7 ms·

I Made My First Sale and Made It to #7 on the App Store

36 points by murph37 6y ago

murph37 6y ago
After a year of being free on the iOS app store, my app Dark Hacker News has received some positive reviews and maintained a 5-star rating. About a month and a half ago, I decided to make Dark Hacker News a paid app at $1.99. I felt at this point it had enough features and I've never had a paid app on the app store so I decided to just go for it! In the first month and a half as a paid app, its been able to generate $42 in sales! I've never made money off of an app I've built so its been awesome to see those sales come in. At one point in June I even made it to #7 on the list of top paid news apps!!! (I'm not exactly sure how the app store algorithm works, but hey I'll take it) Up to this point I really haven't done any marketing so I'm considering getting the word out there to see how it would impact sales. All in all, it's been awesome to make my first real dollars as an Indie Developer!
- cjsturgess 6y ago
  Congratulations! I just started using DHN and I love it. The bookmarks feature is awesome. Thanks for all your hard work!
  - murph37 6y ago
    Awesome!! The bookmarks folder feature was one I really wanted to get into the app so I'm happy to hear you like it! Let me know if you have any features you'd like to see added and I can add them to my backlog.
- magicnubs 6y ago
  > In the first month and a half as a paid app, its been able to generate $42 in sales! > At one point in June I even made it to #7 on the list of top paid news apps!!! So being #7 for sales in a whole category on Apple's all store (famously the easier market in which to make money as compared to Android) means only $42 in sales? Are the economics of making apps really this tough? Maybe that's why everyone just tries to make a game app? Is that the only way to make money?
  - Someone 6y ago
    I would guess many news Apps are free, with subscriptions used to make money. Also, looking at the list on my iPad, I‘m sure the top lists aren’t global. They seem local by country (and might even be personalized, but that would surprise me)
    - murph37 6y ago
      That was my thought too. The listing have to be more localized or personalized for a small indie app like mine to climb the charts for a day. I'd like to talk with someone who has more experience with the app store rankings and algorithms that drive them. I'd be curious to know all of the factors that are in play.
    - murph37 6y ago
      Can you check the top paid news chart now? Thanks to the HN support we are back up to #8! I'd be curious to see if it is at #8 for other people as well.
      - skoskie 6y ago
        #8 here.
      - Someone 6y ago
        It isn’t in the top 50 in paid news apps (checked iPhone and iPad)
        murph37 6y ago
        That's interesting. It's back down to #11 for me now. So it seems then like it is personalized to user to some extent.
  - murph37 6y ago
    Yeah I'm really not sure on this one. I was only at #7 for a brief moment during a weekday. I have to imagine the apps that are consistently high in the rankings are making much more on a daily basis. On my post on IndieHackers I included screenshots showing the #7 ranking (https://www.indiehackers.com/post/i-made-my-1st-sale-and-made-it-to-7-on-the-app-store-de9321cf41 https://www.indiehackers.com/post/i-made-my-1st-sale-and-mad...).
- brian_herman 6y ago
  Does your app make the code blocks readable in the comments? I would buy it just for that on mobile.
  - murph37 6y ago
    That's a great question. Let me try and find an example post to see if it does. If it does not, I'll definitely add that to my backlog because I'd love to have that feature as well.
bobobob420 6y ago
Great work mate!
- murph37 6y ago
  Thank you! It was definitely a fun one to build and learn React Native along the way.
geoah 6y ago
That’s amazing work, do keep it up. I wonder how much difference it would make to have a free trial for a week. I don’t mind paying for apps, but I also don’t like paying for something I’m not sure I’ll be using. Especially when I’m already using an app with (from what I can tell at least) pretty much the same features. Once I try it it’s possible I’ll change my mind and actually buy it.
- z3t4 6y ago
  Also when you have made the decision to use something the price really dont matter if its one off payment.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  It's only $2.
  - thatoneuser 6y ago
    And people on a forum largely dedicated to struggling devs trying to start a business are asking for a free trial over that $2. There's something to reflect on here...
  - caseyf7 6y ago
    Agreed. The price is fine. I think the sinister looking icon will be a bigger barrier than the price.
    - murph37 6y ago
      Yeah I've thought about simplifying the icon or at least making it look less sinister. Maybe take away the red eyes or something. Appreciate the feedback!
      - caseyf7 6y ago
        Otherwise, it’s amazing. Exactly what I was looking for and the folders are something I didn’t know I needed but love.
hilti 6y ago
Great work! I'm going to buy it.
- hilti 6y ago
  Done :-) Would you mind sharing some tech insights (Swift or Objective-C) ... I love reading those stories.
  - murph37 6y ago
    Sure thing! My stack for Dark Hacker news is React Native and Expo. Since I've primarily been a web developer and have some React Web experience, React Native made the transition to mobile development a lot more seamless. From building this a year ago to today, I've learned so much more about React/React Native and in general my technical skills have gotten much better. There are definitely things I can refactor to make more performant that I'd like to do. I'd also like to make a pass through the code to convert any remaining React class components to functional components using React hooks. I'd also like to update to React Navigation 5 which recently released. Let me know if you have any technical questions about some aspects of the app and I'd be happy to answer them. Thanks again for the download!
    - halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
      Are you using the managed or bare workflow? I just ejected because IPA size was massive (around 180mbs). Ejecting reduced IPA to around 90mbs and actual app store size was around 9mbs.
      - murph37 6y ago
        I'm still using the managed workflow for the time being. I've considered ejecting to the bare workflow, but haven't made the jump quite yet. Wow that's awesome! At the very least I should try ejecting to see how slim I could get the app size.
- murph37 6y ago
  Awesome! Thank you so much for the support!
oavu 6y ago
How did you do screenshots?
- 1cvmask 6y ago
  Great question. Would also love to know that.
- murph37 6y ago
  I take my screenshots on the iOS simulator on my Macbook Pro. Then I frame them with this cool tool I found on ProductHunt called AppMockUp. (https://app-mockup.com/ https://app-mockup.com/)
  - deaconudan 6y ago
    Thanks for the shout-out <3 (I made AppMockUp). Be sure to check out the latest beta at https://beta.app-mockup.com https://beta.app-mockup.com where there are loads of new features available. Best of luck with the app, you did a great job!
  - halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
    Wow, this is great! Thanks for the link.
    - murph37 6y ago
      No problem!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
AaronNewcomer 6y ago
I’ve been using Hack for awhile. Just looked and saw there is a bunch of option now in the App Store! Does yours, or is there one that collapses threads like the reddit app? So many times I upvote and star a post on Hack because that’s what the swipe does.
- murph37 6y ago
  On Dark Hacker News you collapse threads by tapping anywhere on the comment you want to collapse and it will collapse that comment's thread. Let me know if you have any other questions!

