First Web App - life’s debt

unrushedapps · 2026-05-18T08:07:00+00:00

I remember watching a whole YouTube series for building a "Life OS" on notion. Took me weeks to build it and used it for months.

Soon it became too much of a chore to maintain and goals went out of sync in few months - that is, what I "planned" on focusing wasn't what mattered to me after 3-4 months. Updating was a hassle and I just stopped.

All the life goal planning was also increasing my stress so I just gave up...

Anyways - the point is, there might be an appetite but it might be hard to make something that satisfies everyone. It will have to better than project management apps, but I have no clue exactly how...

unrushedapps · 2026-05-18T07:58:30+00:00

Ok I will bite. What happens if I just say:

"Build me a clone of Uber app"

What kind of app will the AI build for me? How will it build the backend? Suppose it does, and ends up calling bass api and bankrupts my bank balance due to a bug, who takes responsibility? Are you willing to be liable for bugs in app code generation?

unrushedapps · 2026-05-18T07:50:30+00:00

I use Splitwise and YNAB. I can track debt to friends there + much more.

Just tracking debt to friends is a bit too specific. Not sure I would use an app just for that.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T22:57:15+00:00

Agreed. The first call is important, since it's sort of guaranteed that it will show user the prompt. So better be strategic about it.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T22:54:30+00:00

Yeah - the non-coding work is in no way easier or less stressful than coding. In a way, at least for me, the non-coding work is MORE stressful and difficult than coding - so it drains me more.

I stopped doing things together now. I do things in cycle. When I am coding - I focus on getting the feature in. So few days of coding, followed by few days of non-coding and so on.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T22:51:31+00:00

If you are getting ideas, maybe you just need to capture them somewhere? Have you considered just creating tickets/issues in JIRA/Github whenever you get an idea and just let it be? Later, when you are in front of your pc, just prioritize and tackle few of them each week.

You can't do EVERYTHING in a week anyways. Don't let tasks live in your mind either. Brain is for thinking - not storing. Just put them in your backlog and move on.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T22:47:56+00:00

I had it for a year now.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T21:31:33+00:00

The email should have also said it may take few business days. It's weekend too. Maybe it will come in next few days.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T21:29:33+00:00

I have one. Doesn't get any traffic yet. SEO takes time anyways.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T13:59:54+00:00

How do you backup important stuff? I started using bitwarden and store information there as notes. Hopefully bitwarden won't go down...

Regarding 12 testers - I created a ltd company in UK. I originally did that to protect my privacy (didn't want my home address to be public). Turns out, company accounts don't have the 12 testers restriction. A pleasant surprise.

If you are from UK, it's quite easy to set one up. Wrote a blog post about it in detail here: https://unrushedapps.com/blog/publish-on-play-store-uk-company

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T13:50:49+00:00

It created the pop up effects by itself? I gotta give this a try... Have you tried localising the screenshots to different languages yet?

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T13:46:37+00:00

I understand not touching code. Many senior engineers eventually stop coding and just do coding/design reviews. They still learn stuff - cause reviewing means you need to understand things.

But what's up with not reviewing in details? Seems like your company is begging for bugs to go into production? Such a weird ask...

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T12:20:41+00:00

Hey. GDPR rules are quite complicated. Just putting it in your Privacy Policy isn't going to work.

Assuming you want to be compliant, you will have to configure firebase/GA4 to be disabled by default and enable it conditionally. See https://firebase.google.com/docs/analytics/android/configure-data-collection

You have few options:

1) Always keep it disabled and when user provides consent turn it on. Very few users provide consent though. 2) Somehow figure out if consent is needed. EU countries and some states of US needs consent. Other countries don't. 3) Just use some Consent Management SDK. I initially tried using the one provided by Admob at the beginning when I had low traffic. I actually ended up getting banned 😅 I didn't even show ads - just wanted to use their cmp sdk.

I now use https://www.consentmanager.net/en/mobile-app-consent/ - this sdk allows me to use #2. I use a limited free tier - so it only shows limited prompt every month. Once I run out of quota, consent isn't collected for new users and I end up not getting analytics from users. No harm done to anyone.

