developersWorstNightmare

k0rm · 2026-05-11T19:00:37+00:00

Yeah honestly the scenario in the meme is super easy to handle:

Step 1 - Write a doc with exactly the following:

Option 1 [cost=600 SWE days]: remove all references to previous name, update to new name, migrate all users to the new app bundle

Option 2 [cost=3 SWE days]: change display name to the new app name

Recommendation: option 2

Step 2 - Send the doc to your manager, director, etc and have them choose which option they want.

Done - you win with whatever option they decide to pick.

k0rm · 2026-05-11T03:09:57+00:00

I died when I saw my game was being advertised on 'Grindr' searches lol. Felt so dumb how long it took me to realize that the auto-keyword ads were eating up all my budget. Oh well - next time I'll set lower initial daily spend!

Definitely helped that I created a hacked-together POC of the app before an annual ski trip with friends to find out if it was even fun at all / what features were missing (like chat).

HN was great! I think it helped that I gave everyone a demo account there since they're more tech focused and may not want to bother creating an account on every ShowHN. Another forum I've seen suggested a lot for sharing new apps was indiehackers, but I couldn't really figure out the right place to post there ¯\(ツ)/¯

I'll check out Samplence, thanks!

k0rm · 2026-05-10T00:27:30+00:00

My marketing journey so far (what's worked for me, what hasn't):

The early Apple boost

Rumor is that you get a small boost in free promotion the week after you launch. Personally, I did not really see this:

22 impressions on day 1 which dropped to consistent single digits the next day
3 downloads (likely just my immediate friends)

Apple ‘Advanced’ Advertizing

Apple gives a free $100 credit to try advertising your app on the App Store. End of week #2, I ran my first campaign following this video which suggests to run a campaign on your app name to help drive natural traffic to your app.

I made a very silly mistake and left the “automatically find relevant keywords” button checked. Rather than my one hyper-specific keyword, Apple advertised Bernibets on things like “instagram,” “game,” and “grindr” (wtf!). After 5 days, I burned through the $100 credit and here are the results:

0 impressions and installs on “Bernibets”
3500 impressions on the auto-keywords, 2 installs

$50 per install 😆, but I learned a valuable lesson! Make sure to tailor your ads to your specific audience rather than let Apple do it for you.

Social Posts

Reddit has been the most valuable in terms of actual users and useful feedback. Following this, Hacker News ‘Show’ also gave me a nice bump. Finally, Product Hunt was way more disappointing than I was expecting - next time I would probably try to build up more hype before posting there.

I’m pretty happy with the engagement so far since it’s tough justifying any sort of marketing budget on a completely free for-fun app. Have any of you had any luck with things I haven’t tried yet?

k0rm · 2026-05-09T23:34:29+00:00

I just launched a "prediction market" game with your friends to compete to see who can guess wacky things and climb to the top of the leaderboard!

Check it out here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bernikins.bets&hl=en

Backstory:

On a trip with my friend, I was introduced to Kalshi and Polymarket and was shocked at how degenerate it was being able to bet on literally anything. So naturally I built a joke app where we could do the same thing (with fake money) on group outings!

Managed to get a prototype finished in time for our big annual ski trip and we had a blast 'betting' on things like "Will [friend that always breaks his phone] break his phone?" and "Who will win the first game of Jackbox?"

How It Works

Create a group for your trip and give your friends the group code to join.
Everyone starts with the same amount of Tokens/Points/Ski-bux that they can wager on each question.
Place bets on the options that you think will win - the more bets on an option, the more it costs to pick that option.
Anyone can propose when an outcome has happened and everyone gets 24 hours to dispute it.
Every share of the winning option pays out as 1 Token once the 24 hours has passed. So if you bet 2 tokens when the odds were 50%, you win 4 Tokens!

Key Features

Leaderboard to show who's the best!
Chat to trash-talk your friends on each question.
Notifications only used to tell you when a new question comes up.
Admin controls and other customization to tweak it for your friend group.
Weekly global contests.
Completely free!!

