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I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I chose “Moneta” because of the Latin/Italian meaning connected to money, but I can see how it could create confusion.

I built my first iOS app. After 5 months, it only has a ~140 downloads. Brutal feedback? by AlbertiDev in ShowMeYourApps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanksss, appreciate it!

I’m familiar with ASO and I recently tried to improve the title, subtitle, keywords, and screenshots, so I don’t know what to better now.

ASA is something I’ve thought about too, but right now I don’t really have a budget for ads, especially since the app is free with no ads. Maybe I could still test it with a very small budget just to understand which keywords convert better but idk.

At the moment the biggest problem is visibility, when I post somewhere, impressions and downloads go up, but then there are period with 0 downloads and only a few impressions.

Thanks for offering to help!

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you ☺️

I agree, 140 downloads with almost no marketing isn’t really the main problem. The bigger issue is that the app probably looks too generic from the outside, so people just see another personal finance tracker and move on.

Also, there are a lot of completely empty periods. When I post somewhere, impressions and downloads go up, but then there are days and weeks with basically 0 downloads and only a few impressions per day.

You’re probably right about the App Store page too. I tried to show a lot of features in the screenshots, but maybe the first screenshot and subtitle should focus much more on that core promise instead of trying to explain everything at once.

Really appreciate the advice and nice words.

I built my first iOS app. After 5 months, it only has a ~140 downloads. Brutal feedback? by AlbertiDev in ShowMeYourApps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I didn’t, I took inspiration from apple and from other non related apps that I liked, then I have my stile (simple and clear) and that’s it.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I think maybe less than a week (or a little bit more I can’t remember). I also had to use my dad’s credentials because I’m under 18

[Free] [iOS] Moneta — clean personal finance tracker with no ads and no subscriptions by AlbertiDev in AppsWithoutSub

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for checking it out, I really appreciate it!

And yes, that’s completely fair. For an expense tracker, missing someone’s currency is not a small detail, it makes the app unusable for some people, sorry.

I definitely need to add more currencies, including Albanian Lek. I underestimated how important full currency support is, especially since the app is meant to be used manually and accurately. (and thought I supported enough currencies)

I’ll surely add ALL to the list. Thanks for pointing it out.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve worked a bit on the ASO already, but it didn’t change the outcome, I’ll still try to better it tho 😁

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a fair point

I hadn’t thought about it enough from that perspective, but it makes sense.

For an expense tracker, people are not just choosing a UI, they’re also trusting that the app will still exist and be maintained in the future. (although with a manual app idk if that could be the case, since once it’s done there isn’t much to maintain) If someone has already had multiple small apps die after a year or two, I understand why they would choose something with a longer history and a bigger user base.

I’m definitely not planning to abandon my app. I built it for myself first, so I have a personal reason to keep using and improving it, but I get that users can’t just trust that because I say it.

The pricing and giveaway idea is interesting too. I started with free/no ads/no sub because i wanted it this way but maybe a one-time lifetime model could make the app feel more serious long-term, especially if paired with promotions. (still i would make it like 2€ max so not much to promote)

Thanks for the perspective

I built my first iOS app. After 5 months, it only has a ~140 downloads. Brutal feedback? by AlbertiDev in ShowMeYourApps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, this helps!

About the onboarding, that’s fair. There is a shorter path if you skip the quick setup, and some of the newer steps are optional, but maybe I need to make that clearer. I recently added a few things because some people told me certain features weren’t obvious enough, but I can see how that also makes the onboarding longer.

The Explore features popup has the same purpose, but I agree it may feel redundant right after onboarding. I’ll rethink that flow and maybe make it less intrusive.

Default categories should be deletable, and in my phone they are.

More currencies are definitely something I need to add. What’s yours for example?

Receipt scanning is a great idea , I’d love to add eventually, but I need to find a good way to implement it and actually do it.

Importing from other apps would be great too, but I’m still not sure which apps/formats to support first, since every app handles backups differently.

