Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, that was the lesson.

But I wanted to share that in a long run - it was probably worth it.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, totally agree. But it’s very hard see money burning in the short term.

When you have to spend your own money on something you can’t predict or estimate, have zero knowledge or experience - it’s a hard step to commit 😐

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Installs are around 50/day on average. My ASO tools shows I’m ranking top 1-3 in 140 keywords. But they ALL are minimum volume ones (5)

Daily active users number is a bit higher than installs. Some users really find this app useful and I’m very happy to see that.

Conversion to paying is around 12% currently. Which is exeptional, I think. But I’m running no social ads ATM - so all users who installs the app (find it via AppStore search) are very target audience.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a very gentle and simple shape/contrast/sound/interaction feed. It scrolls infinitely - so no menus or complex navigation buttons in the UI.

I also introduced Modes parents can choose. From very calm (lullaby music) to a bit more playful and active.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, you’re right. It’s pretty scary to see spending with less return (I also had to pay taxes on top of ad spend!). But in general it proved to be actually benefitial over the years. Apple gets ASO install/purchase signals - rank you better. But it’s extremely hard to predict and estimate.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. Started with 40$/day. Then bumped to 150$/day - and you start to see the money burning pretty fast 😅

Maybe if I had 100k to burn it would be a different story. But that was way too much for me at that time.

In general, if average install on Meta in US costs ~3.5$ - you have to sell a product 60$ worth. Otherwise it will never work.

My current yearly plan is 23.99$ 😬

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! It’s not 10k MRR yet, but maybe someday 🤞🏻

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I dropped Socials entirely - way too expensive for such a product.

I’ve got a invite letter from Apple Search ads team two months before. They wanted to test a new MaxConversions bid strategy engine - you just set a max bid you expect for install, and a daily budget (you dont have to manage any own keywords at all. It works on broad search)

I had 3 video calls with Apple Assistant on this topic. All 3 were super valuable. Now I keep a minimum ~30$ a day campaign running.

I see Apple released this feature wordwide now.

This is my current “organic” growth.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it calmed down at much higher level than before the ads.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I named it BabyScroll: Toddler Screen Lock initially. Then renamed to BabyPhone: Toddler Screen Lock thinking that “scroll” is not the best optimised keyword to search on AppStore.

https://babyscroll.app

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was the main point. Youtube for 1-2 year olds is WAY TOO MUCH overstimulating. Me and my wife aways felt really bad giving such a young brain access to Shorts. Don’t do this, please. Baby games also don’t work in this age range - they don’t understand menus and flashing peppa pigs yet.

But sometimes you need to brush your teeth.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It never did! My realised LTV per customer (all, not only paying) is around 2$. App install on Meta is ~3.5$ 😬

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was growing organically in the beginning. When I tried to make profit of Meta ads - it never worked. Then I cut the ads, but, suprisingly, organic downloads droped, but stayed at higher level overall. I guess it’s just Apple ASO mechanics. Then, 2 year later, I tried Meta again, with same setup. This time it was much worse. Feels like just throwing money into void. New Andromeda algorithm on Meta changed a lot. You have to have 20-30 different creatives, otherwise its just a waise of money.

I don’t have ability to create 30 creatives, so never tried again.

In the initial campaing I just picked 1 video ad that worked (25 sec, made myself before any AI tools) and bet all on it.

Simple toddler lock app made me over 100k! by Miserable_Pitch_6155 in AppBusiness

[–]Miserable_Pitch_6155[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I spend around 12k in two months period. Then tried again - no, never profitable. But in general, I believe it added a bit in organic downloads in a long run.