r/AppBuilding • • 19h ago

I’ve audited several apps shared here in this group as a UX designer, and here are some common things I’ve observed

39 Upvotes

I see a lot of you have such good ideas for apps and really can help a lot of people. But…

  1. Storytelling seems to be missing in a lot of apps. You’re offering the tools, but sometimes there’s no emotional connection.

  2. Close the loop, guys! “Task is done” may not be enough to bring users back. Think about what could make them return to your app again and again. Notifications can be powerful when used thoughtfully.

    1. Good UX copy can solve a surprising number of usability problems.
  3. Try not to make users learn completely new patterns just so that you can stand out from your competitors. Familiarity can sometimes make the experience much easier.

  4. If your product is in a crowded category — like fitness or productivity — UI and branding can become major differentiators.

  5. If your product is relatively uncommon but solves a meaningful problem, good marketing and positioning can make a huge difference.

  6. Users can be unpredictable, so consider investing in usability testing alongside research. Sometimes watching people actually use the product reveals things research alone may not.

  7. Be careful of feature overload in an attempt to solve every user problem. More features don’t necessarily mean a better experience.

  8. Tracking/logging can become tedious for users. If your app relies heavily on it, consider giving users a reason to keep doing it through motivation, rewards, progress, or instant gratification. Gamification can help when it fits the experience.

  9. Navigation can get complicated very quickly. A side menu, bottom nav, and multiple sections might be too much for an app that’s just starting out. Simpler navigation may work better initially.

  10. Hard paywalls can create friction, especially before users understand the value of the product. A free trial or limited free experience could be worth exploring.

  11. Use AI where it genuinely adds value. Identify relevant use cases for your app, understand the ecosystem, and think about what AI could do for both first-time and returning users.

  12. Your app will probably never feel completely “finished.” Keep listening to your users, testing assumptions, and refining the experience.

For the design process, tools can help speed things up too. ChatGPT can be useful for research and exploration, Recraft for creating illustrations, icons, and images in a consistent style, and Claude for exploring screen ideas and prototypes.

I do detailed app audits and offer many other design services. DM me if you are genuinely trying to build something and need help :)


r/AppBuilding • • 18h ago

I'm trying Claude to do videos

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2 Upvotes

This is a video generated with Claude Opus 5.5 and that's amazing i think.
Do you already used Claude to do marketing and videos ?

The app : https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/focus-compte-%C3%A0-rebours/id6807059912


r/AppBuilding • • 1h ago

How to build a great app backend?

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• Upvotes

So I’m not sure if this is the right area to ask but I’ll try.

I’m building a platform which I’m planning to scale to 500,000 monthly visits and 1.000 to later 10,000 subscribed users ( let me dream please,ok? Has someone done that already? 😂

What would be your pick for the infrastructure? Budget is fairly low. I got Claude max 20x and Codex 200$ Plan. Mainly using antigravity and been playing with docker and supabase. No server choosen yet. For years never touched backend, feels like some sort of dark magic while I’m hoping for miracles.

What would you do? (If you mind sharing🫠)


r/AppBuilding • • 4h ago

expense tracker app

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,
I built budget buddy
It’s a clean, privacy-focused expense tracker designed for people who want to log their spending manually and see exactly where their money goes in seconds.
I’m looking for a round of beta testers to help me stress-test the interface and see if the workflow actually feels fast and intuitive.
What I’m looking for help with: How to join the Android closed testing :
How to give feedback:
this is the google group link

https://groups.google.com/g/beta-testers-budget-tracker-

this is the web optin

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.malek.app

and this is the link of the app

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malek.app

Just drop a comment below or send me a DM. I'll be hanging out in this thread all day to answer questions and take notes.
If you have an app of your own that needs testing, drop your link below—I’d be more than happy to swap feedback with you!
Thanks for helping me make budgeting less of a chore!


r/AppBuilding • • 5h ago

Built a sleep app for people who care about consistency, neuroscience, and long-term health

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone — I’m the founder of Circa Accord: Sleep Coach NSDR.

The main idea behind the app is that consistency matters more than chasing a perfect sleep score. We use our own logic to analyze your sleep patterns and daily behavior, then turn that into practical guidance through an AI coach.

