How Much I Earned as an Indie iOS Developer in a Year

[@AivarsMeijers]

That's how much I earned in 2022, and doubled that in 2023, learn here how 👇 ▸ Build your iOS App Business: www.indiesolopreneur.com/part-time-indie-app-building-system

[@davidvillegas5519]

Thanks for posting this! I think it's important for others to see. Years back I saw a lot of people say you couldn't survive on indie dev income. Now I know that to be wildly untrue. But if if gad listened to those folks I wouldn't be where I am today.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Yes, exactly. It is way easier to do something if you saw that others already did that. That's why I'm sharing this

[@tahsiny.9273]

Thanks for this inspiring video. 👍

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thank you for support! Appreciate that 🙌

[@svyberg]

I’m not writing comments usually. Thanks that you really can inspire new joiners crew. In simple and clear way. Its really important for many people who starting or already on the way in the beginning.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Awesome, many thanks for taking time to write a feedback! Appreciate that.

[@richardalbury]

Such a well-made (and inspiring!) video, Aivars. Thanks, and congratulations! 👏

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thanks Richard! Glad you like it.

[@diegonarrador]

Hello, I'm here from Brazil! I don't understand English clearly, but I like to follow your videos, I use subtitles to understand better. Congratulations on your incredible setup, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and inspiring I've ever seen, I'm still subscribed to the channel, following every new thing, a hug from São Paulo-Brazil!

[@AivarsMeijers]

Wow, thank you!

[@denisblack9897]

Thank you, dude! You are doing god’s job inspiring other iOS developers to pursue the dream)

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thank you!

[@sammycrazyyt]

i love how u explain ur thought process while working on this side project, its nice to see how coder should be productive in the free time and making money passively

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thank you for the feedback!

[@ommmsome]

Thanks for your insights on this and other videos, was trying to decide between two boot camps and will go for the IOS mobile 😊 also it’s great not just to hear your insights but also watch such well made videos 🎉🎉🎉

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thank you very much for the feedback and good luck going trough bootcamp.

[@dainismichel]

Thanks so much, Aivar, I'll be coding and releasing a few apps this year, and I'm glad to have found your channel!

[@AivarsMeijers]

Good luck Dainis!

[@devs1357]

Thank you so much for posting this, it was just what I needed to hear. I’m going to keep pushing forward.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Wonderful! Keep shipping.

[@First.Last.99]

Please do more videos on this topic

[@Ivan-gm3gf]

Very useful advices, thank you, now creating my own app. It already solve my solution, but needs to modify to become more comfortable to people, thanks for your video! Wish you luck🤞

[@FloWritesCode]

This is very inspiring, thanks for sharing!

[@AivarsMeijers]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@stasmaksimov9531]

Thanks Aivars ! Cheers! 🍻

[@amitgill8421]

Great video. I'd love to know how much you make in general from being an iOS developer in 2022.

[@AivarsMeijers]

That's not related to the topic and will not help you or any indie developers in any way. Besides that iOS development and indie apps are not my only revenue sources.

[@gil-evan]

How did you gain the traction from users to try out your apps? Does app store just push it out?

[@noname-vt6fy]

Thanks for suggestion!!! And for the explanation!!! worth pure GOLD ! :)

[@AivarsMeijers]

Glad it was helpful!

[@noname-vt6fy]

@@AivarsMeijers "Solve your own problems", I can't with a mobile app. What can be solved: there are mobile app solutions, which meet my needs. Lack of idea of app? - Well I have. for who I presented and it was told his business it really needs it, he / she says doesn't needs. :) "Identify a problem which worth solving" - yeah identified, but the customers not wiling to listen me :) - so no reason to speak about payment. 100% Agree with you: you need insider information to solve the problem. The niche and the start small: you have to find an idea - of improvement of an app - which. worth solving AND is used by many AND is not solved as how it needs to be solved. Otherwise :50$ /year is the income. So, I don't have any viable ideas, because ... I don't pay enough for enough apps? - or I dont know. I see others busineses and they problems and their solutions, but the CEO / founders don't want to hear my voice :) Kinda sucks :)

[@paulmelnyk6897]

Completely agree ! , thank you

[@GabrielLabrecque]

Your words are very encouraging! I'll give it a shot. Better late than never.

[@rmcf3972]

Hope I can start now and follow your steps.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Sure you can, let's go!

