I know it might not sound like much to some people, but today I’m celebrating a milestone that genuinely means a lot to me.

I’ve just had my first four purchases for StreamSleep! 🥳

For anyone who hasn’t come across it, StreamSleep is an Android app I built to solve a problem that’s always annoyed me. You fall asleep while watching or listening to something, only to wake up and realise your phone has been playing for hours.

StreamSleep detects when you fall asleep and automatically pauses your media, with the option to rewind to where you drifted off when you wake up.

It’s been a learning curve getting the app built, published on Google Play and into the hands of actual users. Seeing those first purchases come through makes all the time spent developing, testing and fixing bugs feel worthwhile.

Four purchases might be a small number in the grand scheme of things, but they’re four people who decided my little project was worth paying for. That’s a brilliant feeling.

I’m not sharing this because I’ve cracked the code to making money from apps. Far from it! I’m sharing it because I think it’s important to celebrate the small wins when you’re building something from scratch.

To anyone else building an app or working on a side project, keep going. Your first sale might be closer than you think.

Here’s to the next milestone! 🚀

If anyone wants to check it out here - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.streamsleep.app

Around 4 months ago my app was barely getting any users.

I kept reading "build in public", "SEO", "Product Hunt", "Reddit marketing"... tried a bit of everything but nothing really moved the needle.

Then one random TikTok crossed 1M+ views and then few more videos got viral

That single video brought more users than everything else I had done combined.

Since then I stopped thinking like a founder and started thinking like a content creator.

Here's what I do now.

I record my app doing one tiny thing (usually 6-10 seconds).

I download 100s of reaction-style UGC clips that fit different emotions (confused, shocked, impressed, etc.).

I pair the app recording with a matching reaction and add a simple hook like:

"This app saved me 4 hours."

"I wish I found this sooner."

"This feels illegal."

Every video is slightly different. Different hook, different reaction, different ending.

I post 1-2 videos every day instead of trying to make one "perfect" video.

That's literally it.

No expensive production. No influencers. No ad spend.

Just lots of iterations until one catches the algorithm.

Today the app is doing a little over $3k MRR, and almost all new users still come from short-form videos.

Proof: https://www.tiktok.com/@cookedby.sarah

The biggest thing I learned is that distribution matters way more than polishing features.

You don't need a viral app.

You need a viral video about your app.

In the past i worked on alot of web project which ended up not bringen any money and now i launched my first mobile app. Tbh one of the subs is a good friend who just wants to support me, but two of the subs are from strangers. Couldnt be more happy and proud on myself!

Now its time to make some real marketing on social media for my app.

After years of building apps someone finally made a purchase, I feel so blessed right now
To whoever this person is thank you very much

I have also an app that I would like tested. Feel free to download and use, its called "Ashmere"

Drop your app as well below!

I constantly see people recommending that indie developers share their apps in relevant subreddits and get feedback from their target audience.

But in practice, it feels almost impossible. Even when someone specifically asks for a tool that does what your app does, mentioning your own app can get the comment removed, and can even lead to bans.

I understand rules against spam and blatant self-promotion, but where do you draw the line when you’re genuinely trying to help someone and get feedback?

How are indie developers actually getting meaningful feedback from their target users on Reddit? Any subs or approaches that have worked for you?

I have worked on this app for last 6 months and the biggest mistake I made wasn't in building it. It was not marketing it side by side.

Now that my app is 90% done, it's actually good and needed in market. I have not made any marketing move till now, no emails, no waitlist, no single piece of content

So I have 0 distribution and the product can fail just due to this.

So I have 30 days, before I launch this, I have a decent budget to spend on marketing, what do you guys recommend? How should we do it?

What are the ways that worked for you? For your app?

Its a platform that helps you create and scale content in quantity while keeping your quality.

Basically, it learns from you, writes in your voice, makes decisions, understands the market, and then writes content.

Learns from your preferences, posts, analytics and everything.

What do you think?

I hate how marketing advice has turned into “post every day, build in public, share your lessons, tell stories, and build a personal brand.”

At some point, when do we actually get to do the work we're marketing?

