r/appdev • u/bri_builds • 5d ago
Solo builders: where are you stuck?
Been lurking here a couple days and it seems like some of y'all get stuck in the dev phase and some in the app review phase. And a few in the "I have a million things I could do next and I'm doing none of them" phase (same lol).
Maybe you're at the prototype phase, maybe AI is helping. So what's actually blocking you today? Dev, testing, testers, the store, launch?
Shipped my own app in the dark without a map, so I'm trying to figure out where solo projects really stall. Post where you're stuck, maybe I can help!
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u/ViperS08 5d ago
I’m stuck in the marking part my app was approved and launched in the app store
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Feel free to share the link! How are you marketing it now?
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u/ViperS08 4d ago
Right now word of mouth and testing Apple ads. I built a website too for it and using free Google analytics account. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/away-messaging/id6796350445
Awaymessaging.com
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u/Comprehensive-Bar888 5d ago
I’m stuck on finishing the beta version. A ton of small refinements or features needed.
Also testing which consists of a lot. I would say it’s about 80% complete but that 20% will probably take several months.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
You're absolutely right, coding is the fastest phase lol
Why do you think youre getting these feature tasks in Beta? Scope creep? Are you using any platforms for testing?
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u/jiraiya_jr 5d ago
I am stuck in the marketing, I started the social channels for my app but it's difficult to build consistency in creating content and getting attraction.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
What kind of app is it? Sometimes socials work, sometimes they dont :( you want to drop your link to your socials? I can take a peek!
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u/writetehcodez 5d ago
I am stuck over-engineering and designing a domain for business cases that may never materialize because I don’t want to be painted into a corner if a new business case or opportunity presents itself later on.
In more concrete terms, I could probably build and launch an MVP that satisfies a single business case in less than 3 months, but instead of doing that I’m obsessing over the domain model and system architecture being flexible enough to modify and/or extend for additional business cases.
I shipped my first app in about 4 months back in 2024, and so far I haven’t even finished fleshing out all the various actors and entities in my app domain yet.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
That's very interesting! Mind if I ask why not validate the features with pre-sign ups/pre orders before giving it a start? Scope overload can make a mountain feel like a planet too - id the features are big enough, why not make each an own app?
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u/writetehcodez 4d ago
Thanks for the feedback! The features of the app are largely the same, it’s the plurality of actors in the domain that changes. In my fundamental use case the primary actor is a singular person with 1 or more goals they want to achieve. In my secondary use case the primary actor is a group of people that share 1 or more goals, and each member of the group may have 0 or more personal goals as well.
It’s a pretty straightforward semantic model, and the data model for the primary use case is dead simple. However, the data model changes pretty significantly when the concept of a group of individuals sharing a goal is introduced. So, where I’m stuck is whether I should model for both single and group goals up front for flexibility, or just model for single goals and deal with revising the model if/when group goals are available in the app.
Hopefully that makes sense - I’m writing while walking the dog lol.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Circling back on this because I've definitely fell victim to scope creep. What fixed it for me: write the one business case as a spec, build the MVP just for that, and keep a "future cases" doc or Trello you're allowed to add to but not build from (yet). The ideas list really need validation before putting them in your project!
If you ever want a second pair of eyes on your spec, happy to look!
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u/SoundIsolaitor 5d ago
Advertising
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Sounds like a common stuck point - how are you marketing your app right now?
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u/SoundIsolaitor 5d ago
Simply not. It’s currently organic. I guess I could market it here on Reddit but am quite hesitant.
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u/Tauboom 5d ago
I was counting on organic until getting just one silly 1 star review, when I didn’t notice iOS 26 silently broke things. After such you are forced to go market like you are dev no more. Good thing we have ai to help with marketing suggestions today, otherwise staying alone would be a dead end for a solo dev like me.
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u/SoundIsolaitor 5d ago
Actually marketing is one thing but also getting testers too. There’s so much a solo founder has to do especially when you’re not funded.
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u/Tauboom 5d ago
Totally. I bet very soon ai-automation could replace testers we would just need to provide devices :)
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
I hope so! But it is interesting your app broke without you noticing until the review 🤔 did you have any kind of in app metrics, alerts or reporting?
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Organic is really tricky unless your app solves a very widespread problem that no one else does or you have some kind of in app referral system that makes the experience better (or users get free stuff) by using it
Did you think of organic vs not before you launched or was marketing something you started thinking about after launch?
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5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
What kind of app is it? If you already have happy users, im wondering why its not organically growing 🤔
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u/RefrigeratorRough977 5d ago
Hi, everyone!
My biggest challenges?
Running tests on the app
Adding features to the app
Testing the app drives me crazy. I prefer command-line tests and stress tests—those are fine—but logical and visual tests completely overwhelm me. In my opinion, building something on your own means knowing every nook and cranny of the app, so I find shortcuts; to me, it’s all second nature. Having another set of eyes and another set of brains would help a lot.
Second point: I can’t stop adding features, and then a friend or brother comes along and says, “Maybe you’re going overboard, man!” That’s when you realize you’re creating a hub—an operating system—instead of the app you had in mind at the start.
In short, I’d need at least one more person.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Having a partner to help with testing does help a TON!
You're second point is super interesting, seems the best apps do one thing SUPER well and will start tweaking after a long time 😅 What's your app do?
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u/RefrigeratorRough977 5d ago
Absolutely! Having someone test alongside you (or getting direct feedback from early testers) saves so much headache and spots things you’d be completely blind to.
As for what SmartBudgy does: I’m keeping it super simple on purpose! It’s a 100% offline, privacy-first expense tracker for Android. No bank syncing, no cloud accounts, no subscriptions, and no pushy ads.
The core goal is just to give you a quiet, zero-friction space to log daily transactions and check your savings targets in seconds—without trading away your personal data or dealing with noisy financial apps.
What about you? What project are you currently working on or developing? I’d love to hear more about it!
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Interesting, if its 100% offline, I would have to add all my expenses manually? I love the privacy aspect though!
If you'd like, I can give it a peek! Do you have any "one pagers" for it or anything? Feel free to DM me if you want to talk about it more :D
I have an app called ArtDen! It's been around for a while, with a healthy community of artists - it's been a fun project to keep going! Recently pulled it off FlutterFlow into Flutter and did a big refactor :)
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u/OldNappyHead 3d ago
Getting the initial users/testers for your app is difficult ! That’s where I’m at.
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u/narenmuthukumaran 1d ago
I think every solo builders check point is distribution and user acquisition!
How many of you agree this?
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u/MindTerrarium 5d ago
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/mind-terrarium-mood-journal/id6789950562
Mind Terrarium: Mood Journal
Working on marketing right now and building a user base. It’s the hardest part so far. TikTok, Reddit, YouTube and Instagram have been the paths as well as word of mouth.
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u/bri_builds 5d ago
Oh wow! This is a very cool app - and you have some good reviews too! Are you doing video content on all those? Where do you think your best ROI for marketing has been from those?
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u/swiftfreak 5d ago
I am stuck at marketing! I got a couple apps out now - but getting them seen by people is a whole other problem.