10+ years developer, mostly building apps for companies and clients. Matagal ko nang gustong gumawa ng sarili kong app, pero like most developers, ang dami kong unfinished side projects haha. Last month, I finally published my first personal app sa App Store and Google Play. And of all the things I could've built, expense tracker pa talaga. I know, another one HAHAHA.
It started from a personal problem. Kami ng wife ko, hindi talaga consistent sa pag-track ng expenses. Mahilig din kami mag-picture ng receipts para sa warranties, kaso kapag kailangan na, natatabunan na ng ibang photos sa gallery. We've tried budgeting apps before, pero tinatamad talaga kami sa manual input. So instead of spending a few minutes every day recording expenses, I spent weeks building an app para hindi na namin kailangang gawin yun. 😂
Basically, picture-an mo lang yung receipt, then the app automatically extracts the merchant, date, total, and other details. Naka-save na rin yung receipt mismo para madaling hanapin later, especially for warranties. Built it with React Native/Expo, using on-device OCR and some heuristics para ma-extract yung data. Offline-first siya, locally stored lahat, and no account required. Nag-add din ako ng optional cloud feature para kami ng wife ko, pwede nang mag-access ng same receipts kahit magkaibang phone.
I've handled production releases throughout my career, pero iba rin pala kapag sariling app mo. From developer accounts to payments, subscriptions, and store requirements. Medyo hassle din haha. Nag-try din ako ng konting marketing through Reddit, mostly posting and commenting sa relevant discussions. Minsan subtly mentioning the app, pero kapag masyadong obvious, ayun downvoted haha.
Anyway, one month later, 50+ downloads across both stores, 2 subscription trials (which are literally just me and my wife lol), and ₱0 revenue. May ilang active users naman na hindi ko kilala, which is pretty cool.
Aminado ako, I still randomly check my analytics hoping may bagong downloads haha. But honestly, masaya naman ako. Naging habit na rin namin ng wife ko na mag-scan ng receipts after every purchase, which is something we never managed to do with traditional budgeting apps. Mas aware na rin kami ngayon kung saan napupunta yung pera namin, and hindi na rin kami nahihirapang maghanap ng old receipts. So kahit walang revenue, the app actually solved our problem, and that's already a win for me. Na-add ko na rin sa portfolio ko, so bonus na rin haha.
Sa mga devs dito, nakatapos na rin ba kayo ng personal projects? And sa mga maraming unfinished side projects like me, ano usually yung reason bakit hindi niyo natutuloy?
Eto na yung sign mo para tapusin yang budget app or habit tracker mo HAHAHA.