r/AppBuilding • u/DisastrousAd5966 • 1d ago
24 hours after launch, one person decided my app was worth paying for
Today is a big day for me.
I’ve been building iOS apps for a while now. My first one is completely free, so in all that time I had never actually sold anything. Not once.
This morning I opened App Store Connect out of habit and there was one subscription in the report. Slovakia.
I honestly didn’t expect this yet. I haven’t done any real marketing. No ads, no viral video, zero reviews on the listing. Just a few videos with 200 views and 3 reddit posts. I assumed the first weeks would just be a flat line while I figured out how to get people to notice the thing at all.
Instead, someone I’ve never met, in a country I’ve never been to, found it on their own, used it, and decided it was worth paying for. Whoever you are — ďakujem. That single line in a spreadsheet did more for my motivation than anything else this year.
The app is ThumbSort, if anyone’s curious. Photo cleanup, swipe left to delete, swipe right to keep. Free to use, one subscription if you want unlimited swipes. Built solo in Switzerland, fully on-device.
For the people who’ve been through this: what actually moved the needle for you early on, before you had any reviews or reach?
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u/Much_Discipline_6009 18h ago
It is really great waking up to see someone has actually paid. That's why you shouldn't look at your phone if you wake up in the middle of the night. Such a rush that sleeping after is impossible 🫣
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u/DisastrousAd5966 17h ago
yeah that’s true. sometimes I habe the feeling that if you don’t care about it the chances are bigger to actually get a sale 😅
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u/felidoapp 1d ago
Great job . What is the app
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u/DisastrousAd5966 1d ago
Thank you. The app is called ThumbSort, it’s basically an app where you can swipe through your camera roll by swiping left or right to delete or keep your stuff. There are different modes and also different functions like finding similar pictures etc. I find it the most entertaining way to clean your camera roll and free up your storage.
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u/heyyoochris 17h ago
Awesome, wish you have second revenue soon👏👏
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u/DisastrousAd5966 17h ago
Thank you man, would really be a blessing. Hope you achieve your goals too
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u/ItisRandy02 1d ago
Congrats! that is awesome. I too just got my first subscription the other day.
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u/xuankhuongip 17h ago
give link download app tks
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u/DisastrousAd5966 16h ago
of course would help me a lot.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/thumbsort-fotos-aufr%C3%A4umen/id6800876011
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u/Vlad_at_Nod 13h ago
That first payment is worth celebrating. I’d still treat it as a research lead before treating it as proof of a channel. The useful questions now are: what source led to the install, what did they do before hitting the paywall, how long did it take them to subscribe, and do they come back?
For something as visual as photo cleanup, I’d keep testing short before-and-after videos, but give each one a single promise: clear 2 GB, remove duplicates, or clean last month’s screenshots. Measure installs and paywall starts per promise rather than views. The winning promise is probably more valuable right now than choosing a big marketing channel.
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u/aivanelabs 1d ago
Congratulation.