How This Developer Shipped 28 Apps in 8 Months to $10K/Month
TL;DR: Max spent 8 years as iOS developer with pet project he tried to grow - nothing worked. Found Adam Slites' YouTube video showing different approach: build simple one-feature apps, ship, forget, move to next. Changed everything. In 8 months shipped 28 apps while working full-time. Now makes $10K/month with 1K+ subscribers, 4-5K daily users. 80/20: top 4 apps make ~$1.5K each ($6K), rest make small amounts. Process: (1) Find keywords with Astro ASO tool - 20%+ popularity, 60-70% difficulty, check Sensor Tower for competitor revenue (€100-200/month minimum benchmark). Look for related keywords (physics AI, chemistry AI, math AI target same students). (2) Study 2-3 competitors for core feature only. Use ChatGPT/Gemini for implementation plan. Reuse 90% of code from previous apps - drag/drop UI elements (onboarding, paywall, settings). Record: built one app in 2 hours from idea to App Store submission. (3) Ship clean MVP with only necessary features, no polishing. (4) Monitor: apps get App Store boost then fade. Watch which stabilize/grow vs sink. (5) Revisit winners showing organic traction, polish, add ads to scale. 6-step playbook: find strong keywords, study competitors for core feature, plan with AI, build lean MVP, release and move on, return to winners to scale with ads. Advice: 'Don't waste time polishing or adding one more killer feature. Ship bugs-free with one single feature, let users tell you what they think while building another app.' Tech: Flutter, Fastlane, Cursor ($20/mo), Firebase ($5-10/mo), OpenAI ($200/mo), Gemini ($50/mo), Mixpanel (free), Astro ($10/mo). Total costs: ~$285/mo.
Key Insights
- Portfolio approach beats single app focus - 28 apps with 80/20 distribution more resilient
- Reusing 90% of code from previous apps enables 2-hour builds from idea to submission
- ASO-first validation - check keyword popularity/difficulty + competitor revenue before building
- Let App Store boost reveal winners - apps that stabilize after initial boost have potential
- Shipping speed matters more than polish - one feature MVP beats adding 'killer features'
Actionable Takeaways
- Use Astro to find keywords with 20%+ popularity, 60-70% difficulty, €100-200/mo competitor revenue
- Build reusable component library (onboarding, paywall, settings) to copy 90% between apps
- Ship clean MVP with single core feature - no polishing or extra features
- Find related keywords targeting same user group (physics AI, chemistry AI for students)
- Monitor which apps stabilize after App Store boost, double down on those with ads