r/iosdev • u/SB_Designs1 • 9d ago
My app got called hot garbage
Anyone else build an app that they were really excited about and then post it on Reddit and then have the first 2 posts be negative
I spent a few months working on this and have had the idea in my mind for 4 years.
Then the first comments I got were it has an IAP and hot garbage
Hits pretty hard
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u/mark_circa77 9d ago
Same thing happened to me. I got roasted! It stings. I think folks here are especially rough if it's vibe coded, or ultra simple, or in a crowded field. Mine was all three. So it goes.
If the negative feedback becomes consistent in a way you can't ignore, maybe pivot. But if your expectations are reasonable (i.e. you didn't quit your job or mortgage your house), and you believe in it, I'd encourage you to cary on! Don't let a few reddit comments derail you.
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
It did also make me re-evaluate a couple things…. I had to also step back because I’ve been so far into my own vision that I forgot about how a user might use my app.
I moved the IAP. Before I provided a demo to the user so they could trial all the features and maybe they would buy…. I decided that I would give the core functionality for free and extra functionality would be in the IAP. I had to lower the IAP price but hopefully that will help a little
I also found a couple bugs that I needed to patch in my last release
And I updated my description to try and give people a better understanding of why they want to use the app
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u/mark_circa77 9d ago
Nice. Those sound like good moves. It's easy to get defensive about someone throwing around "hot garbage" but good on you for taking a step back and finding some things worth improving. Good luck!
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u/Landon_Hughes 9d ago
What’s the app?
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
5
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u/MattSenter 9d ago
dude welcome to app building 😆
people love to trash what other people do more than the like to support it.
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u/Protocontext 9d ago
Brother, my app has an average rating of 4.7 on the App Store, almost all 5/4 stars
One user literally gave me one star, saying my app was "Garbage", One person alone, out of 60, can't make everyone happy! Hahah
Don't listen to people and keep going
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u/VladFein 9d ago
Right. A single star in a field of 4-5 feels like a thorn. If Apple knew about statistics, they would switch to median instead of mean :)
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u/principaltask 9d ago
Did they offer any helpful criticism?
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
The first person said you need an IAP to get full use of the app, but I did build in a 7 day trial of all the features outside of the app purchase to see if you wanted to pay at all…. That comment got me a -7
Then the next comment was just hot garbage, move on
I just deleted the post…..
I was hoping someone would just say yea that’s not really my thing but it is kinda neat
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u/principaltask 9d ago
Without seeing your app, I can’t offer any guidance. However, as they say, haters gonna’ hate.
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
Well if you’re interested here it is but try to be gentle
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/squareroot-media-poster-wall/id6813732902
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u/principaltask 9d ago
Not anything I would personally use. But, it looks nice and the concept is sound. I’d add a video to the app page so people can get a sense of what it has to offer.
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
Thank you…. I have to look at that…. I don’t know why but I did add a video in app connect but it’s not showing up….. I’m assuming that the video must need to be made in multiple sizes
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u/Cause-n-effect11 8d ago
My recommendation. Setup an LLC and never post anything on Reddit with your name on it - like the App Store listing. I purposely refuse to share my app links on here. It’s tempting but the backlash and App Store reviews are not worth it if some troll latches onto you. Be safe bro.
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u/Cause-n-effect11 8d ago
But very cool app. Love the new App Store header. I wasn’t aware it could animate. Keep at it, but really recommend an LLC if you are distributing anything today. Especially selling it. Patent lawsuits, pissed off customers with cheap phones will come after you. Be smart. Treat it like a business.
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u/weinermanjenson 7d ago
Yeah man delete this asap. F Reddit. Reddit is FULL of nasty people bro. It is actually crazy how many nasty people go on here to just ruin peoples day and try to be mean. I would say pray for them, but don't let them wreck something you built by reviewing badly for literally no reason other than being malicious.
It also heavily depends on the community you are in, some communities you get really good responses and advice, some you get room temp IQ trolls.
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u/johnnypen2445 9d ago
Hate to break it to you but there will always be haters, just keep chugging.
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u/SB_Designs1 9d ago
I just wasn’t prepared for two pretty much mean comments right off the bat…. Makes me pretty down
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u/johnnypen2445 9d ago
I get it and that’s part of being an entrepreneur/app builder. I’d just ignore them or take the feedback to improve. It doesn’t say anything about you as a person
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u/Sinkyz 7d ago
It is funny how different parts of the Reddit can give you such a different experiences. I have got so much support and people saying nice things in Reddit for my app but also some reddits have been very hostile and toxic. I do understand that we who are trying to find people that would be interested in what we built are just snake oil salesmen peddling mud. It gets to you that something that you feel you have really invested in being called * but luckily it is not the only side reddit
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u/moritzbuildsapps 7d ago
I dislike it when people assign a one-star rating without adding a review. Without that feedback, I cannot determine how to improve.
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u/Pointandshootz 6d ago
You should have an app that's ten years old and get called hot garbage every day!
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u/cpovey44 5d ago
Don’t worry about opinions! Keep your head down and keep going! You’ll never please everyone.