[@EDemircivi]

Good video. Thank you for being open about the income also. My new year goal is to make a couple of profitable applications on the App Store and eventually work for only myself in the future, perhaps. I don't know if it is just me, but I feel more motivated when developing my own apps.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Best of luck! I feel the same when working on myself. About openest, I was on fence about sharing, but that's what everyone really want to know. Also, that is the best motivator cause you can drop day job and start to work on own apps full time. So, it is useful, therefore I share. If someone ask how much I make in total per month I do not answer, cause that helps to no one.

[@EDemircivi]

@@AivarsMeijers Definitely! Agree! This really motivates me; one day, my own indie app will be profitable, so I won't have a day job anymore.

[@angelinafriz3977]

thank you very much for this video, it's priceless for the amount of inspiration people can get from it! I wonder also if you could share some tips of promoting the apps, what tools or approaches do you use. Thanks in advance!

[@AivarsMeijers]

I have that in my backlog - promotion and AppStore optimization Thanks for the feedback!

[@angelinafriz3977]

@@AivarsMeijers this is incredible! Could you please give some forecast when it can be live ? No pressure, just some approx. dates or months

[@angelinafriz3977]

@@AivarsMeijers many thanks for what you’re doing 🙏🫶

[@oscarescam]

Have you some video talking about what saas you use as backend, like firebase, supabase, etc

[@AivarsMeijers]

Nope, because on freelance projects there is dedicated backend team and for indie Apps I'm trying to avoid that in all costs. I used Firebase before, but now I'm mostly sticking with CloudKit

[@aqibos]

Goal of 2023: Launch more products

[@87Avantgarde]

Thank you very much ❤

[@IELTSLabs878]

do you think there is any revenue in making android apps for play-store?

[@AivarsMeijers]

Yes, but is is harder because android users are less open to pay for the apps. I wrote a post on twitter about this topic, check comment s as well: twitter.com/Aivars_Meijers/status/1619213736622919680?s=20

[@IruAndOpa]

My inspiration channel.😍 I am following you.

[@leoingson]

Motivating! How can you differentiate between MR and MRR - lifetime purchases vs monthly ones?

[@AivarsMeijers]

MRR is tricky metric, I'm using it just because most of the indie hackers sticking with that. MRR report is generated by CharMogul from AppStore reports, so that's automatic. One time purchases probably are not included, but I didn't check.

[@alals6794]

Great video and I'm making my way through more of them. By the way, I noticed you have a respectable number of KZbin subscribers, crica May 2023, and I am curious how the revenue stream from KZbin compare to your apps in the app store?

[@AivarsMeijers]

KZbin revenue is close to nothing if you asking about money from ads. It is in $200...300 range. But I like making videos, and KZbin may be a good sales channel for my courses. Didn't try to market them, so don't know yet if that works.

[@alals6794]

@@AivarsMeijers Ok. I like your channel though. Have a good day from Los Angeles, CA, USA.

[@gnktspnk1334]

What do you think about no-code solutions to quickly ship and validate the idea? I am an iOS Dev myself and am trying to launch my own MVP. I am thinking about Adalo/Glide or FlutterFlow to ship and gather feedback. But they need some time for learning and with SwiftU aloneI I can go pretty fast. It's just that I would need some BFF and DB on top if I go with native iOS. So my question is are you able to go with iOS only alone?

[@AivarsMeijers]

I don't mind no-code solutions. In your case if you already know the iOS development, why do not start with iOS and see later if you really need Android app? Sure I have no idea what is your product, but Android could be postponed for later or even never.

[@gnktspnk1334]

@@AivarsMeijers thanks for the answer, yes exactly what I was thinking. Clubhouse did that and some other big apps too :)

[@mrpakat6103]

Is it true that even when you create lowcost and non that good apps but considering the amount of your apps created and stored on the app store, you can still earn more each month whether they are from in-app purchases or ads?

[@AivarsMeijers]

Sure you can . There are plenty of examples for both approaches. One earner or many smaller apps which generate revenue.

[@afar5y]

How did you get so many downloads at the very beginning? Did you do any kind of marketing for your app?

[@AivarsMeijers]

There wasn't many downloads when I satrted to release apps. ASO helps

[@Jimmy-pw9vi]

What do you use as database for your apps? Firebase or cloudkit

[@AivarsMeijers]

ClodKit

[@RC-qr8bn]

Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring. Did you use any paid advertising or were all the sales organic?