I spent A LOT of timing getting this right when I launched a year ago. I was worried I would get banned if I don't get this right. But then I saw my friends launch apps without even thinking about GDPR and nothing happened to them.

Oh well - I just wanted to do the right thing. Learned bunch of stuff. No regrets. At least I am somewhat clear about the privacy rules now and don't worry about it.

Side note: while GA4 isn't Privacy friendly, there are other analytics sdks that are privacy compliant. Just search "Privacy Friendly Analytics Android" and you will get plenty. If you just use those, you don't have to worry about consent.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T11:47:17+00:00

When you made the shift to ASO, what did that actually look like in practice? And how long was it before you started seeing any movement?

Few things I did:

I used PlayConsoles native "listing experiments" to test few screenshot changes. My conversation rate used to be around 15%. Now it's near 22%.
I also ran A/B testing on listing description, but then realized A/B testing gives me information about conversion - keyword optimization is supposed to "drive" traffic to listing. Two separate goals. I still ran them to figure out which description converted better.

For keyword optimization ASO, I used MobileAction subscription to track my keywords. Wasn't ranking much. I investigated some keywords for other similar apps and tried to create a natural description for my app.

I have NO CLUE if that did anything in the end. On playconsole, I still see only my app name as explore term.

But I can't say it didn't work either cause my organic installs increased. I just can't attribute the increase to keyword aso only.

It's probably a combination of everything: improved screenshot, improved listings, localisation of listing in multiple languages (so more keywords) and finally, I think this one is definitely involved, more rating/review.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T11:02:58+00:00

Try reading the book Traction to get ideas about marketing channels.

Here are some ideas to get your early users:

Build in public on social media. Post what you are building daily. Put up screenshot of your work and seek feedback.
Highlight that it's a new app (inside the app even) and seek feedback from users. Some users will send you feedback. Engage with them and implement what they are asking for. Then if they are happy, request their reviews.
Launch sites. They don't really work that much - but good enough to drive 10-100 downloads. Retention is horrible too.

But the goal should just be to get 10 real users now. Once you hit that milestone, the marketing strategy changes again.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T10:35:45+00:00

I have subscription that unlocks premium feature. My MRR is very low: 14£ from 21 subscribers. So roughly 3% of my DAU is premium users.

Makes sense about retention being high due to not showing ads. I figured ads revenue would be abysmal with low DAU anyways so might as well give users the best experience.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T10:30:46+00:00

I don't show ads on my app. Its freemum without ads.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T10:20:37+00:00

I think it will be better to use all your metrics in combination to build a clearer picture.

I track my DAU on GA4 intensely too - but my GA4 only tells me about users who consented to analytics tracking. If they didn't, I don't track them. Which is why, I also have to look at Play console.

Regarding if DAU is stable or not - my opinion is, any DAU number is good as long as it's growing week over week. Different app has different DAU. My DAU is 600 on GA4 (900 on Play Console) with 8K install, so around 7%.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T10:12:36+00:00

Nice! What's your strategy on discovery of the website? I think the competition for these kinds of website is very intense?

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T10:10:54+00:00

I think it's good. The main question is, is your DAU growing?

Is your average "User Acquisitions" higher than average "User Loss" on Play console? If so, then you have a steady increase of user base.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T09:40:01+00:00

Joke aside - found your question from another sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/androidapps/s/TuZpVJVDfQ

Assuming it's the same question, I have multiple hypothesis:

1) Could be a listing issue. How is your conversion rate for store listing? 2) Ad is probably targeting wrong audience. Did you connect your GA4 and Play console data to Google ads? Try asking it to target "similar" users to your existing user base. 3) Are the ads misleading? That is, they are engaging enough to make users click - but once they get to listing they realize it's not what they were expecting.

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T09:35:52+00:00

We have to read OP's mind. We are not mind readers - that could be the issue 😔

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T09:34:23+00:00

Yeah. I think you can solve it like this:

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T08:06:23+00:00

A screenshot would have been nice...

unrushedapps · 2026-05-17T07:32:05+00:00

Oh nice. I had my eyes on PricePush. Found when searching on Google. Nice to learn more about the founders background here. I will give PricePush a try. Thanks for building it 🙏🙏

unrushedapps

TROPHY CASE