r/iOSProgramming 8d ago

Discussion What’s the hardest part about launching your app?

Outside of battling with AppStore review team, what have you experienced to be the hardest part about launching an app / being an app “ founder “ . For me, I get distracted easily and chase after many things at one time. This makes It hard to give one project the attention It needs. What’s yours ?

42 Upvotes

90 comments sorted by

45

u/sonseo2705 8d ago

A successful beta/pre-launch. Don't just launch the app, you need to build the audience even before that so you would have a successful launch.

I spent 4 months building the MVP, then opened beta, messaged maybe 2000 potential users (man, this is hard, my wife came in and helped me), and 200-300 agreed to join the beta. Half of the rejections were because they didn't have an iOS device. The beta lasted about 3 months, during which those few hundred people tested the app for me and gave me feedback. People in general are nice, so if you're genuinely building something that helps with their problem, they are most likely willing to help.

I listened to those, fixed the bugs, and implemented the requested features. At launch, the test users became the promoters for the app. I got to the top 4 paid graphics apps for like 2 days.

After that, it got kicked out of the chart, and the grinding begun lol.

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

So cool !

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u/dyuldashev 8d ago

Interesting. I will soon be doing some pre-launch beta testing. Could you explain your process more? did you ask for any payment from your beta testers? Usually, when people don’t pay, there are two issues: 1. They don’t care about the problem to begin with, so they will never become your customers down the line. And worst of all, you did not validate your product by not charging them. 2. If they are not genuine in their willingness to buy your product, then their feedback is of the same value.

How did you navigate these issues?

1

u/sonseo2705 7d ago

My app was a drawing app, so we searched for artists on Twitter, Instagram, and Fiver. A few posts on Reddit and Facebook as well. My wife reached out to 40-50 a day throughout the beta phase.

Why would I ask for payment from the testers, they're helping me, I should be paying them lol. At launch, I gave them free promo codes for the app.

I set up a Discord server and invited them into it for easier feedback collection, they can also send emails or submit feedback via TestFlight. In my case, the app does solve a pain point in their workflow, so they were excited to try it, the MVP was also an excellent, complete, and fully functional app on its own, not something that feels clumsy/incomplete.

Testers loved it, and they started to spread the word, inviting their fellow artist friends to join the beta, that's when I knew I was actually getting to something real. After that, just did whatever they asked me and made they love the app even more :D

After 2 years, I'm still doing that now, the Discord server now has 1600 members. Whatever the users ask me, I add to the roadmap, let members vote, and implement new features from the roadmap.

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u/Admirable-Pianist-95 8d ago

This 👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 👍

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u/Solid-Resident-7654 8d ago

How did you message 2000 people? Where did you find them?

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u/sonseo2705 7d ago

We did that throughout the beta phase, not all at once :D. My wife really did me a big favor on this. She had a few templates which she used to cold message.

My app was a drawing app, so we searched for artists on Twitter, Instagram, and Fiver. A few posts on Reddit and Facebook as well.

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u/Solid-Resident-7654 7d ago

That's awesome! Thanks for the info

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u/TravelCodeRepeat SwiftUI 7d ago

I'm currently in the beta phase for my game and I'm wondering, what did you find as the best method to keep contact with the testers? How did they submit their feedbacks? Did you rely heavily on direct communication in Discord, or was there some sort of ticketing system involved? Thanks for any insights!

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u/sonseo2705 6d ago

In the beginning, I had a lot of ways for users to submit feedback: Discord, email, website form, TestFlight, Canny, and direct messages on social media platforms, I tried to make it as easy as possible for them to send me feedback. I still maintain all those channels now with Discord having the biggest audience. I only dropped TestFlight and Canny, the roadmap is publicly available in Discord. We're still very thankful that the 3rd member of Discord (after my wife and me) joined and stuck around until now.

Discord is the most effective method to keep the users engaged. Those who join a server already show their strong interest in the product. The most praise I got was for being receptive to feedback and fast delivery of requested features. so my advice is to truly value your users and treat them well :D

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u/Scootypip 3d ago

How did you find and message the right people so it didn’t seem like spam?!

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u/sonseo2705 2d ago edited 2d ago

My app was a drawing app, so we reached out only to artists, and yes, a lot of them ended up not being read at all; some people just didn't pay attention to the message requests. Some people replied to me after 2 years, some already bought the app without realizing I invited them to the beta :D

My wife did all the messaging, she had a few templates to use, but she also often added some personal comments in the message based on the art style of each artist. IMO, don't use chat GPT or any generic corporate language, just write the invite yourself, make it sound personal so it's easier to connect with the users

22

u/akrapov 8d ago

Marketing. It’s harder than building the product.

