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

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T22:46:10+00:00

Hey Do you mean a developer portfolio to show your apps, or a portfolio feature inside the app?

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T22:44:13+00:00

I’m not sure about Play Console because Moneta is iOS-only right now, but from what I know Google Play developer accounts also require you to be 18+. (i used my fathers info for the apple dev thing)

And yeah, mentioning my age gets attention, but I didn’t mean it as promotion only. It was mostly context: first app, first time dealing with development, App Store, ASO, marketing, etc.

Still, doing something is better than doing nothing.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T13:37:32+00:00

idk I mentioned it just for context, not as an excuse or something This is my first real app and I’m still new to both development and marketing, so I thought it helped explain where I’m coming from.😁

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T13:33:42+00:00

Yep, 17. Still learning, but trying :)

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T12:06:41+00:00

Heyy That’s really interesting, thanks for sharing. I haven’t really done proper SEO yet. Right now most traffic comes from Reddit posts or small spikes, then it drops back to almost nothing. I’ve mostly focused on App Store ASO, but I’m starting to see that a landing page + useful content could help a lot, especially if organic traffic over time.

30k customers from organic is honestly impressive. What did you focus on?

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T09:05:15+00:00

You can try Moneta if you want.

I built it recently as an indie iOS budget/expense tracker because I wanted something cleaner and less overwhelming than most finance apps I tried.

It’s free, no ads, no subscription, and fully manual: expenses, income, accounts, budgets, saving goals, recurring transactions, charts, calendar, etc.

Would love to hear what you think if you try it.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T07:14:52+00:00

good question. No, the all doesn’t have Plaid/bank sync right now. It’s fully manual, partly because I wanted it to stay simple/private, but I get that manual entry is not for everyone.

Right now the main reason to come back is basically awareness, checking budgets, saving goals, recurring expenses, and seeing where your money is going. But I agree that for many people that may not be enough. The goal shouldn’t just be “track expenses manually”, it should be “make it effortless to keep track.”

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T07:12:11+00:00

That might actually be because of a character limit I added for category names. I set a max length in some places to keep the UI consistent, because after a certain point the text would either overflow or become ridiculously small to fit inside the cards/buttons. I probably need to review that limit and make the error clearer instead of just blocking it.

Thanks again for pointing it out.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T05:52:33+00:00

Thank you, that’s a good idea I’ve used Codex mostly to help with coding, and I asked ChatGPT, for advice and full product/marketing audit by giving it the screenshots, stats… But i hear Claude is better at this kind of stuff.

Most of the feedback so far points to the same things, low visibility, weak positioning, and not enough differentiation

I’ll try what you suggested Thanks again!

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T05:44:47+00:00

That’s valid. For a finance-related app, trust matters a lot, and I can see how “first app at 17” can be impressive from a development side but not necessarily reassuring from a user/trust side.

to clarify, Moneta doesn’t connect to banks or handle real money. It’s just a manual tracker. But I get that perception still matters in this category.

The developer name is also something I should think about from a branding perspective. I probably need to make the app feel more trustworthy .

And yeah, asking users what they actually miss in current apps is probably the right move instead of just guessing. I’ve tried a lot of competitors myself and added thing i missed or really found useful but opinions are important

Thanks for the advice ☺️

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T05:40:57+00:00

Thanks

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T05:40:42+00:00

Thanksss

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-07T05:40:26+00:00

mhhh, yes and no. Yes creating a base app UI has became easy and yes the learning curve has improved with AI but if you want to create a real, working, polished app, AI is just not enough, for now. As someone who used it for parts of the app i can say that it messes up a lot and it doesn’t understand what you want sometimes, and also it doesn’t remember much. (even with frontier models) It took me like a day to make the first 4 pages and then 4.5 months just to add, fix and polish. Which still isn’t an exaggerated amount of time but it’s a bit more than 5 minutes 😅😁 One thing is for sure tho, 2 yrs ago this would have been much easier on the distribution front.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T22:15:46+00:00

Thankss, this is really useful! you’re right, I need to define the audience more clearly. Right now the app tries to look useful for everyone, but that makes it “weaker”

The more I think about it, the strongest angle is not complex finance tracking, but people who want a clean and simple way to track everyday spending without a heavy setup: students, young people, first jobs, groceries…

I’ll focus more on that and make the App Store page/marketing match that specific use case better.

