so far.

Meanwhile, I’m in Asia living the digital nomad dream — working random hours from coffee shops or hostels. Most of my energy now is going into marketing the first app since it's IAP-focused.

Started early work on my third app. It’s gonna be ASO + SEO based, so I’ll be pairing it with a site from day one. It's complex, so I’ll launch with just one strong feature and stack more as I go.

What I Did
- Published two apps (one flopped, one growing through ASO alone).
- Rebuilt the first app with better visuals + keywords.
- Researched and validated third app idea — started slow dev.
- Continued nomad travel across Asia, still working on the move.

This Month's Plan
- Focus 100% on marketing my IAP-based app.
- Parking some SaaS ideas — will revisit later to avoid overload.

️ Notes
- The internet’s shifting fast.
I’m starting to care less about building perfect branded SaaS and more about mass-producing smart, weird tools fast. AI makes that easy — clone what works, brand it, ship it.
Speed > Originality (sometimes).

Quote:
"The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now."

Mus4shi said:

Travel + Work Grind Mode
Monthly Update – May 2025

Story
May was a mixed bag — two apps published, but only one took off. My first app was kind of a mess at launch. I rushed the icon, botched the keyword research, and basically learned the hard way that a bad start hurts. I had to redo the whole thing from scratch.

The second app? It’s actually flying on its own. I built it ASO-first — found a niche with only one competitor, scraped all its reviews, asked ChatGPT what people really wanted, and added that to my version with better UI. It’s getting traction with zero marketing so far.

Meanwhile, I’m in Asia living the digital nomad dream — working random hours from coffee shops or hostels. Most of my energy now is going into marketing the first app since it's IAP-focused.

Started early work on my third app. It’s gonna be ASO + SEO based, so I’ll be pairing it with a site from day one. It's complex, so I’ll launch with just one strong feature and stack more as I go.

What I Did
- Published two apps (one flopped, one growing through ASO alone).
- Rebuilt the first app with better visuals + keywords.
- Researched and validated third app idea — started slow dev.
- Continued nomad travel across Asia, still working on the move.

This Month's Plan
- Focus 100% on marketing my IAP-based app.
- Parking some SaaS ideas — will revisit later to avoid overload.

️ Notes
- The internet’s shifting fast.
I’m starting to care less about building perfect branded SaaS and more about mass-producing smart, weird tools fast. AI makes that easy — clone what works, brand it, ship it.
Speed > Originality (sometimes).

Quote:
"The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now."

Click to expand...

IS IT OP APPSTORE OR ANDROID?

Massive respect for taking the app route it’s not easy, but the upside is huge. Looking forward to seeing how your empire grows. Definitely following this journey

mrgeorge said:

IS IT OP APPSTORE OR ANDROID?

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just APPSTORE , doing some android but it's just pain for the moment because of google

Travel + Digital Nomad Reset
September Update – September Week 3 2025

Story
The past 5 months were all about travel. I went around the world, met a ton of people, and connected with digital nomads who gave me a lot of inspiration and perspective. That trip really recharged me and made me more passionate about building.

I launched two apps during this period. One failed right away. People subscribed but canceled almost instantly. I realized the niche was too competitive and dominated by big brands with features I didn’t want to invest time or money into building. Still, it was a solid lesson.
I also started posting on X and LinkedIn to build a bit of presence and pre-market my projects. These days I don’t focus on apps alone. Any app I make should come with a website and SEO push. One of my sites is already ranking and bringing in traffic, and once it reaches 200 daily users I’ll start monetizing.

I changed how I plan my weeks too. Monday is for research and brainstorming, the rest of the week is building. I keep it simple now: build an MVP, release it, check if there’s traffic, then go back and improve the design and features later.

I’m still making some money from old apps, around $1083 from ads and $400 from IAP last month. But the income is dropping and those apps aren’t completely safe, so I don’t want to depend on them. That’s why I’m shifting everything to 100% legal projects. I also don’t fully trust iOS long term, so I’m putting more effort into websites where traffic compounds.

I’ve stopped decompiling games completely. Last time I spent around $500 to decompile and code five games, but I wasted almost a month and a half just trying to get them approved on iOS. I realized that niche doesn’t work well for iOS, and even though it’s fine for Google Play, these days Google is a nightmare if you don’t want your account terminated. It felt like wasted energy, so I’ve dropped that path entirely. Now I’m focused on just vibe-coding through my big idea list one by one.

What I Did

[+] Traveled worldwide, met digital nomads, gained perspective and motivation.
[+] Built and launched 2 apps (1 failed fast — learned lessons on niche/competition).
[+] Started X + LinkedIn accounts to build public presence.
[+] Launched SEO-focused website that’s already getting traction.
[+] Reorganized weekly workflow (Monday = research/ideas, rest = building).
[+] Earned \~\$1.4K from old apps (ads + IAP), but acknowledged risk of relying on them.
[+] Stopped game decompiling, shifted focus to AI-powered app & website building.

Next Month’s Plan

[+] Publish 2 apps and 2 websites before the end of September.
[+] Form an LLC for Stripe integration on my websites.

️Notes

[+] Fast MVP → test traffic → iterate is now the formula.
[+] SEO + websites are becoming my main long-term bet.
[+] The shift from grey-area apps to fully legal projects is necessary for future-proofing.

Quote:

"Don’t cling to a sinking ship. Build new vessels and sail faster."

Empire goals — $10K/month from apps is a beast of a journey.

What countries and cities did you visit? On a limited budget? I'm thinking about starting my digital nomad journey.

Nicololo said:

What countries and cities did you visit? On a limited budget? I'm thinking about starting my digital nomad journey.

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To be honest, I didn’t really care about budgeting — I was just living my life normally. The only thing I budgeted for for was staying in hostels, because I wanted to meet people.
As for the countries I visited: China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

blackengine said:

this is cool, i'm following. Btw how do you manintain 11 google developer accounts?

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Some people have hundreds of console developer accounts

Its really interesting, i wish you very good luck !

rayenkassebi said:

Its really interesting, i wish you very good luck !

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I usually work for them by providing them accounts,you just need to have alot of unique virtual proxies,this way the account remains safe