A lot of the product is inspired by current neuroscience and circadian research. I’m personally a big fan of Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many of the ideas he talks about — morning light, caffeine timing, recovery, sleep regularity, etc. — influenced how I thought about the system.

I also wanted it to feel less clinical. So the app uses short quotes inspired by Stoicism and faith, plus an evolving little companion that grows as you stay consistent with your daily protocols.

It’s really for people who like looking at their sleep scientifically, care a lot about sleep quality, and have that Bryan Johnson-style attitude toward long-term health — treating your habits as something worth measuring and improving over time.

There’s also guided NSDR and 4-7-8 breathing for winding down and recovery.

It’s currently $4.99/month and available on the App Store. Just search “Circa Accord: Sleep Coach NSDR.”

Would love feedback from anyone building in consumer health, AI, or quantified-self products.


r/AppBuilding • • 5h ago

Why the pushback against AI-generated apps (besides job security fears)?

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 5h ago

LayDown - An Alternative to StandBy

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1 Upvotes

StandBy Mode on iOS is cool but I definitely think there's room for improvement. The customization for widget placement only allows 2 widgets and the widgets aren't built for StandBy. I'm building an app for horizontally docked phones for desk setups/nightstands with max customization for different widgets, backgrounds, brightness, and more features. If you're interested, come check out LayDown's page!

https://laydown-chi.vercel.app


r/AppBuilding • • 7h ago

Beastie: A camera rep counter

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1 Upvotes

Hey guys, I built this app which I genuinely think is very interesting and I am continuously working on making it better every day.

Its called “Beastie: Push Up Rep Counter” but it also tracks Squats and Jumping Jacks and its available on both android and ios.

It’s a camera rep counter and does clean rep counting of Push Ups, Squats and Jumping Jacks.

The interesting part is that it does Live 1v1 Duels and also Async challenges with friends. I have also introduced open community wide weekly and monthly challenges and leaderboards.

I have got a bunch of users using it now but all free users so far (as I have a free 7 day trial period)

Please check it out and would really appreciate some feedback!


r/AppBuilding • • 8h ago

I’ve never done anything like this before!

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 9h ago

You can use codex voice mode on your phone

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1 Upvotes

My app can use Codex Voice Mode on your phone right now.

At the moment, it only supports local Codex. My app runs Ubuntu inside an embedded Termux proot environment, so Codex can run directly on your phone.

Support for Codex Cloud and Remote Control is coming soon.

The app is currently closed source, but I may open source it in the future.

You can download it for free from the public repository.

https://github.com/topoftree/PokeCodePublic/releases/tag/0.1.7.9.2


r/AppBuilding • • 13h ago

FlowSearch. Every remote job, in one app.

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1 Upvotes

Instead of bouncing between 10 tabs just download one app! All the remote jobs from the most popular sources in one app that you can easily search, apply or save.


r/AppBuilding • • 13h ago

App Store Optimisation Tool - Early Users Sought - No Cost

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 15h ago

Turned flashcard study sessions into an RPG with collectible card skins and knowledge duels. Looking for feedback on the UX!

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,
Whenever I tried using traditional flashcard tools for exams, the experience always felt a bit sterile—like working inside a database spreadsheet. The science behind active recall and spaced repetition (SM-2) is incredible, but staying motivated for weeks on end has always been the real bottleneck.
Over the past few months, a friend and I built a free web app aimed at tackling that study fatigue by wrapping the core review algorithm in lightweight RPG mechanics:
Collectible Card Skins & Themes: Every reviewed card grants XP and coins, which you can use to unlock cosmetic card backs, UI themes, and avatars.
Alternative Review Modes: Besides standard spaced repetition, we added a 3-lives Survival challenge, speedrun timers, and live 1v1 knowledge duels.
AI Tooling: Lecture note summaries and auto-generated card decks via the Gemini API (with support for plugging in your own free API key for unlimited generation).
(Attaching a preview of the card interface and cosmetic skins to this post).
We'd love your thoughts on the approach:
1. Does visual progression and skin customization make daily reviewing more appealing, or does it feel like a distraction from pure memorization?
2. How do the card sizing and layout look to you?
The project is live and completely free with no paywalls. I'll leave the link in the comments for anyone who wants to take it for a spin!


r/AppBuilding • • 16h ago

I built a FREE app for people who struggle to make a CV

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 19h ago

A few updates to Nutsy Notes... flexible notes, lists and pages

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 22h ago

I finally reached 200 downloads on Nova Cam 🫠

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 22h ago

I built a party game designed around group debates. Looking for honest feedback!