36 points by murph37 6y ago

After a year of being free on the iOS app store, my app Dark Hacker News has received some positive reviews and maintained a 5-star rating. About a month and a half ago, I decided to make Dark Hacker News a paid app at $1.99. I felt at this point it had enough features and I've never had a paid app on the app store so I decided to just go for it! In the first month and a half as a paid app, its been able to generate $42 in sales! I've never made money off of an app I've built so its been awesome to see those sales come in. At one point in June I even made it to #7 on the list of top paid news apps!!! (I'm not exactly sure how the app store algorithm works, but hey I'll take it) Up to this point I really haven't done any marketing so I'm considering getting the word out there to see how it would impact sales. All in all, it's been awesome to make my first real dollars as an Indie Developer!

cjsturgess 6y ago
Congratulations! I just started using DHN and I love it. The bookmarks feature is awesome. Thanks for all your hard work!
- murph37 6y ago
  Awesome!! The bookmarks folder feature was one I really wanted to get into the app so I'm happy to hear you like it! Let me know if you have any features you'd like to see added and I can add them to my backlog.
magicnubs 6y ago
> In the first month and a half as a paid app, its been able to generate $42 in sales! > At one point in June I even made it to #7 on the list of top paid news apps!!! So being #7 for sales in a whole category on Apple's all store (famously the easier market in which to make money as compared to Android) means only $42 in sales? Are the economics of making apps really this tough? Maybe that's why everyone just tries to make a game app? Is that the only way to make money?
- Someone 6y ago
  I would guess many news Apps are free, with subscriptions used to make money. Also, looking at the list on my iPad, I‘m sure the top lists aren’t global. They seem local by country (and might even be personalized, but that would surprise me)
  - murph37 6y ago
    That was my thought too. The listing have to be more localized or personalized for a small indie app like mine to climb the charts for a day. I'd like to talk with someone who has more experience with the app store rankings and algorithms that drive them. I'd be curious to know all of the factors that are in play.
  - murph37 6y ago
    Can you check the top paid news chart now? Thanks to the HN support we are back up to #8! I'd be curious to see if it is at #8 for other people as well.
    - skoskie 6y ago
      #8 here.
    - Someone 6y ago
      It isn’t in the top 50 in paid news apps (checked iPhone and iPad)
      - murph37 6y ago
        That's interesting. It's back down to #11 for me now. So it seems then like it is personalized to user to some extent.
- murph37 6y ago
  Yeah I'm really not sure on this one. I was only at #7 for a brief moment during a weekday. I have to imagine the apps that are consistently high in the rankings are making much more on a daily basis. On my post on IndieHackers I included screenshots showing the #7 ranking (https://www.indiehackers.com/post/i-made-my-1st-sale-and-made-it-to-7-on-the-app-store-de9321cf41 https://www.indiehackers.com/post/i-made-my-1st-sale-and-mad...).
brian_herman 6y ago
Does your app make the code blocks readable in the comments? I would buy it just for that on mobile.
- murph37 6y ago
  That's a great question. Let me try and find an example post to see if it does. If it does not, I'll definitely add that to my backlog because I'd love to have that feature as well.