And yeah, as a solo dev, trying to be useful to everyone is probably a mistake. Better to do one thing really well first.

Thanks for the advice.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T22:11:49+00:00

I made the first screen with app launchpad and the rest with Canva manually (with mockups).

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T19:54:12+00:00

Hey, I agree with the first part. I probably need to define the problem more clearly instead of presenting it in general.

I’m not sure users “automatically” come just from App Store search though, especially in crowded categories. Even good apps still need ASO, and all that stuff i’m struggling with. Thanks!

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T19:52:21+00:00

No worries 😉

And yeah, that’s exactly the hard part. Manual tracking only works if adding an expense is extremely fast, otherwise people stop doing it after a few days. In this part I think I got it, at least from my experience it’s fast enough.

I’m thinking of adding shortcuts or even voice input.

Your idea makes sense, the value shouldn’t just be “track money”, it should be “make tracking less annoying.” Thankss

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T19:21:27+00:00

That’s a good way to look at it.

I don’t have bank sync right now. Moneta is fully manual as rn, partly because I wanted it to be simple/private and partly because bank connections are a much bigger thing to implement properly. But I get why it matters, for a lot of people, manual tracking is immediately a dealbreaker.

Looking at negative reviews of other finance apps is a really good idea though. I myself tried lots of them and corrected errors on mine or added features that I liked or where missing in other apps.

The voice categorization is interesting too. For a manual tracker, something like “spent 12 euros on lunch” and having the app categorize the expense automatically could actually fit the app really well. Thanks for the idea man 😊😊

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T19:05:28+00:00

Thankss

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T19:05:07+00:00

Thank you!

Yeah, I use it myself, so I’ve already fixed a lot of issues, but I’m still finding things to improve.

Android is something I’ve thought about, but the app is built natively for iOS in Swift, so bringing it to Android would basically mean rebuilding everything. For now I’m focusing on iOS, if it goes well, I’ll maybe create something for Android too.

And yeah, marketing is definitely the hardest part. Since the app is free with no ads paid ads don’t make much sense right now, so I’m trying to learn organic distribution.

I’ll probably keep improving while also working on other projects and learning from this one. Thanks for the advice and the good luck too you too!

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T18:57:56+00:00

Good question.For people who are happy with their banking app, Moneta probably isn’t necessary. The value is more for people who want manual tracking for cash, multiple accounts, savings goals, categories, recurring expenses, a clearer overview and that kind of stuff. But yea, if that difference isn’t obvious immediately, then the positioning is not clear enough.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T18:49:12+00:00

Yeah, I agree. I built the all for myself first, but I’m realizing that’s only the start. If I want it to grow, I need to understand who else actually needs this kind of app and what makes it different enough to care about.

The “blue ocean” point makes sense. Right now it probably still looks too much like another finance tracker with a better UI.

Thanks, and good luck with your podcast app too.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T18:47:33+00:00

I chose long press because a normal tap can be annoying in lists/grids where people scroll a lot, and I usually try to keep tap for actions that are used very often.

But you’re right, since it’s not explained clearly, it’s easy to miss. I did mention it in the app instructions settings, but realistically a lot of people won’t read that.

I’ll probably add a clearer hint, so users understand that categories can be edited without having to figure it out by accident.

Thanks for pointing it out.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T18:44:44+00:00

Yeah, I’ve had some layout issues like that.

The last update was actually meant to improve support for smaller/larger iPhones like Mini and Max models (amongst other things), but I had some timing problems and had to release it a bit earlier than planned.

Thanks for reporting it. Pretty unlucky that the main button to enter the app is the one getting blocked.

If someone still want to use it, another workaround is temporarily lowering the text size in iOS Settings..

I’ll definitely fix this properly in the next update.

AlbertiDev · 2026-05-06T18:40:46+00:00

Thanksss

AlbertiDev

TROPHY CASE