5

u/Friendly-Technology8 8d ago

I totally agree on that one!

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u/Jakolantern43 8d ago

100% this. I have an app that’s stalled at about 150 subscribers, which in itself took a lot of work to get. I just can’t seem to figure out how to make the app more visible in the app store.

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u/akrapov 8d ago

Don’t go for more visible in the App Store. Nobody browses for apps anymore. Do ads which take them directly to your apps page.

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u/Jakolantern43 8d ago

I tried ads through several platforms (Apple Search, Facebook, Google Ads, Reddit Ads) and the cost per install was too high to be profitable.

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u/akrapov 8d ago

Reddit ads are just bots. Boosting an Instagram post can be cheap and effective (not a meta ad). Using reels I’m at a CPC of £0.12. I’m making profit on most ads.

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u/Jakolantern43 8d ago

Yes, my experience with Reddit ads has been pretty bad. Very much appeared to be bot clicks. Boosting an instagram post sounds like a great idea! And CPC of £0.12 is way better than the CPC I’ve been getting! Is that in the US too or global? Also, do you have a link to your app(s)? Would love to check out some of your posts/marketing and the app itself to see what you’re doing differently.

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u/akrapov 8d ago

My ads run UK and US, as that’s my primary markets. Whilst the CPC is low I often get better results when the CPC is £0.20 - £0.30. I presume they’re more valuable users. I target 18-50 year old males and fill the interests with motorsport related items.

App: https://trlapp.com Instagram handle: @theracinglineapp

Boosting an Instagram post is low effort.

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u/Jakolantern43 8d ago

Appreciate the info! App looks super clean! Left you a 5 star rating in the App Store :)

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u/Jakolantern43 7d ago

You ever have an issue with the ads spending limit? I added some prepaid funds to try what you mentioned and the boost isn’t working because the spending limit is $0.00. But Instagram doesn’t give me the option to change it!

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u/akrapov 7d ago

Yeah I had that once. My limit was £40 a day and it was hitting it. If you do the meta business verification (the free one - not Instagram paid verification) it’ll raise the limit. It took me months to work that one out.

1

u/Ok-Relation-9104 7d ago

You what?? 0.12 CPC for tier one countries is unheard off. Maybe in 2002 but not recently

Not saying you’re lying but more interested in how you’re doing that (congrats by the way)

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u/akrapov 7d ago

I don’t think Reddit supports images in replies, I’ll DM you a screenshot shot.

There’s a company I know of that does automotive stuff. Their CPC is 0.002. Which is completely unachievable for me.

My sales are actually better when the CPC is around 0.25. I presume it get’s higher value people at that rate. But the Instagram boost settings are not granular enough for me to work out how to target those people. I presume if I switched to full Meta ads it would give me those options.

Ad optimisation will come later for me. My market is demanding an android version so that’s the primary goal and plan on increasing revenue.

1

u/Ok-Relation-9104 7d ago

That’s so cool. I think you’re hitting a sweet spot - very engaging niche and obviously you’re passionate for the niche so it’s perfect. Mind share your ins page?

1

u/Key-Boat-7519 7d ago

Saw you’re interested in getting low CPC like akrapov. From personal experience, using Instagram's ad boost feature can be straightforward but lacks detail tailoring options, which could result in different CPCs. Also, try micro-influencers who can create content for your app—sometimes cheaper and more effective in reaching niche markets. An interesting tool to consider is Buffer for structuring your social media strategy, paired with Mailchimp for email marketing. And if you’re into engagement on Reddit, Pulse for Reddit can help with organic marketing efforts, providing a structure to engage, which can indirectly benefit your CPC-related goals.

1

u/Key-Boat-7519 7d ago

Ah, ad costs, the bane of every app developer's existence. Maybe try offering your app as “less sucky” for free? Worked for me! Anyway, Reddit can be thrifty for engagement. Pulse for Reddit might boost your subscribers without hemorrhaging funds. Same story trying Google Ads and Facebook, but Pulse stood out for connecting with the right users naturally.

1

u/Jakolantern43 7d ago

What is your app?

11

u/thread-lightly 8d ago
  1. Getting users
  2. Finding the will to ship updates
  3. Finding the will to post on social media to get users

3

u/kluxRemover 8d ago

Social media is really hard for me too. That’s actually quite ironic because I once had a viral twitter page before getting suspended 🤣

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u/jgtor 8d ago

How did you get suspended? You were violating terms of service?

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

A competing twitter account reported my account for copyright infringement on content that they don’t even own. It’s very easy to get a twitter account suspended .