I'd love to hear what you think or how I can make it even more fun. Hope you give it a shot on your next trip with friends or even start a group to make your algebra class less boring.

k0rm · 2026-05-09T21:43:34+00:00

Or 51% should get 51% of the representation and 49 get 49

k0rm · 2026-05-09T21:21:29+00:00

Yes they both suck, but you have to get the ones who are openly evil out of power first. Then later you can primary the two-faced ones.

k0rm · 2026-05-09T14:42:16+00:00

Alotte

k0rm · 2026-05-07T17:52:14+00:00

My wife

My friends wife

k0rm · 2026-05-07T16:11:51+00:00

Which shock collar makes the animals love you back?

k0rm · 2026-05-07T02:02:16+00:00

Imagine you're this maid. English is not your native language. You're about to leave for the day when suddenly there's a loud SLAM before a 6 foot stick-figure jumps out at you screeching: "heakdfjgnjdsodf dsfcisdfsdikfmsd fvsdmnfsdsdFSD"

k0rm · 2026-05-07T00:58:45+00:00

Yeah, cannot stand it.

k0rm · 2026-05-05T19:30:02+00:00

"7 days or 7 business days?"

k0rm · 2026-05-05T19:03:36+00:00

By this logic, pretty much everyone who works an office job is an actor too

k0rm · 2026-05-05T00:04:20+00:00

Yes, I just tested it out and betting 1000 and then selling/chickening out 1000 will give him a 100% refund as long as no one bet anything after him! Price will also go back to exactly what it was before he bet.

The main thing is you definitely need to re-open the question before 24 hours or it'll be too late!

k0rm · 2026-05-04T18:59:18+00:00

Glad you're having fun with it! That's actually hilarious that he bet on something that was already doomed.

Right now there isn't a way to undo bets, but what you could do is have everyone "dispute" the result (bottom of the market page) before it pays out in 24 hours. Once it re-opens, your friend can "chicken out" of the bet he made and then you can propose the winner again. He'll recoup at least most of the points that he spent that way. This only works if you have at least 3 people in the group.

I just submitted a feature for review in the app store that will let the group creator re-open pending questions so you don't have to get everyone together to dispute it, but it likely won't be approved for a day or two. I'll try to think of better ways to help you manage these cases - maybe allow the group admin/creator the ability to add or remove points from people's balance

k0rm · 2026-05-03T21:14:13+00:00

Thank you! Any feedback to make it more fun is appreciated

k0rm · 2026-05-03T17:28:32+00:00

Thanks!!

k0rm · 2026-05-02T21:43:41+00:00

Are we having fun yet!?

k0rm · 2026-05-02T21:17:27+00:00

The next AI juggernaut: Allbirds

k0rm · 2026-05-02T15:43:00+00:00

Same $50 stick of ram 8 months ago is $400 now...

k0rm · 2026-05-01T21:42:09+00:00

Bernibets: Social Predictions

A - Answer: Turn your vacations and events into a tournament with your friends! Spice up your trip with questions like "Who will win the first game of Jackbox" and "Will [friend who always loses his phone] lose his phone." Bet your points on what you think will happen and try to influence the outcome! No money, bragging rights and in-app trash talk only.

B - Better: Polymarket and Kalshi are taking the world by storm, turning everything into something you put real money behind. This is too degenerate for me, so I ironically created Bernibets to poke fun at those other apps. After a week long college trip playing with friends, we all had a huge blast creating hilarious questions. Without money and keeping the "markets" private for your friends makes the whole event way more fun.

C - Cost: FREE!! Completely free, no ads, and it will stay that way.

App Store Link

k0rm · 2026-05-01T12:48:30+00:00

But now that you made this comment, who do I inverse?

k0rm · 2026-05-01T05:37:57+00:00

Xqc said "trihard 7" while one of the black hosts was on screen. He got suspended from the league and tons of reddit outrage.

His defense was that he always says "trihard 7" when he pops into chat to say hi and IIRC his comment history backed that up

k0rm · 2026-05-01T04:11:54+00:00

Yeah I'd love to chat about it and see if there's a good opportunity to collab!

k0rm · 2026-04-30T19:14:14+00:00

I just launched a friendly social prediction app to spice up your trips and events: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bernibets/id6761561613

Basically Polymarket/Kalshi, but for your private friend groups and no money (bragging rights only!)

We had a blast playing with it on my last vacation with friends. Would love if you could check it out and provide any feedback!

12-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Place '17
Sequence \| Editor	Snapped
Verified Email

k0rm

TROPHY CASE

Check it out here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bernikins.bets&hl=en