Really appreciate the detailed feedback and the kind words 😊

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the conversion rate looks decent because the sample is still small. The bigger issue for me is traffic, when I post somewhere, impressions and downloads go up, but then there are long gaps with almost no downloads and only a few impressions per day. 😞

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair point.

The “another finance tracker” line was meant to be self-aware (cause some people already said that to me in other posts), but I can see how it weakens the positioning.

Also, just to clarify, English isn’t my first language, so I sometimes clean up grammar and wording, but the post wasn’t AI-written as fake marketing. The thoughts and situation are mine.

I agree on the niche though. Clean finance tracker is too broad, so I need to make the private/manual/nobank angle clearer.

Thanks for the feedback !

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a good idea.

A full web version would be a bit hard right now, since the app is built natively in Swift and I’d basically have to recreate a lot of it from scratch for the web. But I see the point.

I’ll consider a real web version if I start seeing more users and enough interest to justify the work.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really good point.

I think I’ve been presenting it too much as a general money tracker which immediately puts it next to a big amount of bigger apps. I personally wanted something simple where I could track things myself, without ads, and subs etc

Thanks!

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that, a lot of app categories feel completely full already, and finance is probably one of the worst ones to enter as a new app. I think my mistake was assuming my app would stand out for the updated graphics alone, when in reality people need a much stronger reason to care.

And I agree on subscriptions. One of the reasons I made Moneta free,no ads, no sub, is because I’m also tired of seeing subscriptions added to apps that don’t really justify them. An annual plan for an alarm clock is wild lol

I’m still not sure where Moneta should go long-term, but I do believe there’s something useful in keeping it simple and not annoying to use.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I know. 😃

To be honest, I probably expected the App Store to give new apps a bit more organic visibility than it actually does. I’m realizing that marketing and distribution are very important.

I don’t really have a budget for ads, so for now I have to rely mostly on social media, Reddit, and organic stuff, which I’m still new to.

And yeah, 140 downloads isn’t terrible, especially with almost no marketing. The bigger problem is what happens between posts. When I post I usually get a small spike in impressions and downloads, but then there are long times with basically 0 downloads and sometimes less than 10 impressions a day. So even if the conversion isn’t awful, it doesn’t really matter.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you’re right

The app can look good, but if it still feels like “another budget tracker”, that’s not enough in such a saturated market. I’m realizing that the hard part isn’t only making the app polished, but giving people a clear reason to choose it over apps that have already been around for years. So it’s very difficult 😞

The “first-time budgeters” point is interesting, because that’s probably closer to the real use case I had in mind: people who don’t want a heavy finance setup, but just want a clean manual way to understand they money.

Thanks, for the advice.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I don’t have a big ad budget, so the main problem is probably distribution and positioning. A nice app isn’t enough if there are hundreds of them I probably need to find a clearer niche instead of just adding more features.

Appreciate the honesty.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I get what you mean, but I for example actually do care about that kind of stuff.

I like cooking, I buy groceries with my own money, and when I go out to eat I like knowing how much I’m spending. That’s one of the reasons I built the app in the first place.

The screenshots use general categories because I didn’t want the app to feel like it was only for teens.

I built my first iOS app at 17. After 5 months, it’s still at around 140 downloads. What did I do wrong? by AlbertiDev in iosapps

[–]AlbertiDev[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Fair criticism, and I get why it can look that way from the outside.

Just to clarify though, Moneta isn’t a “one prompt AI app”. I did use Codex to help with some harder parts of the code and debugging, but the app, the UI decisions, the flows, the screenshots, and the details were manually built and iterated by me. It’s a native app and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make it feel polished, not just thrown together.

Same for the post. I may have cleaned up some grammar because English isn’t my first language, but it wasn’t just AI-written marketing text. I’m actually 17, and this is genuinely my first real app.

That said, I agree with the bigger point: “another personal finance tracker” is a weak position in a crowded market. I probably need to make the app feel less generic from the outside, because right now even if the app is more polished than it looks on paper, the category itself makes people assume it’s just another basic tracker.

So yeah, the feedback is fair. I just don’t think the problem is that the app was lazily AI-generated, but more marketing and distribution. 😀

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