[Journey] Building an iOS & Android App Empire

What many won't understand is that in the App and Google Play Store, every app is the same. The users don't care who developed the app. They only care about what the app can bring them.

It doesn't matter if you are Konami, Voodoo, Square Enix, Meta, Google or EA. Companies that have been around for decades. I once outranked Nintendo. Nintendo was founded in 1889 and has thousands of employees worldwide.

Only the quality of your app matters, the presentation (screenshots), how you monetize the app, what value you offer, and emotions matter.

In an ever-changing world, full of superficial people, which mostly have a certain goal (get rich quickly, hook up, become famous, etc.) can you give them what they want, what they desire? Can you understand their desire? Can you actually understand how and when they are willing to pay for something?

Times have changed significantly. Even one person can compete with a million-dollar company if his app/product is good enough. ChatGPT has changed the game for everyone. You don't need to hire a team of developers anymore and spend 50k to develop or improve an app. You can do it all by yourself, without any risks. Just you, your discipline, creativity, and will to make it.

I started this thread with ZERO coding skills. Barely knowing anything. I didn't even know Android and iOS apps have different program languages. I remember sitting at home, opening a playlist on YouTube on how to create iOS apps and I closed the video after 10 minutes thinking I would never be able to publish a single fucking app. I thought it would take months of learning it.

Don't waste time. Don't overthink. Just start.
true insperation , thank you for the good sharing , thins journey is bleu print that i come to it from time to time how are the dialy , keep the husling , did ever before tried cpa offers with your apps ?
 
true insperation , thank you for the good sharing , thins journey is bleu print that i come to it from time to time how are the dialy , keep the husling , did ever before tried cpa offers with your apps ?
Yes, I actually did. I also wrote a part about this in my ebook.
 
Do you have any idea why some apps get removed from google play due to copyright infringement, but others stay?
We developed whatsapp bot a while ago with friend of mine, I helped him with the server side and he did the Android development side, but Google removed the app because WhatsApp claimed copyright.
When we contacted the agency that reported us, they said we shouldn't use the word WhatsApp in the title or subtitle.

For example, this app is still there: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tkstudio.autoresponderforwa

but ours got removed, even though our app also has a similar name: ChatBot for WhatsApp, we also in the description clarified that we're not affiliated with WhatsApp.

Thank you so much for being helpful.
 
Do you have any idea why some apps get removed from google play due to copyright infringement, but others stay?
We developed whatsapp bot a while ago with friend of mine, I helped him with the server side and he did the Android development side, but Google removed the app because WhatsApp claimed copyright.
When we contacted the agency that reported us, they said we shouldn't use the word WhatsApp in the title or subtitle.

For example, this app is still there: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tkstudio.autoresponderforwa

but ours got removed, even though our app also has a similar name: ChatBot for WhatsApp, we also in the description clarified that we're not affiliated with WhatsApp.

Thank you so much for being helpful.
There could be several reasons, but this is something what I raged about a lot earlier in this thread...there is definitely some kind of double standard.

Before I also got an app removed, then I sent them an appeal with a list of 20 apps which were similar to mine. Their response? "We don't care about other apps. You can report them if you want."

My guess is:

- competitors mass reported/flagged your app
- Google algorithm/bot flagged your app
- its rigged and the app you show above actually belongs to a Google employee

Google literally doesn't give a solitary fuck, even if they did something which clearly doesn't make sense. Another big problem is also: They will tell you reason X why they removed your app, but actually they removed it for reason Y...
 
Google literally doesn't give a solitary fuck, even if they did something which clearly doesn't make sense. Another big problem is also: They will tell you reason X why they removed your app, but actually they removed it for reason Y...
That's what happens in the space, it's like Google being classist to new devs lol, they don't respect until you make it through and now boom they're your friends.
- its rigged and the app you show above actually belongs to a Google employee
Now that's very interesting, it's also worth mentioning that, this is the agency that reported us to Google: appdetex(.)com
These obese useless fuckers sit all day long doing nothing but looking at other people's work and how to ruin it.
They said we shouldn't use the word "WhatsApp" but others are using it.

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That's what happens in the space, it's like Google being classist to new devs lol, they don't respect until you make it through and now boom they're your friends.
This is completely true with Google from my experience. They just disabled our AdMob account a week ago with no reason besides some bullshit without going into details. Our account was new and just got verified this month(received the PIN) and our traffic has increased by a lot this month, we had around 6-7k EUR mtd and suddenly banned. I appealed the decision but I don't have any expectations and will most likely continue only with IAP's from now on.
 