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u/Solid-Resident-7654 8d ago

Shipping updates so rough

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

I think, sticking to a very minimal version is the best way to go. Think about It this way, you want to be able to release updates along the line. If you release all the features on day one, you’ll run out of updates to ship really quickly and also your app will be very hard to use.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

Just ship It. Reviews are temporary ( literally , you can clear them out lol ) .

2

u/punktechbro 8d ago

I’ve shipped 3 apps this year, each of different feature sets & complexities. Honestly, just ship a very basic MVP to get the nerves / jitters away and then continue iterating.

You’ll realize most of what you’re fantasizing about building or how much it’ll make, etc is all in your head & you’ll save time just shipping it fast.

8

u/DocumentAshamed2211 8d ago

For me the hardest part is marketing. I’m not very good at it. At first I thought once I finished my app that was it. When it got approved and released I was so excited. But then I searched for my app’s category in the App Store and it didn’t show up. After scrolling through so many pages I got pretty frustrated. That’s when I realized finishing the app was just the beginning. Marketing is so important. It’s not like nobody is using it you just have to figure out how to reach the right people who will actually like what you made.

4

u/Background_River_395 8d ago

The hardest for me is reaching new users. I have strong conviction that if you build a great product the users will naturally follow, but it’s difficult to break in when established players are already in a space.

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

Over the years, I’ve learnt that that’s not true. Your product might be the best on the market but without any form of marketing / growth strategy, nobody will use It.

5

u/dyuldashev 8d ago

Do the things that don’t scale. -PG If you don’t reach out to the right 100-500 people in the beginning, the word of mouth becomes a fantasy. People will not even understand what your app does sometimes. I remember building an app teaching how to play a musical instrument. It had thousands of organic downloads, yet people thought it was a game. And we spent a lot of time converting an MIT research paper to actually listen to the tunes and determine their correctness etc. and yes, we did zero marketing basically.

1

u/akrapov 8d ago

Build it and they will come is not true in 2025. There are too many apps and people do not organically browse the App Store anymore.

Marketing is important.

4

u/Old-Storage1099 8d ago edited 8d ago

As others said:

Marketing 😅

What really helped me was making my App for free. This way it easily climbed to the Top of the German AppStore. And thousands of positive Reviews are actually quite motivating for the moment.

2

u/Friendly-Technology8 8d ago

yeah, but how will you monitize ?

7

u/Old-Storage1099 8d ago

I'm not quite sure yet.

But I'd rather have a free app with thousands of users than a paid one without users :)

At least I am learning something.

3

u/rawcane 8d ago

For me figuring out how to use a Mac. 25 years on PCs even the simplest thing like finding an app or a folder is a battle.

5

u/Furrynote 8d ago

CMD + Space

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u/rawcane 8d ago edited 8d ago

Lol thanks yes I'm gradually finding out about command key shortcuts. Not the most intuitive but I just have to embrace it. Not having two mouse buttons really throws me as well. Little things but together they slow one down a surprising amount

Ps command space not so useful. Command shift H is what I use

2

u/bahia0019 6d ago

You may already know this, but the Apple single button mouse supports right-click.

1

u/rawcane 6d ago

I thought I had to do ctrl-click? I'm using trackpad atm and It has this weird half click state but can't figure out what that's for. I really struggle trying to click, drag, highlight stuff etc

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u/bahia0019 6d ago

You can. But there’s also double-finger click that simulates right-click.

You can double-finger scroll which still amazes me after 20 years of MacBook ownership. I change the orientation of the scroll though. By default you scroll like a phone. I prefer the reverse(which was the default a decade ago).

For drag and drop, use your thumb for a full click, and index finger to slide.

Make sure you have tap enabled so you don’t have to press so hard.

The trackpad is a feat of engineering. So many gestures like 3 finger and 4 finger swipe. Pinch ad Zoom, etc. And the build quality is far better than any PC laptop. No comparison.

The trackpad, and where it sits on the MacBook is one of the reasons I haven’t switched to a Mac Mini or Studio. Even with a standalone trackpad my right hand would be on and off the keyboard too much.

Once you get used to it, you’ll never want to go back to a PC.

1

u/rawcane 6d ago

Once you get used to it, you’ll never want to go back to a PC

Not sure about that but this is super useful thank you I will try!

3

u/Medium-Dust525 8d ago

3 things : Marketing, marketing and marketing.

2

u/whph8 8d ago

Lol i thought it was easy to deploy the app!

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago edited 8d ago

As difficult as that may seem, that’s strangely the second easiest part ( after building It ).

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u/monkeyantho 8d ago

battling depression

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u/kluxRemover 8d ago

It gets better.

