How Much I Made as an Indie iOS Developer in 2020

I walk through how much money I was able to make on the App Store in 2020 as an indie developer. I felt that it only fair to throw my stats into the ring after watching videos posted by others sharing similar information. Leave your questions in the comments.
If you want to see a more detailed breakdown I have posted the graphs from the App Store in an article on Medium - bit.ly/3rKAkcZ
Medium - / tiannahenrylewis
Instagram - / tiannar.lewis
Twitter - / tianna_hl
Twitch - / tiannahl
Website - tiannahenrylew...

[@seanallen]

Congrats on a great first year, Tianna 🚀

[@tiannahl]

Thank you!!

[@fpalmac]

I’m starting in the iOS app development with an udemy course while i’m studing my degree and it’s been amazing and motivational to find your channel. I really appreciate people who shares experiences and knowledge. I hope you continue growing both in youtube and as a developer. Greetings from Spain!

[@tiannahl]

Thank you I have benefitted a lot from others so figured I could share and someone see it and take something away.

[@Randuski]

Just gotta say, anytime I'm using an app that i really like, if it has a tip jar option, i always leave something. You could charge for an app, or have in app purchases, and if i like what the app does I'll probably pay. But if there's something like a tip jar or donation, I'm more likely to pay more than you would charge. It has a vibe of "hey, I'm an indie dev, doin my best, hope you like it", and it feels more human, and i always wanna help out. It's weird haha

[@JosaVicente]

Thanks for sharing! Since November I publish my first app and I'm learning everyday. That kind of videos are very wellcome. Thanks!

[@tiannahl]

Congrats on the release, your almost at the 1 year mark, and yeah you'll learn so much. What's the app, would love to check it out.

[@JosaVicente]

@@tiannahl Thanks! I start my journey learning as iOS developer during the lockdown in Spain on my freetime. I’m consultant at EY. My first app is Bullets: apps.apple.com/es/app/bullets/id1536420851 I love your feedback and advices! Thanks a lot! Apologies for my english!

[@tiannahl]

@@JosaVicente Your English is really good so no worries and no need to apologize. Checking out your app and you did a really good job. Keep it up.

[@JosaVicente]

@@tiannahl Thanks a lot! Markwting and promote the app is my pain point. A video about it sounds interesting ☺️

[@byronwezvo]

I'm impressed actually to actually find a good video done by a woman on this topic, keep at it Tianna

[@tiannahl]

Just trying to add more insight into the pot.

[@byronwezvo]

@@tiannahl you are doing great, hope to see more content from you, Im also working on an application, just looking you count those figures is just motivating.

[@GKNaidu-hb5zv]

just started my journey as iOS developer Thank you very much tianna it really inspires me

[@richardalbury]

Late to this, but good video: thanks, Tianna, and glad you’re still at it.

[@vladimirmoor]

Congratulations with good growing! It will be interesting to see your progress and app developing process in 2021. It is great idea!

[@tiannahl]

Thank you. I'm really looking to have a better 2021 so just have to put in the work.

[@CryptoslavMiner]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Tianna!

[@tiannahl]

Your welcome. I have always sought out similar content so felt it only fair to add my numbers to the mix once I was able.

[@SekayaJackson]

So glad you created this channel!

[@byronlovelace8379]

Great video. Best wishes with your KZbin channel.

[@tiannahl]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@CatIsle73]

Awesome, you crushed it! I love this video. What is the name of your app if you don’t mind my asking. I would love for you to show us your app and what it does! Congrats and wishing you and even more prosperous 2021

[@tiannahl]

Yeah of course no worries. It's apps.apple.com/ca/app/pomodoro-focus-timer/id1440911969

[@leroyramaphoko1437]

Very encouraging. I will also look into this and try something out. Thank you

[@jk-fy8on]

You are beautiful, smart, genuine, confident. ❤❤ I just become your big fan.

[@wannabemusician5519]

Omg I love content regarding experience. Thank you.

[@tiannahl]

Thanks, me too.

[@ucondrew]

Great video! Also love to see more women in the tech industry

[@tiannahl]

Thank you, just glad to have the opportunity to share my experiences.

[@MrFihir]

now this is great video i would watch for junior flutter dev, thank you tianna much much love

[@blackpowerranger8349]

This is top quality content. Great job

[@tiannahl]

Glad you think so!