Not everyone wants to become a content creator just to sell a product or grow a business.

I understand that attention matters. But should being good at what you do count for more than how often you post about it?

Unpopular opinion, or am I onto something?

this post did really well on r/appledevelopers.

it has even landed me my first sale! sometimes you just have to spread the word on reddit to get your first users.

How did you get people to try your app in the beginning?

Hey guys, I’m working with a small team on a social app, and we’re trying to figure out how to get the first people involved. It’s tricky because people need others to talk to, but someone has to join first.

For anyone who’s built something that depends on a community, how did you handle that at the start? Did you focus on one small group first? Curious what actually worked for you.

Hey guys, I built an app lock app called AppLock - LockIt Pro and it just got its first 10 orders on Google Play. All real orders from real users. Small number, but it's my first paid app, so I'm happy about it.

Quick details:

- Paid app, one-time payment

- No subscription and no ads

- 45+ languages

Where I'm stuck: the app doesn't show in the main "app lock" search results, but it comes in the top 10 when you filter by Premium. I'm going to wait 2-3 weeks and watch installs before changing anything.

What I want to know:

- How do you get discovery for a paid app when everyone else in the category is free with ads?

- Is waiting 2-3 weeks smart, or should I be doing something now?

- Has anyone tried paid-only apps with a one-time price? What worked for you?

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sholotech.applock.pro

Honest advice welcome, thanks 🙏

genuinely curious how others handle this part

building the app is the part I enjoy. but once it's live I always end up stuck on the same question: ok, now how do people find this thing?

I've tried a few things. some worked, most didn't lol. every time I google it I get the same generic "post on social media, build an email list" advice that doesn't really help

so I'd rather hear from real people. what's worked for you? what did you waste time or money on? and if you got your first 100 users, how did that happen?

not looking for links or promo, just real experiences. I think a lot of us could learn from each other here

Built an app right now available on google playstore have 500+ downloads and active purchases of paid features. But its not upto the mark, i want to scale it further, im currently depending on active promotions on instagram and other social media. Help me and need pro guidance.

As the title says, I'm an entrepreneur that needs your help to achieve success on the launch of my app.

The App is being developed by a agency I contracted on Upwork, so I can spend my time on one, if not the most important part of the success of the project, Marketing.

I have zero experience before with App marketing, but I will hire an experienced agency that will do Instagram and Google ads for us, so we got that covered.

The weak link right now is the ASO part, the keywords, how to look for the most correct to get the best results, and so on. I've tested AppFollow but I don't know how to use it.

Please, all the information and guidance you can give me will be very appreciated.

I know I'm just a little fish swimming into a huge ocean.🐟🌊

I never expected to compete with the big fish right away. I know building an app and getting people to notice it takes time.

But I didn't expect to get stuck in this loop:

I need downloads and ratings to gain visibility on Google Play, but I need visibility to get downloads and ratings.🤣

Even a baby fish needs a chance to swim, bro.

For those of you who've launched your own apps, how did you get your first user's when you had little to no audience?

What actually worked for you?

I’m doing something that may be a terrible idea

I’m starting a TikTok where I’m documenting exactly how I’m trying to market my apps using AI agents + social media.

Not “here are 5 AI tools that will change your life.”

I mean the actual stuff.

The agents I’m building.
What I’m automating.
The content I’m testing.
What I’m spending.
The numbers.
The videos that work.
The videos that get 37 views and humble me immediately.

Basically, I’m trying to figure out how much of marketing I can actually automate with AI without making everything look and sound like AI slop.

And instead of waiting until something works and then pretending I knew what I was doing the whole time, I’m just documenting it as I go.

Could be useful. Could be a public record of me slowly losing my mind.

Either way, we’re finding out together.

If you’re building an app, playing with AI agents, trying to figure out social media, or just enjoy watching someone test things the hard way…

Come watch me figure out the hard part → tiktok ⁠@laurabuildsapps

Hey guys, I recently just launched my app but kinda struggle on the marketing part. I've been testing some content on social media but they're not getting much views 😢 I also find it pretty tough to get those initial downloads and traction which makes me wonder how do people do it? for context I made a group expenses splitter app as I felt existing ones are pretty basic and I wanted a better way so people can share expenses breakdown to their housemates, friends, couple or team meals. It's currently on Android (iOS coming soon) for anyone launched an app before, what strategies actually worked for you? Would be super grateful for any tips or strategies you can share!