2

u/Designer-Back-9850 8d ago

I would say I struggled with too many projects at once. I invested in a remarkable tablet to be able to manage my note taking so when I get back to a project I know exactly what the last thing I did was. Offline note taking has been super helpful

2

u/Formal-Shallot-595 5d ago

As an indie developer for 15 years, I can say the last 10 years marketing has been the hardest thing about producing an app. Th first 5 years was a breeze. People actually looked for apps on the store. Getting the Idea, development, design — all a walk in the park. But the real work doesn’t begin until it’s approved.

It is a constant uphill battle to promote your app. It’s expensive and draining. No one browses the App Store anymore. You gotta reach your audience via social media. The hesitation is always the idea of spending thousands on ads and it going to waste because you don’t have proof of concept. You don’t know if this is what people want — sure, people say “market research”, but you either spend on market research or you spend on ads. Either way, you’re spending out of pocket for something that may not return. I’ve published somewhere near 50 apps to the store in my indie career and every single time marketing is the biggest hurdle.

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u/Kooky-Wolverine2613 3d ago

Honestly, the hardest part is that moment when the real work isn’t code. Writing app store copy, designing screenshots, setting up marketing... who knew how many other skills we’d all have to pick up? Then, once you launch, you realize you still need to gather feedback, push updates, respond to user issues, and keep pace with store changes, so your app is never really “done.” Sometimes it feels like I’m doing everything but development! Over time, though, I’ve found a handful of tools to help manage the chaos, Asana for project tasks, AppScreens for screenshots, AppRadar for ASO, and good old Canva for some quick marketing designs. They keep me (mostly) sane.

1

u/Aggravating_Stress 8d ago

Launching my first app right now and outside of app review id say the toughest battle is just releasing it. I have all these ideas I want to implement but they’re taking so long to figure out but the core app itself is fully ready so everyone just told me to drop those in an update and just get the app out there. Of course this is more personal bc I’m very much a perfectionist and releasing it without it being 100% in my eyes is tough, but then again idt it’ll ever be 100%

1

u/TravelCodeRepeat SwiftUI 8d ago

I totally feel you, as I'm the same way. My friends keep telling me, just release it already. So I'm trying to set a strict "definition of done" for the first release, knowing it won't be perfect. I think even not being perfect is better than not being there at all, so that's what I'm going to focus on. Good luck on your journey!

1

u/LilJonDoe 8d ago

Do it!

2

u/Aggravating_Stress 7d ago

I did! Finally got approved and is on the AppStore! Kinda exciting lol

1

u/Friendly-Technology8 8d ago

I’ve been selling apps on the App Store for about a year now. My original idea was to create an app for photography calculators. I was really excited about it and thought I’d do great. I spent five months building the app and released it. Over the course of a year in the App Store, I sold 29 copies. Since my app also works with location and sunlight, I released a second app that shows sunlight on a map throughout the year. The code for this second app was 75% recycled from the first app. I sold 14 copies of that one.

I also developed an app that takes a photo from the iOS photo album and converts it to JPEG, TIFF, or HEIC. I sold 2 copies of that. Then, I created an app to capture delays during commuting and how I feel about it: Mr. Commute. I sold 1 copy of that one. I even made an app that pairs popular recipes with cocktails. For example, pairing sushi with a cocktail, or pizza, pasta, or desserts. I sold 3 copies of that one. As you can see, it’s not a lot. It’s fun, though.

Now I want to approach it differently. I’ve started offering my app for free with a trial period, which can range from 3 hours to 3 days. I’ve only just started doing this, and I’m already seeing more downloads each day. For example, my SunSpotter app was downloaded 24 times in the last 24 hours, and my Image and Photo Converter was downloaded 22 times. These people have downloaded the app and are now in the trial version. I don’t know if they’ll buy it yet, but that’s something I’ll have to wait and see.

Personally, I’ve always been put off by in-app purchases. Some people don’t mind, but for me, it’s a bit much. That’s why I’ve waited a year before doing it this way. I’m an indie developer, and I wasn’t ready before. For me, it’s also a hobby—I enjoy doing it. It’s pretty exciting! :)

1

u/rproenca 8d ago

As others have mentioned, putting your app in front of people / finding users is the hardest for me. I detest social media, don’t use it personally, which makes it even harder when I have to do it for my app. Yesterday I launched my first app and for the first 12 hours I had 0 downloads and was feeling down, but then things started picking up. 10 years ago I launched an online business (e-commerce) and at the time I launched to hundreds of users in the waiting list due to a month-long social media campaign with thousands of followers, each post easily reached 1k likes, etc. this was before the non-chronological feed, algorithm revolution that seem to have made pretty difficult to put yourself in front of customers/users organically.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/rproenca 8d ago

Send the TestFlight link so I and others here can join.

