> 9 days to create a new indie app start to finish
> 18 days to release it on App Store
> 78 days to reach 20K downloads => $9K MRR (est.)
Same guy created 10 other apps before that didn’t take off.
Consistency is how you win in this game (and against the TikTok algorithm):
Michael Tigas has been building consumer apps since 2018.
He launched 11 apps until now and reached Ramen profitable in Aug 2022.
2 months ago, he launched Dumbphone:
An app that turns iPhones into dumb phones.
Home screen becomes a B&W list of essential apps – no colours, buttons, distractions.
In August, Michael started posting on TikTok (tt@dumbphoneapp):
And in 45 days, he got
> Followers = 2K
> Views = 2.4M
> Videos outp by 50x = 13%
Short home-made videos of app screen + hand scrolling to show features.
Dead simple, if you don’t have a tripod you can even record yourself with one hand while scrolling with the other.
It’s effective because
The dumb, minimalistic home screen is different enough that it works as a great faceless hook.
Gets you curious, and bc you’re also struggling with your own phone addiction, you instantly identify to it.
Many posts are full of
Comments, likes, saves…
Check this => 29.3K likes, 343 comments, 10.1K bookmarks
And it’s not the first time
Michael had tried to explore the phone distraction niche on TikTok.
Focused Work App (tt@focusedworkapp) => last post Feb 2024
Focused OS (tt@focusedos) => last post July 2024
And,
Before that, 8 other apps. Most still remain active and generating negligible revenue.
Bottom line,
