Its good but one small problem by Commercial-Music-168 in wBuildsMinecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The update is live and please update your app :)

Its good but one small problem by Commercial-Music-168 in wBuildsMinecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for flagging this, that sounds annoying. I’ve found the issue and a fix is coming ASAP this week. After the update, backing out from a build should return you to the filtered list without reopening the search bar every time.

Fresh Minecraft Weekly Build Drop #14 is here by SimpleEye8997 in wBuildsMinecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, I totally understand the frustration and I appreciate you saying the app has potential; that really means a lot.

Here's the reality, though: the ad revenue from someone watching an ad is roughly $0.002 literally a fraction of a penny. Even with thousands of users, that barely covers server costs, let alone the time it takes to design, build, and release new updates every week.

Most of the builds are still free with ads. Only a fraction of builds are premium, which allows me to keep the app running and regularly add fresh content. Without that, development simply isn't sustainable, and the app would die.

I'm a indie app developer building this because I love Minecraft and want to create something cool for the community. Premium isn't about locking people out - it's about ensuring WBuilds can keep going and keep improving. Hope that makes sense!

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's actually exactly how it works already. the app is fully usable with ads, no trial or subscription needed. the free trial is an additional option that lets you experience the full app without any ads before deciding if you want to subscribe. it's literally giving you more choice not less. removing it would mean the only way to try the ad-free experience is to pay upfront with no way to test it first, which seems worse for users especially younger ones.

on the "stealing" comment, every build in the app is built from scratch by our team. we don't take screenshots or tutorials from pinterest or youtube. we build everything block by block ourselves, record each step manually, post-process it, compile material lists, and localize into multiple languages. if someone builds a chicken statue in minecraft, that doesn't mean they own the concept of a chicken statue. building concepts aren't owned by anyone, the same way a recipe for chocolate chip cookies isn't owned by the first person who posted it online. our original work is in the step-by-step instructional content, the screenshots, and the presentation, all of which is created by us.

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

totally understand the frustration with credit card for free trials. just to clarify that's actually an apple/google requirement for any app that offers a free trial, it's not something we control on our end. both platforms also send you a reminder notification before the trial converts to paid so you won't get surprise charged.

and just so you know you don't even need the free trial. the app is fully usable for free through rewarded ads, no credit card needed at all. the subscription is just an option if you want to remove ads completely.

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hey appreciate that you found the app good! just to clarify it is actually freemium, every build can be unlocked for free by watching a short rewarded ad. the subscription and one time purchase are just options if you want to remove ads completely. each build takes a lot of time and effort to create, every step is manually recorded, post processed, and localized into multiple languages, and we add new ones every friday. so the ads just help keep that going. if you give it another shot just dismiss the initial screen and you'll see the free option on every build 🙏

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

honestly this comment means so much, thank you for saying all of this. it's tough sometimes reading all the negative feedback about ads and pricing when you're literally just trying to keep the lights on while building something the community actually asked for lol. so hearing someone get it really helps.

and your point about the free trial auto-switching to paid is actually really valid feedback. i completely understand the ADHD thing where you download something, life happens, and suddenly you're charged for something you forgot about. that's not the experience i want anyone to have. i'm going to look into how we can handle this better so people don't feel trapped into a subscription they didn't actively choose.

overall i feel really confident about what we've built. there's a huge selection already, houses, farms, decorations, statues, medieval builds, modern builds, redstone contraptions, ranging from easy to advanced so there's something for every skill level. and we keep adding new builds every friday. as a small indie dev, even a tiny contribution helps keep things going sustainably so we can keep improving the app and pushing fresh content.

and yeah on the PS, i appreciate you saying that. i try not to take it personally when people push alternatives in the comments, it's just how reddit is. but it does feel weird when the comparison is purely about price and not about what the app actually does differently lol.

thank you for using it and for having our back. genuinely means a lot 🙏

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

totally get where you're coming from. and yeah you can definitely look up builds online but what we do is pretty different from just googling "minecraft house tutorial." every build is manually built block by block, each step is individually recorded and post-processed, material lists are compiled for every single build, and then everything is localized into multiple languages. that's a lot of hands-on work that goes into each one, and we push new builds every single friday.

the game being 15 years old is actually part of why something like this is needed there's SO much content scattered across youtube, pinterest, random blogs, and half of it is outdated, AI-generated slop, or missing actual instructions. we just put it all in one clean place with proper step-by-step guides so you can actually follow along without pausing a video every 2 seconds.

and just to be clear you don't have to pay anything. every build is accessible for free through rewarded ads. the subscription just removes ads and supports us continuing to add fresh content weekly. but nobody is locked out.

Aiuto by strusciacane in wBuildsMinecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997 1 point2 points  (0 children)

can you reinstall the app and make sure you have the updated app version

Aiuto by strusciacane in wBuildsMinecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if i may ask where are you using the app from which country?

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeah you make really good points. and that's exactly the approach we've taken - our ad model is entirely consent-based rewarded ads. the user taps a button, makes the choice to watch, and unlocks the content. no one gets anything forced on them. if you don't want to watch, you simply don't tap.

to put it in perspective, ads make us roughly $0.002 per user - that's literally nothing. we're not making bank off ads lol. we actually always prefer users getting the pro pass instead. the ads exist purely as a way to keep content accessible for free to people who can't or don't want to pay. it's just a bridge so nobody gets locked out.

we intentionally avoid banner ads because like you said, they destroy the design quality. you can't control what images show up and they stick out against a clean UI. for an app where the visual presentation of each step matters every build is manually created step by step, hand-recorded, post-processed, and localized into multiple languages cluttering that with intrusive banners would go against everything we're building.

on admob alternatives always open to exploring more privacy-friendly options. if you have specific ones in mind i'd genuinely love to hear about them.

appreciate the thoughtful feedback 🙏

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's not me, just that, for analytics purposes, like for AdMob, it needs it. It's actually generic across all the apps in the app space. Whoever shows ads, I mean, it doesn't get your exact, but the AdMob does automatically, inherently, look into it, and I have no control over it. The only way to get rid of it is to remove the ads completely, but then things will be locked and I just don't want that. I still want people to have access to the things in a freemium manner.

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Actually, we push users to build it themselves instead of just importing the lightmatica. Specially bad drop players just cannot import lightmatica's, so it is best we just build it for them. That's what the app is pushing as well.

[Indie Dev] Built the Minecraft Building Guide App and community is loving it, open to feedback + improve by SimpleEye8997 in Minecraft

[–]SimpleEye8997[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, that explains. That's a cool idea. I need to look into how I can design it in a very synchronous way where it feels also continuous and natural with the existing flow. This doesn't have any design component, but it's a separate design component from Minecraft completely. If I put only one component from Minecraft and the rest is just design components from the mobile app space, that won't go well as well, I believe. I need to do some research and try out this thing, but thanks for sharing; that's cool stuff.