Indie Interviews
Can you tell us more about yourself and what led you to become an indie maker
Hello everybody! My name is David, I'm 31 years old and I'm from Madrid, Spain.
I've always been in love with the world of mobile applications, already with 15/16 years old I loved downloading and testing applications of all kinds, but my studies were different... I finally decided to study Electronic Engineering, where my favorite subjects were all related to programming. I finished my degree and worked as a Hardware Engineer for 7 years, the last year I studied Swift and SwiftUI while working for 10 months, and here was the time to take the big leap and bet 100% on one of my passions.
Today it's been more than 1 year and I have launched 4 apps to the AppStore.
How did you come up with the idea? How do you generate ideas for your apps or projects, and how do you identify the problems or needs your app can address?
My first app was Gratefully, a gratitude journal, but so far the most successful has been WeekEats, a meal planner.
The idea came from trying to cover the problem my girlfriend and I had with planning weekly meals, when we were simply using the notes app. There are many apps that offer you an already integrated meal plan that covers your needs and so on, but we just wanted to simply indicate what we were going to eat. So why not do it myself? And that's where WeekEats comes in, whose main functionality is to offer simple, visual and useful meal planning. I am very happy to have been evolving the application with the needs of the users, I noticed a big change by including a "Feedback" and "feature request" section. At least, you make sure that you will be able to help people who need it.
When thinking about new ideas, I like to start from the needs that my friends or family may have, this way I make sure that I am helping someone.
How is your day-to-day app development workflow look like?
Currently I have modified my daily routine to try to be more conscious, grateful and increase my happiness.
I start my mornings doing a small yoga and meditation session, then I have breakfast and review the planning I had planned for that day.
I try to dedicate 6 hours to the development of applications and 1 hour to review statistics.
How do you launch and market your app?
Currently I release my apps only in the AppStore and announce them on Twitter. I have tried to create TikTok and Instagram accounts for each app, but it involves work that I can't sustain in time, so I try to publish once a week in those accounts. Not successful at this moment.
My main focus right now is on improving the App Store Optimization (ASO) to get better visibility and thus a higher number of downloads.
What are the future plans for your app?
The first task I have on the agenda is to do testing with a more comprehensive onboarding, allowing the user to get to know the application better.
Then I would like to implement Widgets and improve the user recipe categories.
Do you have any interesting lessons learned or tips for other indie makers?
Being patient, I think, is something important that I am not yet able to internalize. We all want quick results, but everything takes time.
Also, something I already do before making an app, is to look in terms of ASO if the app could have a future.
Regarding people who are studying now, I would encourage them to create their first app as soon as possible, even if they don't launch it, but that's, in my opinion, when you learn the most.
Looking back, are there any decisions or actions you regret not taking before or during the development and launch of your apps? Is there anything you would have done differently?
For me there are two key actions.
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• Improve ASO: Sorry to repeat myself, but I have suffered and learned that it is super important. Research and test over time.
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• Ask feedback from users: From an early stage of the application, I think that having feedback from your users, what they like or what they don't like, is essential to mark your next task. Some optional bonus questions
Are there any other products that you are particularly proud of? Could you share some details about them
The app I'm most fond of and proud of is Gratefully, it's a gratitude journal. Just before I quit my job, I went through a rough patch and having a gratitude journal helped me to know and appreciate the little things around us. So, the first application I wanted to build was a gratitude journal, which I hope is helping a lot of people.
Are there any indie makers or creators whose work you admire and follow closely?
I want to mention 3 of them, that are big creators and better persons.
@FloWritesCode: Have a YT channel very helpful and he explain all perfectly.
@matteo_spada: He shares a lot of ASO tips and also have a great tool for this purpose.
SebastianRoehl: Very good example of building in public.
Could you recommend any specific tools or resources that you believe are helpful for other indie makers, especially those just starting out?
Create a X account, follow the #buildinpublic community and start learning and helping others.
Thanks for reading til the end. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did.
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