This is completely true with Google from my experience. They just disabled our AdMob account a week ago with no reason besides some bullshit without going into details. Our account was new and just got verified this month(received the PIN) and our traffic has increased by a lot this month, we had around 6-7k EUR mtd and suddenly banned. I appealed the decision but I don't have any expectations and will most likely continue only with IAP's from now on.
Sorry for you my friend, IAP is the way to go, my business is actually 100% IAP based, we don't even have adMob account, and we're now trying to move to IOS dev as much as possible, because google is unpredictable and they can screw you at any given time and you can do nothing about it.
 
This is completely true with Google from my experience. They just disabled our AdMob account a week ago with no reason besides some bullshit without going into details. Our account was new and just got verified this month(received the PIN) and our traffic has increased by a lot this month, we had around 6-7k EUR mtd and suddenly banned. I appealed the decision but I don't have any expectations and will most likely continue only with IAP's from now on.
I think mediation is safer and there are other networks as well.
 
I think mediation is safer and there are other networks as well.
I had mediation through AdMob but the entire account was disabled. The other ad networks have horrible ads for user experience, even worse than admob, so I will just remove them completely, this way the quality of the app will be improved and less negative reviews.
 
That's what happens in the space, it's like Google being classist to new devs lol, they don't respect until you make it through and now boom they're your friends.

Now that's very interesting, it's also worth mentioning that, this is the agency that reported us to Google: appdetex(.)com
These obese useless fuckers sit all day long doing nothing but looking at other people's work and how to ruin it.
They said we shouldn't use the word "WhatsApp" but others are using it.

View attachment 252720
Yeah, this stuff is really ridiculous. Earlier in the thread I mentioned how some Thai guys kept taking down my apps and then I had to unpublish all my apps from Thailand and some other countries and then the reporting/suspensions stopped.

Someone should teach these clowns a lesson, messing with Indie developers...

This is completely true with Google from my experience. They just disabled our AdMob account a week ago with no reason besides some bullshit without going into details. Our account was new and just got verified this month(received the PIN) and our traffic has increased by a lot this month, we had around 6-7k EUR mtd and suddenly banned. I appealed the decision but I don't have any expectations and will most likely continue only with IAP's from now on.
Sorry for your loss. I know how it feels. Google suspended my AdMob account with 4-5k USD in it just hours before they would normally pay me. They are absolute criminals.

But if you are from Europe/EU...you can sue them and you actually have really good chances to win. I even believe they changed the regulations so Google still HAS TO pay you. For me, I was unlucky and I lost the entire money.

Sorry for you my friend, IAP is the way to go, my business is actually 100% IAP based, we don't even have adMob account, and we're now trying to move to IOS dev as much as possible, because google is unpredictable and they can screw you at any given time and you can do nothing about it.
IAPs, specifically subscriptions are really the way to go. Earns you so much more money. Also, there are just so many people who completely forget to cancel a subscription. You will just keep earning for weeks from a single user. But for users to make a subscription, you will need a really useful and high quality app...thats the main obstacle.

I think mediation is safer and there are other networks as well.
Yes, definitely. And it gives you full control over the Ad network. But it really depends on the scale of the app. With 5-6k€ per month it is definitely worth it to switch to Appodeal, will also earn you more money.

I had mediation through AdMob but the entire account was disabled. The other ad networks have horrible ads for user experience, even worse than admob, so I will just remove them completely, this way the quality of the app will be improved and less negative reviews.
I would use AppLovin MAX or Appodeal. I think ads can be really useful, especially when you integrate Rewarded Ads (they got the highest eCPM). Also when you offer IAP you can use the ads as a reason for the people to upgrade to the premium version. Depending on the app I am not a fan of interstitial/banner ads as well.
 
Thai guys kept taking down my apps and then I had to unpublish all my apps from Thailand and some other countries and then the reporting/suspensions stopped.
This is an interesting point, I think we need to exclude supporting certain countries, also would be great if you can list the problematic countries in your experience, if you remember them of course.
But if you are from Europe/EU...you can sue them and you actually have really good chances to win. I even believe they changed the regulations so Google still HAS TO pay you. For me, I was unlucky and I lost the entire money.
Yeah Europe actually cares about its citizens, the U.S is a complete mess and it's heaven for criminal corporates

Google suspended my AdMob account with 4-5k USD in it just hours before they would normally pay me
Now imagine how stressful it's to do business with Google, you constantly worry that some obese liberal would take down your app in a matter of seconds.