[@spokenwordmg]

congratulations!!!!

[@tiannahl]

Thank you!!

[@qurod6525]

Happy to be the 500 Th subscriber. Have a background music it’s can reduce background noise

[@tiannahl]

Happy to welcome you aboard🍾 Thank you for the tip, will keep it in mind.

[@popbuilds8138]

Was interesting to see. Thanks for sharing!

[@tiannahl]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dre5671]

So cool seeing your journey! Definitely will sub to keep up. Thank you for taking the time to share/motivate. Looking forward to seeing more of your content and learning any tips I can from you

[@CosmonautCoding]

Awesome video! Really appreciate your insight

[@charliebeaux4059]

I'm so happy for you:)

[@bruhmoment3731]

Very inspiring! Thank you!

[@mattlovestechyt]

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[@Kevin_Zed]

Nice really inspiring me to press on.

[@tiannahl]

You can do it!

[@craftedtunesentertainment5569]

Nice video. Thanks for sharing.

[@tiannahl]

Thanks for watching!

[@calechips]

Thank you Tiana.

[@robertoferreira3189]

Really enjoyed your video. Keep it up !

[@tiannahl]

Thank you! Will do!

[@aevin_io]

Thank you for sharing :) subscribed

[@cheperidescr]

Thanks a lot!! very motivating!

[@tiannahl]

You're welcome!

[@dinerdapps]

Great info thank you!

[@lwa.dev74]

Thank you 🎉 for your honesty and clarity 👨🏽‍💻📱🎉

[@robertmollentze3862]

Amazing! Love your sincerity!

[@tiannahl]

Thank you, I have always loved when others shared the behind the scenes so just hoping to do the same.

[@FredWang]

Very inspiring ❤

[@jeffedmo2218]

Thank you for this video. Very informative!

[@tiannahl]

Your welcome Jeff, just glad you got something out of it.

[@TadhgDS]

Awesome, thanks for the transparency

[@tiannahl]

Your welcome. I enjoy seeing behind the curtain so felt it only fair to share the same kind of info.

[@tkmextra]

I love these type of videos & I'm not even an app developer

[@tiannahl]

Me too!

[@abs80900]

great story and hope your income will keep increasing!! to support you and as a thank you for your video, could you share with us the name of your app?

[@tiannahl]

Yeah my latest video is sharing more about the app, check it out if you haven't already.

[@satyamsovan123]

Great video Tianna. Keep up the good work. I would really like to know how did you market your apps.

[@tiannahl]

Organic growth, I used the Apple credit but other than that I didn't do any paid marketing campaigns.

[@KIKII.K]

thank you, it's like you read my mind.

[@omarelnemr]

Great Video!, Planning on doing 2021 update?

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

Do you still Google for syntax questions

[@enkhjintelenged9609]

Hey Tiana , first of all I appreciated that video , it's inspiring me a lot. I'm graduating with a degree in IT engineering and I'm currently starting my iOS app journey. How did you start your journey ? Did you take a course or use an official Apple swift developer book? thanks

[@ZacharyAghaizu]

Wonderful to see this ! I’m developing an augmented reality music app starting on iOS. This is motivating. Do you recommend building multiple small apps or 1 big app with multiple features?

[@tiannahl]

I recommend taking on a project that you can finish. So be careful the scope of the project. Start with the core features and you can add new features with future updates. This way you spend time actually making features your users want.

[@ZacharyAghaizu]

@@tiannahl Thanks! yes everyone's advice was that too, but I still went and added everything hehe. Now I just need to cut back and focus on making everything work smoothly/user-friendly. If some of these keep causing errors, I'll just remove them from the first version. Before this, I did much smaller projects that were able to release but the main critique was usability. So it really needs to be a focus from now. keep up the great work!

[@gomahzrankosseujeanchandel2617]

GOOD VIDEO THANKS I would like you to help me configure an ios application so that I can embark on this adventure

[@TheAlexis123987]

Thanks for sharing !!! How did you market the app ?

[@mrnormal7554]

Isn't it more than 30% as per calculation, or am I wrong

[@Ddjfhfjfj]

Income include only stickers or not ?

[@T0phaz]

Great, concise video! Can u tell us what kind of app it is and what the big feature was?

