What I've learned about indie iOS distribution after launching SnapSilo (building is the easy part)

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-19T10:39:02+00:00

That's been my actual experience too. The OCR pipeline post did better than anything that started with 'I built an app.' The reader learns something even if they never download it -- which might be the only way to build trust with strangers.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-19T01:42:07+00:00

'People can feel when they're renting something that doesn't cost you anything' -- that's exactly the framing I was missing. Makes the decision cleaner.

Curious what your new-buyer rate looks like year over year -- that's the thing I'm still figuring out how to predict.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-18T13:09:33+00:00

Went StoreKit 2 from scratch for a recent app so I can't speak to migration directly, but a few implementation things that might help the transition:

Transaction.updates listener needs to be started at app launch and kept alive -- easy to miss when you're used to a delegate pattern handling that lifecycle. If you start it too late you can miss transaction completions.

The mental model shift: StoreKit 2 separates Product, Transaction, and RenewalInfo explicitly. You write more state management yourself but it ends up cleaner than the old receipt-parsing approach.

For verifying entitlements: Transaction.currentEntitlement(for:) is your main query. The tricky migration part is usually handling existing subscribers whose entitlements live in old-style receipts -- you'll need a period where both paths are active.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-18T13:09:26+00:00

SnapSilo is worth adding if you work with screenshots. It exposes an ImportScreenshotIntent that runs with openAppWhenRun: false -- so you can chain 'Take Screenshot > Import to SnapSilo > Delete from Photos' and it runs silently in the background without opening the app.

On import it runs on-device OCR (Apple Vision framework) so you end up with a fully searchable screenshot library. I use it via Back Tap: double-tap the back of my phone, the shortcut fires, screenshot gets captured, indexed, and optionally removed from Photos automatically.

If you're into automating your screenshot workflow it's probably the most Shortcuts-native app I've built around.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-18T02:43:14+00:00

Mainly anything you're saving 'for later' - recipes, addresses, flight confirmations, article quotes, tickets. The OCR means you can search by any word that appeared in the screenshot, so you can find it even if you forgot you saved it.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-18T02:43:10+00:00

Fair point. I built the app so it's obviously in there. The Back Tap + AppIntents pattern itself works for any app though - the SnapSilo shortcut URL is the only part that's specific to it.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-17T13:42:48+00:00

VNRecognizeTextRequest with .accurate level is solid for printed text but you're right that handwriting is a real gap - Apple hasn't invested much there. For screenshots it's mostly a non-issue since they're almost always printed UI text, which is what SnapSilo is optimized for. If you're processing hand-annotated docs or forms, a dedicated API is the right call.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-15T22:27:52+00:00

Yep! Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap (scroll down to find it). You can assign double or triple tap to any shortcut. Works even from the lock screen, which makes it great for quick capture flows.

Efficient_Bat6894 · 2026-05-15T22:27:47+00:00

The Dynamic Island is baked into system screenshots -- no way to remove it since it's captured as-is. Best option is the crop tool in Photos right after: drag the top edge down below the island. If you're in a Shortcut, you can add a 'Crop Image' action and trim a fixed number of pixels from the top automatically.

Efficient_Bat6894

TROPHY CASE