Our app also got taken down the moment it got traction, we were planning on lots of things, and my buddy got super depressed after that incident :D , but we did list it back without the keyword WhatsApp and that just ruined the app.
 
This is an interesting point, I think we need to exclude supporting certain countries, also would be great if you can list the problematic countries in your experience, if you remember them of course.
I think tier 3 countries get more downloads but have extremely low ecpm (<$1). But I keep them enabled so that I get more downloads and adds to the total download count and may give it some traction in other markets. This may also help in aso I think. Anyway if there is a risk involved I would also like to know the list of problematic countries.
 
Brother best of luck & nice to meet you.
 
I had mediation through AdMob but the entire account was disabled. The other ad networks have horrible ads for user experience, even worse than admob, so I will just remove them completely, this way the quality of the app will be improved and less negative reviews.
I found FB ads to be at par with admob but now they have stopped waterfall model and only enabled thru mediation. However, the ads only work on devices that have FB account, so reach is limited.
 
I think tier 3 countries get more downloads but have extremely low ecpm (<$1). But I keep them enabled so that I get more downloads and adds to the total download count and may give it some traction in other markets. This may also help in aso I think. Anyway if there is a risk involved I would also like to know the list of problematic countries.
I think it depends on the niche. As long as you are not in the Top 10 and get all the traffic, it won't be a problem. But as soon as you make it to the top, boy...your competitors will try everything they can to get rid of you. They will download your app and try to find any reason to report you.

Here is something ridiculous what happened to me:

A guy from Thailand reported my app and Google actually sent me the screenshot he reported me with. And it was because a banner ad was about a gambling website. Google suspended my app. I could have easily change the settings on AdMob to not show 18+/gambling ads, but nope, Google just suspended the entire app.

But here is the thing....:

Everyone of us know "big data". You can basically search for a keyword (lets say Gambling websites) on Google, on Youtube, or visit certain websites....and then guess what will happen? Google Ads will show you ads from gambling websites. So you can actually influence what ads are being shown to you. My guess is: This guy (whoever reported me) knew this...visited several gambling websites, searched for Gambling on Google, etc. and then he opened my app and there was this gambling banner ad showing up.

Google is a mess. There is no critical thinking. They don't have any tolerance. They will just wipe you out, suspend your app or accounts without any reason.
 
I think it depends on the niche. As long as you are not in the Top 10 and get all the traffic, it won't be a problem. But as soon as you make it to the top, boy...your competitors will try everything they can to get rid of you. They will download your app and try to find any reason to report you.

Here is something ridiculous what happened to me:

A guy from Thailand reported my app and Google actually sent me the screenshot he reported me with. And it was because a banner ad was about a gambling website. Google suspended my app. I could have easily change the settings on AdMob to not show 18+/gambling ads, but nope, Google just suspended the entire app.

But here is the thing....:

Everyone of us know "big data". You can basically search for a keyword (lets say Gambling websites) on Google, on Youtube, or visit certain websites....and then guess what will happen? Google Ads will show you ads from gambling websites. So you can actually influence what ads are being shown to you. My guess is: This guy (whoever reported me) knew this...visited several gambling websites, searched for Gambling on Google, etc. and then he opened my app and there was this gambling banner ad showing up.

Google is a mess. There is no critical thinking. They don't have any tolerance. They will just wipe you out, suspend your app or accounts without any reason.
Its a sad reality....better to stay under the radar....one way I can think of is maybe avoid very competitive niches where downloads can exceed >500/day....or disable all tier 3 countries.
 
I am adult IT student, doing shitwork 40h a week that makes me sick and studying flutter and react native on free time. I've read every single page of your thread already and going to buy your book if I get enough money one day. Thank you @nakamura, you really are inspiring for someone who wants to learn mobile.
 
I am adult IT student, doing shitwork 40h a week that makes me sick and studying flutter and react native on free time. I've read every single page of your thread already and going to buy your book if I get enough money one day. Thank you @nakamura, you really are inspiring for someone who wants to learn mobile.
Thanks a lot for the nice words. I wish you a lot of success.
 
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