[@AivarsMeijers]

All is organic and content marketing.

[@RC-qr8bn]

@@AivarsMeijers oh wow that’s great

[@ishandutta2045]

to publish they would still charge $99 per year, is there a way where multiple developers can share one apple Id ? they allow unlimited apps with one account.

[@AivarsMeijers]

You can upload an endless amount of apps. Perhaps there is limit, I didn't hit it yeat

[@Metrodragon]

So cool, good job

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@muhammada.noorani7672]

Can I also go for being an indie app dev with flutter? In the app industry if you have any idea, give me some insights.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Sure, there are plenty of indie Flutter developers.

[@AdamSowinski]

No lightbar on the Studio Display anymore?

[@AivarsMeijers]

Nope, I moved that to the gaming monitor. I like clean look of Apple Studio Display a bit more that great lighting on the work space :) Also I moved you to the room corner to the front of a window.

[@alenayoutube1574]

im new to ios app development(swift ui ) ,how can i get into a company faster through smarter work, give some suggesions

[@AivarsMeijers]

Build portfolio and share your work online

[@bruhmoment3731]

Did you ever have to market your apps?

[@AivarsMeijers]

Yes, content marketing is marketing as well,

[@tomzsx]

Do you plan to put apps also on play store

[@AivarsMeijers]

Unlikely this year, here I wrote post why: twitter.com/Aivars_Meijers/status/1619213736622919680?s=20

[@ripfrauds]

I am jealous of the life you are living young man❤ Your fan boy from India.😅

[@AivarsMeijers]

You young man is half of century old :)

[@Teting7484f]

Do you localize your apps?

[@AivarsMeijers]

No, I don't

[@akseldeveloper]

So good, wow.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Thanks!

[@kaycampbell364]

How did you learn?

[@AivarsMeijers]

KZbin, courses and stack overflow

[@kaycampbell364]

@@AivarsMeijers could you please share the channels, courses and what language to learn. Better yet why not make course of step by step...I'll buy in a heartbeat

[@luke-urban]

More Notion and I’ll be there as well 😂 For now client work and dreams 😅

[@AivarsMeijers]

Oh dude, I just stretching my self thin. Still doing consulting and all the stuff. I had 3h night last night to post this video today 😅

[@luke-urban]

@@AivarsMeijers Recording and editing ?🤯

[@AivarsMeijers]

@@luke-urban Yep. I had thumbnail ready. But I recorded video on evening and finished editing at 3am.

[@tiagodev5838]

Be careful with burnout and insomnia mate! I’m still recovering from it after stretching myself to the extreme for 7 years! Thank you so much for the great content!

[@tiagodev5838]

Be careful with burnout and insomnia mate! I’m still recovering from it after stretching myself to the extreme for 7 years! Thank you so much for the great content!

[@ianrickey208]

Tried to subscribe to your newsletter, "Something went wrong" each time. :( Update: received the subscription email prompting me to upgrade, still have the ding message of "Something went wrong".

[@AivarsMeijers]

I see that 6 persons subscribed today. Maybe try another browser or clean cookies.

[@ianrickey208]

@@AivarsMeijers I switched from Brave to Safari and it seemed to work.

[@matusseidl]

do you read script ? or not

[@AivarsMeijers]

Yes, I wrote script for this one, otherwise I would ramble way longer

[@SC-ut1zj]

You meant earning from Google AdSense?

[@AivarsMeijers]

Nope, that's from in-app purchases.

[@EpicLib]

Labs insaits, paldies ka dalies.

[@AivarsMeijers]

Ņem par labu!

[@tarzan6678]

6:33 train has "fuck the police" sprayed in Polish 😆

[@AivarsMeijers]

Hooligans from Poland are everywhere :)

[@Gamblingwmylife]

This the Jurassic park guy

[@mariusz3891]

if you have to develop a product to get money its not passive income....

[@alenayoutube1574]

hai sir

[@nat.serrano]

23k??? That’s not even mininum wage!

[@AivarsMeijers]

Depends on country of course. But even if we will look on US it is not bad for part time job. Also, I doubling the revenue every year which is hardly possible working full time job. Check numbers from 2023: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2nMiZx8Yt1gnbM

[@jekaterinaleitarte4987]

Thanks for this inspiring video. 👍

[@AivarsMeijers]

You are so welcome!