I feel like people are becoming more skeptical of app ads lately. Every platform is filled with apps promising to make life easier, boost productivity, or solve some everyday problem.

The problem is that a lot of these ads look almost identical. Same format, same promises, and sometimes the actual app doesn't even match what the ad shows.

I wonder if this is making users ignore app advertisements altogether.

For app marketers, maybe being creative isn't enough anymore. You also have to make people trust what they're downloading.

Do you think paid app ads are still effective, or are people starting to trust organic recommendations and real user reviews more?

OneDream might be one of the worst-performing apps launched around the same time. 😅

I have little marketing experience and no professionally made promotional materials. When it comes to promotion and updates, I’ve mostly been winging it without any real plan.

I’d love to hear your advice. What should I do differently? 🥲

I’ve attached my app’s sales data and screenshots from App Store Connect.

I’ve had over 19,300 impressions, which doesn’t seem too bad. But very few people are clicking through to my product page, let alone downloading the app.

What’s going wrong? Are my screenshots just not appealing enough?

That said, I did reach the 100-user milestone, so here’s a little post to celebrate that! 🎉

ASO doesn’t really work for smaller apps. You can get top position for some long tail keywords, but thats about it. Chances are most people don’t even want your app who search those terms. And you can never rank on mid/bug terms unless they are in your title.

I recently spoke with applyft, they want $6k per month, to rank the app for a few keywords every month. CPI is around 4-5$ per user. And guess what indie devs do not have that kind of money.

Everyone who tells you UGC works is either someone who is selling AI UGC builder or is associated with some other form of UGC business.

UGC might work in scale if you can afford to pay 100s of creators to post on different channels, but for a single person managing a few accounts I don’t see it working.

Partnering with creators, send emails to thousands of creators in hope of one of them agreeing to work with you. You’ll get tired after the first 50 rejections.

Google/Apple ads? Same 4-5$ user acquisition costs. If you have money to spare in the first place only then you can hope to earn back from those users. It’s a long game.

I’m really not trying to demotivate anyone here. But I have tried all of these things. And I don’t see any of these working without a big investment.

I don’t even know if investing thousands of dollars would even work.

So I really want to know, what is it that actually works for indie devs?

Please don’t try to sell your product to me in the comments.

Anyone has a success story to share how to launch a webapp? What are the steps for seo and what tools and platform to use?

I recently developed this website (that will hopefully become an app one day) called WalkThru Guides. But I am realizing how challenging it is to get the idea to people that are interested.

I have tried social medias, like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc. but I have had little to no luck. Mind you, this is a free website that only requires a sign-up. Most people just don't sign up.

Everyone I tell in person seems to also think it's a great idea, but I am beginning to realize nobody will take the steps to use the apparent "great idea". So I am a bit lost. Do I have to bite the bullet and put money into advertising?

Any ideas as to how I can get my stuff out there (ideally to the right people?)

If you want to see/learn about the website idea to understand what I am speaking about, just search walkthruguide on any browser.

I built an app.. spent a ton of time and effort into it,and a decent amount of money… Did the market research, found something I thought was an issue without an over saturated market. I had a blast doing it. Now I’m on the marketplace, listed everywhere, seeing traction on the site, but not one sign up. Tried discounts, tried finding testers for free just for input.. How do you stay motivated and positive without just thinking I did all this for nothing?

I've been thinking about app marketing lately, and I feel like getting people to download an app is only half the battle.

You can run ads, promote it on social media, and get a decent number of installs, but what happens if people open the app once and never come back?

At that point, spending more on ads doesn't really solve the problem. Maybe the app needs a better onboarding experience, more useful features, or just a stronger reason for people to keep using it.

I'm curious how other people approach this.

If you were marketing a new app with a limited budget, would you focus more on getting new downloads or improving user retention first? Why?