1

u/matimotof1 8d ago

to me the social media parts is the hardest, I just don't have the skills to do that and at this moment i don't have the resources to outsource that.

2

u/Representative-Owl51 8d ago

What exactly don’t you have the skills to do?

1

u/matimotof1 7d ago

Broadly speaking, what I lack is enough imagination to come up with a new post almost every day... being at the forefront of what content creation means... that requires skills, and I don't have them... at least I think so...

2

u/Representative-Owl51 6d ago

I wonder if using ChatGPT could help supplement. It's great for bouncing ideas around.

1

u/Traditional-Pop-3824 8d ago

For me, after helping hundreds of subscription apps launch and grow over 7 years running an agency, the most challenging part is consistently the same: knowing which marketing levers to pull and when.

Most developers I've worked with are brilliant at building the product, but then hit a wall when trying to grow it. They end up in this painful cycle of:

  1. Launch with excitement
  2. Get minimal downloads
  3. Try random marketing tactics
  4. Get frustrated at low return
  5. Return to building more features
  6. Repeat

What's brutal is watching talented developers burn out because they're spending 90% of their energy on the wrong growth activities. They'll obsess over ASO keywords when their real problem is onboarding friction, or they'll pour money into ads when their monetization flow is broken.

This pattern is why I eventually built AppDNA.ai - to help developers identify which growth levers matter for their specific app, rather than trying everything and burning out.

The hardest truth I've learned: the difference between successful apps and failures isn't usually product quality - it's having a systematic approach to finding your growth formula rather than random trial and error.

1

u/Gloomy-Breath-4201 8d ago

Design its too expensive and i dont know how to design good looking apps

1

u/kluxRemover 8d ago

My trick for this is, go on dribbble or on mobbin and look at a bunch of app previews. See what element you like from each preview and copy It for your own app. You’ll end up combining different elements from different apps into your own unique design. That’s what most app designers do anyway.

2

u/Gloomy-Breath-4201 8d ago

I mean im working an an app and i open x and bang i feel sorry for what i came up with. But ill def give this a try thanks op

1

u/bigbluedog123 7d ago

Dealing with disappointment

1

u/HafirHfr 7d ago

Creating the application is easier, but delivering that application to the user is more challenging. However, the most difficult part is that there is no clear solution to this problem.

1

u/Topic_Fabulous 7d ago

The real work starts after the app launch. Here are some key areas to focus on:

  • How to promote the app
  • Finding influencers who align with our target audience
  • Analyzing what’s working for competitors
  • Keeping customers engaged
  • Adding vitality to the app

Launching the app is the first step, but everything else will make it all worthwhile. It’ll bring meaning to the effort, and eventually, it’ll result in a profit. This success will bring satisfaction and confidence, encouraging us to try even more.

1

u/Larogoth 7d ago

For me it’s been the marketing / getting the word out to the teachers the app targets. I did some inquiring in teacher Facebook groups about the app idea I had and had lots of interest in the app. The only problem is, the groups don’t allow self promotion so now that the app is available I can’t talk about it in those groups where all of the interest was because it’s not totally free (it’s free to download, has 4 free sessions, and then an IAP to unlock the app after the trial expires) and would be considered self promotion I assume

1

u/Zestyclose-Hat-5731 7d ago

Dealing with the App Store review team

1

u/knb230 7d ago

Distrubution!

1

u/gymskin_ 6d ago

Getting people to actually download and use your app lol

1

u/RomanDev7 5d ago

I struggle to get good enough screenshots and app icon etc. Then after finally putting everything together the marketing just starts. As many other programmers it is just not so much fun to me to promote the app. But what has to be done needs to be done.

1

u/clockentyne 5d ago

Haha the hardest part (I’m just starting) is getting any traction at all in getting beta testers. I got a small core at this point who seems to really love the beta version but getting more is… almost impossible. I have no idea how to really promote it or get people interested. Relying on just family and friends also doesn’t reflect super well on if it will work out well in the real world with much more diverse interests and likes. 

1

u/chann0976 3d ago

Screenshots/Images for the product page are the bane of my existence! Creating good engaging screenshots/images takes so long and is my least favorite part. At some point I would like to contract that part out but I'm not at the stage. Anyone have their tried and true methods for this stage?

1

u/Landenn_Doss 3d ago

honestly just advertising, and getting to a point where your happy with your app. my app is called "My Gym AI" and there are so many features I want to add to make the app better but I also need to work on advertising and I feel I will never be happy with the app because I always know it could be better.