From Weekend Project to $61K

Named the app 'Value Study', the existing name of a painting technique taught in art lessons, courses and books worldwide. Anyone researching the technique they were taught finds the app. The app does exactly what the name says. Downside: the name is generic and not brandable, so others can use the same name.

Focused ASO on keywords tied to what users actually need rather than broad art terms: 'value study' plus synonyms such as 'Notan' (Japanese term for the black-and-white version). Ranked for over 1,000 keywords, mostly not high, many tiny terms that hardly anyone searches but convert well. Deliberately avoids reaching people who do not need the tool, since most one-star reviews came from people who did not understand what it was.

Until 2025 the listing used colorful rotated-device screenshots whose first screen was the app menu; the actual value study only appeared on the fourth screenshot. Replaced them with screenshots that make clear what the app is for from the first one. Founder is still not happy and has more changes planned from the App Masters audit.

The app fits the way art lessons work, so teachers who like it give it to their students; a teacher handing it to 30 people at once is common. Professional artists made videos recommending it to their students and audiences (one YouTube video reached hundreds of thousands) back when it had two buttons. Founder found art groups using printed screenshots of the app and added a print function. He tried advertising where such groups gather but struggled; growth came organically.

After a school in Germany approached him, the founder contacted schools offering licenses and built a separate schools-only app on the App Store, because Apple's education program offers no way to license in-app purchases (subscriptions or lifetime), only paid apps.

Watches how users hack the app: a user emailed his work using an Amazon hardware presser tapping the iPad to highlight values for projecting on his canvas, so the founder built a software blink mode; finding a class using printed screenshots of the app led to a print function.

Removed a 'Combine values' feature that many users said they didn't understand, after a histogram feature could do the same. Many users then wrote in that they used it: printmakers need different layers at different times. Lesson drawn: track feature usage before removing anything.

The last onboarding page before the paywall asks 'Where did you hear about Value Study?'. It is optional and includes an 'Other' free-text field, which the founder prefers because people name specific art teachers, classes, online courses and books (one was a German book whose author he contacted to confirm she meant the app). Used to track down the courses and people recommending the app.

Onboarding asks what mediums the user works in (paint, drawing, etc.) before the attribution question and paywall, to make the app feel tailored; the answers could later set default tools, which he doesn't do yet.

Added quite a few more languages last year on top of a few existing ones, and ran some Apple Search Ads in them. Dutch unexpectedly became a common language; Spanish is high because of a Colombian influencer. Users in these languages are paying.

After about 3 years completely free, launched a Pro version as a lifetime in-app purchase unlocking features such as shape simplification. Most users stayed on the free tier and so never got the key features.

Afraid that removing the free tier would bring bad reviews, the founder told users 3 months in advance that it would go, and that anyone buying the lifetime purchase before then would be grandfathered in (he expected to go subscription-only at the time).

Following a friend's advice ('Charge everyone £1... just keep it really cheap and charge everyone'), removed the free tier about 3 months later: all features locked behind a hard paywall at the end of onboarding, with a cheap yearly subscription (~$7-8/year per host) and a lifetime purchase (~$18). Conversion rate fell as more users arrived, but paying users and revenue rose.

Kept the lifetime purchase next to the yearly subscription instead of going subscription-only as originally planned. Android users lean more toward lifetime than subscription.

Android launched in December 2025 with the iOS hard paywall and got very bad reviews; Android users hate hard paywalls, pay less and prefer lifetime purchases. Brought back a free tier as a soft-paywall trial. Kept Android because many artists use an Android phone with an iPad and value cross-platform access. Considering removing the soft paywall again now reviews are back up, or keeping a hard paywall on iOS only.

The solo founder replies to every support email and fixes reported bugs as soon as possible. Users learn it is one person, not a faceless company or AI, and mention him by name in reviews. After the influencer wave of complaints he fixed each person's problem and replied individually. He also advises replying to every App Store review publicly.

Found influencers on Collabstr; most were too expensive or a poor fit. Picked a Colombia-based creator with a million followers who was cheap for his reach, assuming the Spanish translation was enough. The audience was mostly on Android, where the translations didn't work and many phones had problems; comments across platforms complained it didn't work or wasn't free. Founder fixed every problem and replied to each person. A few other Collabstr creators also worked well.

Placed an advert in the main magazine for painters in the UK.

Dabbled in Meta ads after the App Masters audit suggested more Meta.

Added a tip jar in the settings menu; tippers get nothing in return.

After the audit suggested raising prices, tested the suggested ~$29.99/$39.99 price, then brought it down halfway. Has run price A/B tests, some US-only, using a tool (transcribed 'Sub keep') that sets prices per country easily.

Host's own niche app ranks number one for about 10 terms all related to the app. Host looks for niches with few competing apps and keywords around 30 popularity in ASO tools. Now looking for ways to reach people beyond search.

A niche-app client of App Masters that had done well organically added Meta ads and scaled; host says Meta takes time to work.

A live-chat viewer reported raising the yearly plan from $29.99 to $49.99.

Host's recommended flow, tested for an App Masters client: before an unchanged paywall, add two or three screens: an inviting benefit headline (e.g. 'Level up your painting game'), the features users already say they love, and social proof/testimonials, with a Continue button, then the paywall. The alternative version tested did not work; this one won.