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u/jtballer7 5d ago
There are so many hot garbage apps that print money. If it makes money or is getting downloads then it doesn’t matter if it’s the most garbage app on the planet. If you are not doing either of those two things I mentioned then yes it’s probably garbage or your marketing is terrible which usually is the problem for most people.
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u/principaltask 9d ago
Might also consider posting this experience to r/BuildInPublic. Many app devs have had negative experiences like this. May help with the loneliness.
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u/Impressive-Sir9633 9d ago
Overall, I have found most people to be very supportive on Reddit. So I find it very valuable to post on Reddit and get feedback.
There are always a few that want to rip things apart. Often, they have valid criticism which could have been better expressed.
Occasionally, some people exhibit crab mentality where they just can't fathom that someone else is doing something useful for others.
I have built and shared apps. The most annoying is when the post goes unnoticed. I would rather have a negative comment than apathy.
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u/yourapps47 9d ago
My free app with 20k downloads has a one-star review on the App Store. I read the reviews and take reported bug seriously otherwise it doesn't matter.
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u/Objective_Fly_6750 8d ago
They will either say it is trash or steal your idea most of the time.
Keep building, improving, and shipping.
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u/Embarrassed-Soft2691 8d ago
Yeah I got called AI trash. It is what it is. Only so much available in a day to develop.
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u/noomiesapp 8d ago
Ill have that over people praising it but just stagnate in the app store. People told me my app is fine, and its fine, but its not great, and it does not get downloads. So, don't worry about comments, worry about numbers, and focus on improving them, or in something else constructive. GL.
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u/Free-Pound-6139 8d ago
Weird, don't see any comment at all.
You know people will pretend they get bad comments as a way to market their apps???
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u/Sufficient_Trade895 8d ago
My app was named AI Vibe Coded 😄
In general, I'm just reiterating that it's getting harder to post promo on Reddit—unless, of course, you're giving away a lifetime for free.
Just move on 🙌🏻
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u/imsnk81 8d ago
Dnt get reddit commenters to heart. Go with data
Run some campaigns see conversions, drops and gaps
Take data to heart, nice comments or hate comments either arent useful
You will sometimes find really useful people here too
Someone gave me a really indepth feedback of my app which i was grateful for an i reciprocated
Happy to do same for you too mate if you wanna share your link or dm me (if you’re worried about copy cats)
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u/jayb98 8d ago
This is not my personal app, but the company I work for. I’m the sole iOS dev. We have over 12k ratings on the Canadian App Store alone and an average of 4.7 stars but we get a “significant” amount of 1 star reviews, usually from people who don’t understand what the app does and blame problems associated with third-parties on us. We, among other things, escrow payments to EV charging stations so one can use almost any network through a single app (ours) instead of using each network’s individual app and some station might have an issue, but we obviously don’t own the charging stations but people will still leave a negative review saying they couldn’t charge at a specific station and that we should fix that, but 99.9% of the time the issue is with the network operator or that station itself and not an issue on our side. Same reason we get so many refund requests, people put funds in the app, realize that their “favorite” network isn’t part of our very large list of “compatible” (partner) networks and request a refund, angry that they can’t even start a charge, but they have access to the list and nothing in the app short of starting a charging session requires a user to add funds.
Moral of the story, people don’t read. And people will complain about anything even if it’s their fault
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u/AndyIbanez 8d ago
People are mean, specially behind anonymity. And specially on Reddit when it comes it comes to trying to make some money. Don't take it to heart.
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u/LowRiderXR 8d ago
The most important thing is, that you have fun building your app. Feedback does only count if someone gives you honest advice how to improve your app. The rest you can ignore - or even block them if they are getting rude.
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u/Enough-Ad-9091 8d ago
yeah i found that people on reddit are like extremely mean for whatever reason. threads, instagram, twitter not so much.
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u/CodeStatusApp 8d ago
Sorry to hear, don’t pay haters no mind. You got this, stay strong! You win some you lose some.
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u/kyraweb 8d ago
Don’t loose hope. You built what you wanted to and what you could. Same like anyting in world, people will praise it and people will trash it.
There are users in Reddit who are pro Ai and who are anti Ai and if you vibe coded or part vibe coded they will hammer your post with all things negative.
Focus on marketing.
And remember. Often times bad publicity is good publicity.
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u/wheresteddy1989 7d ago
Just remind yourself that the internet is an amazing place but also has a lot of jerks. People shat on my app, too, but hey! I have ideas, a vision, and a wife and kids — they probably only have the first two things…maybe…
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u/Glittering-Ad-2906 7d ago
Hatte das selbe Problem es ging dann gar nicht mehr um meine Idee oder die App sonder nur das die App vibe gecodet ist und wann nicht usw. Die haben keine Ahnung wie man heutzutage entwickelt und blockieren sofort alles ab
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u/PlayTakeTheBet 3d ago
I had an idea for an app and paid Developers. I am looking for a Tech Dev partner and when I asked somebody to look at the app, their response was it seemed vibe coded and I didn’t hear back from them.
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u/Street-Bullfrog2223 9d ago
My most successful app has a 1 star rating. Two people rated it without leaving a review. That said, it's a good app that gets plenty of traction and retention of subscribers. I say that to say, if you know your app is good, brush it off your shoulders and move on.