Juno · B2C · YouTube app for Vision Pro
Build the YouTube app YouTube skipped for Vision Pro, in two weeks, for launch day
Still earns about $100 on some days months after launch
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What they did
A week before Apple Vision Pro launched, YouTube said it would not ship an app. He reused Apollo's YouTube-embed code (YouTube's documented iframe embed player), styled it to look native to visionOS, and built it in one to two weeks for launch day. Priced at $5 one-time, reasoning that owners of a $3,000 headset can afford it. Approval came the night before launch.
What happened
Sales spiked at Vision Pro launch and each country launch and never went to zero; about $100/day some days.
- Stage
- launch
- Effort
- One to two weeks of solo work
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · The Advantages of Working On an App You Care About — Christian Selig, Apollo“I think like the week before the Vision Pro came out, YouTube was like, "Eh, we're not going to do it." And I was like, "Oh, I have all this like code from Apollo for handling like YouTube embeds that I could probably like spin off into an app really quickly."”
“That seems like if you've paid three grand for a headset, like you can afford five bucks.”
“It still makes like, you know, like 100 bucks a day some days.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Apollo: Post an early beta in a popular subreddit, then launch to the waiting crowdBeta filled up; lots of launch-day downloads and paid upgrades, profitable from day one
- Apollo: Build each month whatever your app's subreddit complains about mostFounder says it shaped the app and worked well for about 9 years; no numbers
- Apollo: Turn down popular feature requests by explaining why, not just saying noUsers mostly agreed once they heard the reasons
- Apollo: Charge the same $2.99 one-time price as the main rival appProfitable from day one, but founder calls the price too low in hindsight
- Apollo: Raise the lifetime price from $19.99 to $30-40Take rate didn't change at all
- Apollo: Live cheaply with roommates and build full-time on savings until a set dateMade it to a launch that paid from day one; savings almost gone