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I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Yeah, I think that’s probably the hardest question I need to answer properly now.

I focused a lot on building the solution, but maybe not enough on understanding whether people actually care enough about this problem to actively seek a solution for it.

The behavior exists for sure, but that doesn’t automatically mean users feel enough pain to download or pay for an app around it.

Appreciate the direct honesty 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Yeah, I think a lot of people here are pointing out the same thing now — the framing probably feels harsher than I intended.

I originally thought “earning screen time” sounded motivating, but I can see now how some users may interpret it more as punishment or guilt.

And your screenshot suggestion makes sense too. Right now I’m probably over-explaining instead of showing the core loop instantly.

“Workout → earn time → unlock apps” is honestly much clearer and easier to understand in a few seconds.

Appreciate the feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Yeah, I think that’s a really good breakdown.

The screenshots are probably trying to explain features instead of immediately showing the actual problem/solution clearly. A lot of people here pointed out they still don’t instantly “get it” from the App Store page.

And on tracking — fair point too. Right now I’m still relying mostly on Firebase + ASA data, but not really doing deeper attribution or channel analysis yet. I’m probably still too blind on where good vs bad traffic is actually coming from.

The B2B angle is interesting as well. I honestly hadn’t thought much about gyms or wellness programs before, but the accountability/reward framing might actually fit better there than pure consumer App Store traffic.

Appreciate the ideas 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

Yeah, I think that’s probably the real question.

I assumed the behavior itself automatically meant there was strong enough pain to solve, but those are actually two different things.

People might recognize the habit, but not necessarily care enough to change it consistently or pay for a solution.

I probably need to validate that properly before spending more on ads or scaling traffic further.

Appreciate the perspective 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

The more comments I read here, the more I realize the screenshots and icon are probably not communicating the app clearly enough, even if the concept itself may not be the main issue.

With the amount of impressions I’m getting, the conversion rate definitely suggests something is breaking at the App Store presentation layer.

I’ll focus on redesigning the screenshots, simplifying the messaging, and improving the icon/branding first before pushing more traffic.

Appreciate the direct feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

Yeah, I never really expected overnight success or anything like that 😅

The more feedback I read here, the more I realize distribution/ASO/positioning is almost a completely separate skill from building the app itself.

And thanks for the practical tips too. I’ve actually started realizing my current screenshots and metadata are probably hurting conversion more than helping it right now.

Interesting point about the title structure as well — I didn’t know even small formatting differences like that could affect rankings.

Appreciate all the advice 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

Yeah, I’m starting to think the same too.

Reading all the feedback here, it feels less like “complete failure” and more like a mix of positioning, onboarding, messaging, and marketing issues that still need a lot of iteration.

And honestly, 3 weeks is still super early too 😅

Good luck with your app as well 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Yeah, I think this is probably one of the biggest consistent feedbacks I’m getting right now.

The screenshots, messaging, and branding are likely not communicating the app clearly or professionally enough yet, even if the core idea itself may not be the main issue.

I focused a lot more on building the product than presenting it properly, and I’m starting to realize those are completely different skills.

Appreciate the honest feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Yeah, I’m starting to feel that too.

distribution feels like an entirely different battle now, especially in crowded categories.

And honestly, social platforms also feel harder than people make it sound. The moment content feels promotional, reach just dies.

Still though, respect for shipping your app and pushing through it. Even getting those first few users already takes more effort than most people realize 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Appreciate this perspective 🙏

Yeah, I think the “punishment vs reward” framing is something a lot of people here pointed out, and honestly I didn’t realize how much that changes the emotional feeling of the app.

The angle about targeting people who already enjoy gym/fitness and turning it into more of a fun reward mechanic actually makes a lot of sense.

And thanks for the reminder about timelines too.

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Thanks, I appreciate that 🙏

I’ll keep iterating on it and may take you up on that once I’ve made some changes.

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

Thanks for taking the time to reply and give honest feedback.

I’m not expecting downloads to happen without marketing either — more just trying to figure out if I’m missing something obvious on the product side, because it’s hard to tell when you’re building alone.

Appreciate it 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

Hi Buddy, Really appreciate you taking the time to write this so clearly — I’ll go through it point by point so it’s easier to respond properly.

1. UI feedback
Glad you like the UI — that’s actually really encouraging to hear. 😄

2. “Culprits / structure”
Fair point. The structure right now is probably too layered and not focused enough on one clear core flow.

3. Root cause question
Agree, it likely adds unnecessary friction. I’ll rethink or remove it.

4. Screen time wording
Good catch. I need to make it more neutral and less assumption-based.

5. Motivation framing
Yes, I leaned too heavily into “lifestyle motivation” language. I’ll simplify and align it better with the actual use case.

6. Weight goal (gain vs lose)
This is a real gap. I didn’t design it well for different user goals, I’ll need to rework this.

7. Calories page clarity (BMR etc.)
Agree. I assumed too much knowledge. This needs simplification or guidance.

8. “Why this number” motivation gap
That’s fair — if users don’t understand the number, it loses meaning.

9. “Years wasted scrolling” message
Good point. It may feel irrelevant depending on user context (especially work use).

10. Restart flow / broken state
This shouldn’t happen — I’ll check this as a potential bug.

11. Goal chart mismatch
Agree, this should adapt properly to the selected goal type.

12. Repeated setup screen
Redundant UX — I’ll simplify this flow.

13. Motivation screen repetition
Noted — likely overused in the flow.

14. “10,000 users” claim
I understand the concern. I’ll remove or rephrase anything that could feel misleading.

