Liftbear · B2C · workout tracker app
Keep adding features and try ASO, Instagram and Search Ads on a flat app
About $100 total revenue in six months; dropped the app
Failedfeature-developmentasoapple-search-adspaid-social
What they did
After the quiet launch, kept building because he used the app daily: statistics, new exercise types. Alongside, optimized the store listing (ASO), tried Instagram marketing/ads and Apple Search Ads. Ran this for about six months.
What happened
The app went nowhere: roughly $100 of revenue in total over six months. He stopped and started a new app.
- Stage
- Launch (post-launch)
- Effort
- About six months; spend on Instagram and Search Ads not given
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · From Corporate Web Developer to Full-Time Indie Hacker — Sebastian Röhl, HabitKit“So I added cool stuff like statistics and new exercise types and stuff like that.”
“I also tried to optimize the store listing, doing some ASO, tried to do some marketing on Instagram, and I even tried Apple Search Ads, but the app wasn't going anywhere, actually.”
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More from this episode
- Liftbear: Quit your job for exactly 12 months on savings; go back if you can't live off itMissed the bar; went back to the old job with a raise, and the app took off later
- Liftbear: Build a workout tracker for yourself in 2 months and ship itAbout 100 downloads in week one, then about 10 a week
- HabitKit: Drop the app that isn't growing and build a new one in 2 monthsNew app's first month beat the old app's six months combined
- HabitKit: Post a screenshot of your app's main screen on Twitter before launch800 likes, far above his usual posts; took it as a sign the app would beat the first
- HabitKit: Share your app's progress and revenue publicly on X and LinkedInFounder calls it one of his best decisions; downside is copycats; no numbers
- HabitKit: Go back to your job four days a week and keep Fridays for the appApp took off two months later; went full-time again within about six months
- HabitKit: Get the store listing basics right and let search rankings bring usersTop 5 for a big keyword; 120K downloads and $51K in 2023, $110K by May 2024
- HabitKit: Charge $0.99 a month, $6 a year or $15 for lifeNever tested; hosts bet doubling would roughly double revenue; price test planned
- Raise a niche utility's price from $5 to $20 a monthNo change in downloads after a 4x price rise
- HabitKit: Ask Apple to feature your app using its request formNever got featured