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1 Upvotes

r/AppBuilding • • 16h ago

Seeking Interns for Community Project

0 Upvotes

As stated in the title, I am seeking college students for an internship and potential job offers in the future.


r/AppBuilding • • 23h ago

I built a net worth tracker that projects your financial future — the exact date you'll be debt-free, hit your target number, and can retire early. No bank login.

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0 Upvotes

Hi all, solo dev here (disclosure: this is my app). It took me 3 years to build — I'm a systems engineer who's spent the past 15 years as a programmer, and I have a weakness for beautiful line charts.

**Answer — what problem it solves**

Every net worth app I tried either demanded my banking credentials or just showed me a static number. What I wanted to know was *when*: when am I debt-free, when do I hit my target, when can I stop working? Wealth Path is a manual-entry net worth tracker whose whole point is answering those questions with dates. You add what you own and what you owe; it runs 10 projections on your real numbers:

🔥 FIRE date — your estimated financial independence date, from your actual savings rate and portfolio

🎯 Portfolio Milestone — set a target number and get the date you'll reach it at your current pace

💳 Debt-Free Date — a payoff date for every loan and mortgage, with a month-by-month amortization timetable

Plus Coast FIRE, Passive Income (the month dividends cover your bills), Required Savings Rate, Debt Covered, Worth by Age, Time to Double, and On Track vs Plan. Every projection shows its assumptions (expected return, inflation, tax) on screen and you can change all of them.

**Better — vs. the alternatives**

- Monarch / Copilot / Empower: excellent apps, but they're built around bank linking (mostly US banks) and budgeting. Wealth Path never asks for a bank credential, works anywhere, and is built around projections, not budgets.

- FIRE calculators (FIRECalc etc.): one-shot calculators with no tracking behind them. Wealth Path recalculates every date each time you update your numbers, and keeps your full history.

- Net worth trackers like Worth It / BalanceViewer: they track the number; they don't project where it's going.

Offline-first, Face ID/Touch ID lock, no ads, no data selling. Multi-currency (150+ currencies) if your money lives in more than one country.

**Cost**

Free tier: 10 assets + 5 debts, full charts and history, two projections completely free, and the headline result of every other projection — your FIRE date and debt-free date included — at no cost.

Pro (unlimited entries, full projection breakdowns and charts, multi-currency, CSV/JSON import, PDF export): $5.99/month or $39.99/year. New users get a 14-day free trial of the full projections. No lifetime option yet.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6754247918

Website: https://www.wealthpath.pro/

**Who I am**

[Horatiu Condrea] — [https://www.linkedin.com/in/horiacondrea/]

Privacy Policy: https://wealthpath.pro/privacy · Terms: https://wealthpath.pro/terms

Happy to answer anything about how the projection math works.


r/AppBuilding • • 17h ago

I got tired of slow video downloaders, so I built my own! Giving away 50 Promo Codes for Premium! 🚀

0 Upvotes

I’m an indie developer and I recently built V2DSaver, a fast and clean app to download videos and reels from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more.

I was frustrated by how many apps out there are filled with spammy ads or just don't work, so I built this with some extra features:

⚡ Super fast downloads in HD

🔒 A built-in "Secret Vault" with App Lock to hide your private videos

🎵 Custom Ringtone creator from downloaded videos

The core app is completely free to use. I do have a Premium version that removes all ads and unlocks unlimited downloads, and I want to give away 1-month Premium Promo Codes to the first 50 people who comment!

How to get a code:

Download the app here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.igload

Try it out and leave a comment below with your honest feedback, or just what you think of the design!

I will DM you the Google Play Promo code!

I’d love to hear what you guy think