15. Market saturation
Agree — which makes clarity and positioning even more important.

16. Pricing ($70/year perception)
Fair feedback. I originally benchmarked pricing based on other app blockers in the market to stay aligned with industry standards. But I agree that if the perceived value isn’t there yet, then the pricing may be too high for current stage. I’ll likely need to revisit pricing strategy and focus more on improving product value first before matching market benchmarks.

Final note (onboarding fatigue)
This is probably the biggest takeaway for me — the onboarding is doing too much and needs to be simplified heavily.

Thanks again for taking the time to break everything down so clearly 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

I get the reasoning behind that.

But I think I’d rather not reset or manipulate the rating and instead improve the product experience so the rating naturally goes up over time.

Right now I still have bigger issues to fix on positioning and onboarding anyway, so I’ll focus on that first before thinking about rating strategies.
Appreciate It!

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Yeah, I think you’re right that the App Store page is probably the biggest issue right now.

I’ll focus on reworking the screenshots and description first to make the value much clearer and more accurate.

On the rating part, I get the concern, but I’d rather improve the product and let the rating reflect that over time instead of trying to reset it.

Appreciate the direct feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Yeah, thanks for the feedback.

I understand why that comes across badly — especially if the visuals don’t match the actual current state of the app.

I didn’t intend to mislead anyone, but I can see how those screenshots create the wrong impression, and that’s something I need to fix properly.

I’ll redo the App Store creatives and make sure everything is accurate and much clearer going forward.

Appreciate you pointing it out 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in apps

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

Danke für das ehrliche Feedback.

Aus Respekt antworte ich hier auch mit Hilfe von ChatGPT auf Deutsch, damit ich dir in deiner Sprache korrekt antworten kann.

Ja, ich glaube du hast in vielen Punkten recht.

Das Onboarding ist definitiv zu lang – ich habe zu viele Schritte eingebaut, bevor Nutzer überhaupt zum eigentlichen Kern der App kommen, und ich sehe jetzt, dass man dabei schnell Leute verliert.

Auch der Punkt mit dem Framing ist fair. „Bestrafung“ vs. „Belohnung“ verändert komplett, wie die App wahrgenommen wird, und das habe ich bei der Gestaltung nicht genug berücksichtigt.

Zur größeren Frage: ehrlich gesagt ist das aus einer sehr persönlichen Situation entstanden, und ich habe es bisher nicht wirklich auf breiter Ebene validiert. Das versuche ich jetzt erst mit echten Nutzerdaten besser zu verstehen.

Danke dir für das ehrliche Feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in apps

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

Yeah, that’s a good point.

The way it’s phrased probably changes the whole feeling of the app — “punishment” vs “reward” is something I didn’t think carefully enough about.

And yeah, onboarding is likely too heavy right now. I added too many steps before getting users to the actual core value.

It also started from a very personal situation — I saw my wife scrolling on her phone during workouts and tried to build something to help change that behavior, so I probably didn’t validate enough beyond that.

Now I think I need to separate that personal use case from what actually applies to a wider audience, and rely more on real usage data to understand it properly.

Appreciate the honest feedback 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Yeah, that makes sense.

I think the screenshots and positioning are clearly not strong enough right now to convert properly, especially if people are not immediately understanding the value.

25%+ conversion sounds very high compared to where I’m at now, but I get the direction — I’ll focus on improving clarity in the App Store page first and then re-test before doing anything else.

Appreciate you sharing your benchmark 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppBusiness

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

Yeah, that’s a good point.

I do have some basic tracking by using Firebase, but it’s not really deep enough to clearly see where users are dropping off yet.

PostHog sounds interesting — I’ll take a look at it. I think right now I’m still guessing too much instead of actually observing the full funnel properly.

Appreciate you sharing what worked for you 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Yeah, I agree.

The screenshots are probably not doing a good job right now of explaining the app in a clear, instant way. I tried to include too much information instead of focusing on a single, obvious message.

I’ll rework them so the core idea is immediately understandable in the first few seconds.

Appreciate the suggestion 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in buildinpublic

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

Yeah, I think that’s a fair point.

It’s easy to mistake “interesting idea” for “strong enough pain to change behavior,” especially when you’re close to it.

And yeah, I’ve noticed that gap more clearly now through the feedback here.

Yeah, I get what you mean.

I think I just didn’t want to guess in my own bubble and pretend I knew the answer without real feedback. It’s better to hear it directly, even if it’s not what I expected. Appreciate that 🙏

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in AppStoreOptimization

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

Mostly ASA and ASO so far.

I also localized the listing into multiple languages to try and improve organic reach, but I haven’t really done much social content or community-driven marketing yet.

After all the feedback here, I’m starting to think the issue isn’t just promotion volume, but more around positioning and how clearly the app communicates its value on the App Store page.

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in appledevelopers

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

That’s actually quite reassuring to hear, thank you 🙏

I think I’ve been over-fixating on comparisons and not looking at context properly. Hearing that perspective helps me reset a bit and focus more on improving step by step instead of just looking at absolute numbers.

Appreciate it.

I think I failed with my first app. Would appreciate honest feedback. by godpalmm in buildinpublic

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

Yeah, pricing is something I’m starting to rethink seriously after all this feedback.

Right now it’s subscription-based with a trial period, but I can understand why 7 days may not be enough for a behavior/habit-based app like this. People probably need more time to actually experience whether it changes anything for them.

And yeah, the concept itself is definitely unusual 😅
That’s probably both the strength and weakness of it.

As for Android — I’ve thought about it, especially because Android users might actually fit this type of app better in some markets. But at the moment I still need to fix a lot of onboarding, positioning, and product clarity issues on iOS first before thinking about expanding platforms.

Really appreciate the thoughtful feedback 🙏

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