bobobob420 6y ago

Great work mate!

murph37 6y ago
Thank you! It was definitely a fun one to build and learn React Native along the way.

geoah 6y ago

That’s amazing work, do keep it up. I wonder how much difference it would make to have a free trial for a week. I don’t mind paying for apps, but I also don’t like paying for something I’m not sure I’ll be using. Especially when I’m already using an app with (from what I can tell at least) pretty much the same features. Once I try it it’s possible I’ll change my mind and actually buy it.

z3t4 6y ago
Also when you have made the decision to use something the price really dont matter if its one off payment.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
It's only $2.
- thatoneuser 6y ago
  And people on a forum largely dedicated to struggling devs trying to start a business are asking for a free trial over that $2. There's something to reflect on here...
- caseyf7 6y ago
  Agreed. The price is fine. I think the sinister looking icon will be a bigger barrier than the price.
  - murph37 6y ago
    Yeah I've thought about simplifying the icon or at least making it look less sinister. Maybe take away the red eyes or something. Appreciate the feedback!
    - caseyf7 6y ago
      Otherwise, it’s amazing. Exactly what I was looking for and the folders are something I didn’t know I needed but love.

hilti 6y ago

Great work! I'm going to buy it.

hilti 6y ago
Done :-) Would you mind sharing some tech insights (Swift or Objective-C) ... I love reading those stories.
- murph37 6y ago
  Sure thing! My stack for Dark Hacker news is React Native and Expo. Since I've primarily been a web developer and have some React Web experience, React Native made the transition to mobile development a lot more seamless. From building this a year ago to today, I've learned so much more about React/React Native and in general my technical skills have gotten much better. There are definitely things I can refactor to make more performant that I'd like to do. I'd also like to make a pass through the code to convert any remaining React class components to functional components using React hooks. I'd also like to update to React Navigation 5 which recently released. Let me know if you have any technical questions about some aspects of the app and I'd be happy to answer them. Thanks again for the download!
  - halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
    Are you using the managed or bare workflow? I just ejected because IPA size was massive (around 180mbs). Ejecting reduced IPA to around 90mbs and actual app store size was around 9mbs.
    - murph37 6y ago
      I'm still using the managed workflow for the time being. I've considered ejecting to the bare workflow, but haven't made the jump quite yet. Wow that's awesome! At the very least I should try ejecting to see how slim I could get the app size.
murph37 6y ago
Awesome! Thank you so much for the support!

oavu 6y ago

How did you do screenshots?

1cvmask 6y ago
Great question. Would also love to know that.
murph37 6y ago
I take my screenshots on the iOS simulator on my Macbook Pro. Then I frame them with this cool tool I found on ProductHunt called AppMockUp. (https://app-mockup.com/ https://app-mockup.com/)
- deaconudan 6y ago
  Thanks for the shout-out <3 (I made AppMockUp). Be sure to check out the latest beta at https://beta.app-mockup.com https://beta.app-mockup.com where there are loads of new features available. Best of luck with the app, you did a great job!
- halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
  Wow, this is great! Thanks for the link.
  - murph37 6y ago
    No problem!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

AaronNewcomer 6y ago

I’ve been using Hack for awhile. Just looked and saw there is a bunch of option now in the App Store! Does yours, or is there one that collapses threads like the reddit app? So many times I upvote and star a post on Hack because that’s what the swipe does.

murph37 6y ago
On Dark Hacker News you collapse threads by tapping anywhere on the comment you want to collapse and it will collapse that comment's thread. Let me know if you have any other questions!