

Ask HN: What mobile app did you make and how much are you making from it? - tagabek

Be as specific or as general as you want.
======
melling
To be honest, I haven't sold many copies of my Spanish language app. The last
time I scrolled through a generic search on my iPad, I was down around 147th
out of 150. Downloads picked up a bit once I released the iPad version in
January. However, it's a crowded market and I've got a long way to go. A new
version is coming out in the next 2-3 weeks. More words, more audio, another
game, etc.

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?mt=8)

Feel free to click the feedback link in the app and tell me what you think I
need to focus on next. At the moment, I'm scratching my own itch, plus
learning iOS at a deeper level now. It's also a thrill to see people from all
over the world using my app.

~~~
tagabek
That's awesome! Good luck with continuing to grow h4 Spanish Lite!

------
askar
PrayerTime iPhone app,
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prayerti.me/id555243169?ls=1...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prayerti.me/id555243169?ls=1&mt=8)

The idea is to help Muslims know their obligatory prayer times and also to
help them keep track of their prayers. Learned iOS and built it all by myself
including the design work.

I launched it for $0.99, made $10 or so and then made it free and since then
saw a significant increase in downloads but since it's a free app without any
ads it's not making any money right now.

I would love to hear from you on how to possibly monetize this without
compromising the good intentions of making this app.

~~~
tagabek
Could you find a way to license your app to certain religious organizations?

~~~
askar
Don't know what exactly that means? Do you mean let those orgs buy bulk
license and distribute to their groups? Can you please explain a little bit?

~~~
tagabek
I am not experienced with licensing out pieces of software like this, but that
is the general idea. Maybe another HNer could shed some light on this topic?

------
mstockton
Group Texting Pro (<https://itunes.apple.com/app/group-texting-
pro/id377826384>)

I released it in June 2010 and have made over $10k after Apple's cut. My best
month was just about $1k (Oct 2011)

The download counts decreased significantly after the iOS6 / app discovery
changes came out. The app is 6th when you search for 'Group Texting' -- I
think not having the 'list view' search result really hurt the downloads.

Nonetheless, I'm happy with it's limited success - it didn't take long to
build and it's fun / rewarding to have happy users. I wrote a post about it
here: ([http://mattstockton.com/2012/12/05/why-my-crappy-looking-
iph...](http://mattstockton.com/2012/12/05/why-my-crappy-looking-iphone-app-
made-me-over-10k/))

I have 5 other apps in the store. None of those make over $200 a year

------
jonasingvar
I made an app called BHive Tasks. I did it originally for BlackBerry since I
saw there was very little competition there. On a good day it would make
$150/day ... and it's probably made 40K so far.

<http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/7327/>

I also tried to make the same app for Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry
10... The Android app has done ok (a few thousand dollars so far). The windows
phone app was a complete disaster. Even though it was at one point #3 in
productivity, it was only getting a few sales a week (I decided to never
developer for windows phone after that).

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bhivetasks...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bhivetasks.full&hl=en)

------
bjplink
US Golf Courses (<http://www.usgolfcoursesapp.com>) was the first and most
successful app I made back when I was starting with iOS development in the
early spring of 2011. Over the course of it's lifetime it has averaged about
two sales per day but out of the gate it did well after a mention on Mashable.

I wrote a short article last year about how the app fared when I had both a
paid and free version: <http://www.brianjlink.com/sucks-not-working>

I haven't updated US Golf Courses at all since April of 2011. The app is
currently both out of date and has a broken weather feature but still seems to
generate at least some minimal interest every day.

------
jamesjguthrie
I built a couple of calculators for use in my Motorsport Engineering course at
Uni. They are free to download and make about $20 every 3 months in
advertising.

I've just launched my first SAAS app which is a staff management product but
it's yet to make a penny.

~~~
tagabek
That's great! Do you feel like your apps can be used by future students that
will be taking the same class later on? Something like this could have the
college textbook effect and end up supporting the course for years to come. I
would love to see a wave of apps that helped students accomplish course-
related tasks easier.

~~~
jamesjguthrie
Yeah the class is taught every year and I've tried to let the new students
know about the apps. Downloads are still increasing so hopefully it is the
students using the apps.

------
ceeK
Firework Flare ([https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/firework-
flare/id513766705?l...](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/firework-
flare/id513766705?ls=1&mt=8)). 'Twas my first iOS app. Took a lot longer than
expected to make mostly due to inexperience, taking on iOS, Cocos2D, UIKit +
xCode and a lot of design work done myself.

I make nothing from it these days even though it has IAP available. It ranks
favourably under "firework" and a bit less favourably under "fireworks". It
gets about 2-12 downloads a day, maybe more during July 4th, new year etc.

I've considered switching it to paid just to see what it would pull in but
haven't as of yet.

------
freshfey
I outsourced my app "Keep Calm - create a funny poster"
([https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keep-calm-create-funny-
poste...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keep-calm-create-funny-
poster/id582348408?ls=1&mt=8)) in the middle of December 2012 (coded 60%
myself, 40% outsourced - for 500 USD) and make around 300-500 USD every month
off it (no marketing at all).

Gonna prep two other apps to release in April.

If any of you need help with your app (revenue), I'd love to help.

Also, tagabek you should put your email in your profile, so that people can
contact you :)

~~~
tagabek
Thanks! I just updated it. What apps are you prepping for April?

~~~
freshfey
A photo effects app and a caption creator :)

------
elango
We make about 10$ a week.

Kiddy TV - YouTube for Kids Kiddy TV comes packaged with 100’s of safe, fun,
entertaining and educational YouTube videos for your kids. What's more, we
arrange these into neat playlists so you don't have to take all that trouble.
And on top of that, we keep adding new YouTube videos regularly so your kids
can have more new fun everyday.

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kiddy-tv-youtube-for-
kids/id...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kiddy-tv-youtube-for-
kids/id606149986?mt=8)

~~~
ZenzerNet
Looks great, I've had the same idea. Probably not alone in that :) - But I'm a
little curious - 25m+ likes on itunes, 7.2m+ likes on App Store, and still
doesn't make more than $10 per week? How?

I'd not hesitate to pay for it, except I'd need it in my (3y son's) native
tongue and on Android.

~~~
elango
Thank you for giving me a surprise, but it was short lived. The likes that you
see is not for our app, but for iTunes and AppStore.

you should give this feedback to Apple.

~~~
ZenzerNet
Aahh... Yeah that was a bit silly both of me and Apple. :) But the idea is
still sound, keep at it.

------
taybenlor
<http://whether.io> \- Australian Store only.

I've made about $100 in around 6 months. No advertising beyond initial push on
social networks.

Made about $40 in first week (all people I know, I assume). Now I get around 1
purchase each week.

~~~
tagabek
I like how Dark Sky reminds you when rain is coming, but I like this app's
simple layout better.

------
mansigandhi
With two we make <$20 a month, with another we make >$300 a month. The more
successful one is [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/soundbox-for-
youtube/id44466...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/soundbox-for-
youtube/id444661413?mt=8&ls=1)

------
tommy_
A minimalist wallpaper app <https://itunes.apple.com/app/id595197158> About
$30 a month.

------
speedyapoc
<http://feelthemusi.com> \- allows you to stream audio from YouTube on iPhone

About -$20 per month.

~~~
tagabek
Wow, that's a really cool app. I really like how easy it is to use.

------
kevinyun
We made Fitsby (<http://fitsby.com>) and aren't making a miniscule amount from
it.

~~~
tagabek
Cool! I saw an article on this a little bit ago. I'll definitely give it a go
when the iOS version hits the App Store!

How is the transition from Android to iOS?

