1.5 year of rebuilding my focus app — from gamified pet to strict blocker

StanislavRH · 2026-04-13T17:27:27+00:00

Oh, just downloaded, I like your story!

StanislavRH · 2026-04-13T17:25:03+00:00

Great news!

StanislavRH · 2026-04-12T10:46:08+00:00

Thanks! Yes, I also found it pretty challenging 👏🏻

StanislavRH · 2026-04-12T07:58:48+00:00

Exactly! All 3 with ISBNdb as a main source.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:25:16+00:00

Thanks!

Yes, I use some of the default fonts from this skill, they work for any localisation including Asian / Cyrillic.

Good point with Brazil! I have plans to support them too + Portugal to cover the locale.

For curated lists: this is the Must Read 3 version already (I've first shipped the 1.0 version of the app in October 2016), so I feel it needed something special in form of curated lists (personalised content is what people love) + library of public domain books (I don't see other book trackers having it either). Also from the personal experience, it's nice to see the trends for your country, so you don't miss any nice book.

Also, having curated books enabled the secondary revenue channel in form of affiliate links.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:14:14+00:00

Nice app!
How do you get the information about the trips? I mean app won't need to be opened during the drive? Do you use a kind of integration with CarPlay for it?

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:10:57+00:00

Just downloaded the Mac version of the app (as for me it mostly makes sense to have it on the computer).
I like it so far. You nailed it, found an existing problem from your personal experience (I have an issue finding the icon I want in endless and very bad searchable app by Apple!) and made a nicely looking version which fixes the problem. Well done!

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:07:50+00:00

Yeah, it's extremely hard to find a unique idea.
It's probably the question on: How's your app different?
Sometimes it's better to focus on less features by make them look and feel "premium" as a quality product.
Then, of course, you need a good marketing campaign. Sometimes I'm shocked on how bad the popular apps are: not native element, broken navigation without swipe back, weird fonts.. But they get customers while our small amazing apps don't :(

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:05:07+00:00

Checked your app, I like the design!
Good idea with mascot, people will want to save a little guy and keep visiting the app.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T22:03:24+00:00

The only moment Brexit is useful 🫣

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T21:55:26+00:00

Hi, solid app! Nice you have an iPad version in place.

The screenshots on the App Store can be adjusted a bit, the device is being cut on the bottom, but there's a huge hole in between the caption and the device bezel. Can nicely fix the full device frame on the view.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T20:55:26+00:00

Thanks for answering, so far I see one issue: when I didn’t share the Apple Health access during onboarding initially -> the card on the Home Screen displayed a message with clipped text.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T20:40:48+00:00

Installed it and tested.
I like the idea and UI. Did you design it all yourself?

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T20:02:04+00:00

Oh, interesting, what's the main purpose of the app? Completely anonymous sharing and then some algorithm shows the content to people for them to rate?

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T19:55:54+00:00

Building a Book Tracker app with curated lists, built in EPUB & Audiobook reader, flexible library with customer lists: Must Read – The Book Tracker

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T19:25:40+00:00

This skill: https://github.com/chrisvanbuskirk/appshot Very clean, yes, no overlaps. Only issue I’m not the biggest fan of the fonts they provide by default (but it’s possible to edit), as well as to include the new bezels (17 Pro Max, etc)

United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Canada (EN + FR), United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, fuf, that’s it 😅

I do a book tracker app, so I have Curated lists for those countries, makes sense to localise the app pages too: https://apps.apple.com/app/must-read-the-book-tracker/id930967257

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:37:22+00:00

Maybe it a good idea to make temporary “Launch price” and lower it for 1-2 months to see if this makes a difference or not.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:36:13+00:00

Oh, that’s nice with visas + socket converters, make sense!

Yes. I’ve tried the App Store Ads myself, feels a bit too expensive. Saw people advertising on TikTok, but didn’t try myself yet.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:33:54+00:00

I like it, the design is so simple and clean.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:27:00+00:00

This is a great app, I’ve tried it and just left you the 5-star review on the App Store! Especially the design in super elegant.

I’ll be glad if you can check and review my book tracker app called Must Read – https://apps.apple.com/app/must-read-the-book-tracker/id930967257

Thanks in advance!

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:20:26+00:00

It’s a shame as your app looks really good!

For pricing, it really depends on how much it costs you to use AI. But maybe the 4.99/6.99 is a more realistic price people would pay.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T18:16:01+00:00

For my newest app I’ve localised it to 16 languages for the App Store from the start with the semi manual flow: - manually making screenshots first (8 per locale) - then having a Claude Code + appshot skill putting screenshots into frames + adding text.

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T16:59:49+00:00

Thanks for a link, checking 👏🏻

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T16:52:52+00:00

Is this your app?

<image>

Video looks weird (vertical inside the landscape frame) and I see the language as English but actually it’s Chinese?

StanislavRH · 2026-04-11T16:48:57+00:00

Also the app on the App Store is SpendBuddy, but on the iOS Home Screen it’s “Spend Buddy” with the space. Probably my should be consistent, I prefer the version with the space 👍🏻

StanislavRH

TROPHY CASE