5M Downloads, $30K/Month From App Store Optimization - Solo Developer

TL;DR: John Makavoy, a graphic designer from Scotland, taught himself to code and built Murmigo, a bus and train tracking app covering 160+ cities. Starting in 2017, he grew to 5.2M downloads and 400K monthly active users generating $30K MRR through pure App Store Optimization (ASO) with zero ad spend. His three-step ASO strategy involved location-specific keywords (like 'MTA subway', 'CTA L train'), leveraging Mexican Spanish localization to boost US rankings, and strategic in-app rating requests at 'golden moments'. After the pandemic killed his $8K/month ad revenue, he pivoted to subscriptions and used A/B testing to increase conversion rates from 0.5% to 8% by optimizing paywalls and adding a reverse trial feature. The app runs on a boring but reliable tech stack (Laravel PHP backend, Swift/Flutter frontend) with $2,500/month server costs and demonstrates how deep research and patience with ASO can replace paid marketing entirely.