[@T0phaz]

Ah nvm saw the other video, nice!

[@brains4728]

Wow i really loved the video.but why dont you make a video concerning the actual app coding that is the programming language used and all of these stuffs?

[@tiannahl]

Hi Manuel, I made these videos because I couldn't find a lot of content on these kinds of subjects and wanted thought others might be interested too. With that said I would like to make all types of other content.

[@brains4728]

@@tiannahl ok good i understand, am impatiently waiting for your next video😊😊☺️☺️

[@gebremedhnmehari7525]

How can I upload android app into the playstore and get paid?

[@loganmahoney2284]

You are awesome

[@1stpersoncj]

If you wanted to secure every dollar made from your app, where would you go to publish your app? Apple seems to take a healthy cut of profit, so what could you do/ where could you go to combat that?

[@cortcreep7474]

Then you should have your own website or host from where people can download your app but it's going to be really hard tho because you can't drive organic downloads unlike established stores like the play store and app store.

[@tiannahl]

^ This Also unless it's a Mac app you won't really be able to do that. Side loading isn't supported quite yet for iPhones (not sure about the play store)

[@user-zd8dp2re8k]

Create an app to shoot str8 greenz on nba2k

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

You are very smart

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

Are you using native code or JavaScript to build your apps?

[@tiannahl]

I am using Swift so going all native.

[@Away88123]

Nice!

[@MegaAbgt]

Is it better to make your own apps than working for someone as an iOS developer?

[@hardipgajera2316]

Hey thanks for sharing this information 🙂 please tell me which kind of app you have put in app store ? Please elaborate it little more

[@tiannahl]

Hey, yeah of course, there's an updated video that shows the app in more detail. Check that out and then let me know if you have any more questions.

[@thebrotherhood1675]

what is your app?

[@travisstepherson5881]

Hey Tianna good work explaining the video you did about earnings after development I had a feeling that some people I watched wasn't being honest about earning big cash. I was wondering if you can do a project on space shooters. I'm in the process of making one myself but I'm not only making new assets for the game, I'm using old assets also. What do you think of that idea? I want to know your thoughts on this matter that I'm facing, any answer is comfortable to me, thanks and have a bless day

[@tiannahl]

Glad you appreciated the video. Your idea sounds, good especially if you're enjoying it. What's the issue you are running into?

[@collinsa8909]

This was interesting

[@ahmedbajalan1274]

What’s the name of the app on the AppStore?

[@lawnside82]

None of these channels say what app they have.. 😂

[@raybanthdahiya8183]

What about no-code apps?

[@tiannahl]

I have seen some of the stuff on offer but haven't done anything serious with them. Although I have heard of some products/apps whose origins were no-code.

[@paulmelnyk6897]

Hi, hats a great video I found ! Thank you for sharing ! share a name of your app ? So I can look 👀 at it ?

[@soumyadipkundu1627]

I developed and published few mobile games on android play store, but no luck!! any suggestion would you like to give? it will be very helpful.

[@tiannahl]

Games can be hard to stand out because there are so many. And as I haven't really released any games i'm sorry but I don't have a ton of advice. It seems like for games marketing is a big part.

[@sourPollo]

How are you set up legally?

[@cukeyra]

Thank you so much for this video. Its so nice to see beautiful brown women that look like me in the tech space.

[@tiannahl]

Thank you for watching and for engaging in the comments.

[@ericsokoine]

Hi did you use ads to promote your app or was traffic organic?

[@tiannahl]

Traffic was organic, I talk about my thoughts on marketing in my most recent video in case you haven't seen it.

[@ilgaralizada7206]

wright apps for iPad

[@trapcitymusiq_]

I want you to make a beginner friendly course building app music 🎶 a like Spotify 🇯🇲

[@donjohnson4347]

How did you market your app, did you higher a marketer/ marketing agency/ company

[@tiannahl]

Just posted a video answering this very question. If you have any questions after watching let me know.

[@donjohnson4347]

@@tiannahl u just post it , but I don't see

[@Opeyemi.sanusi]

What’s the name of the app?

[@tiannahl]

Hi, I shared that in an updated video on the channel.

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

Are you using 16gb ram or 8gb ram?

[@tiannahl]

I'm assuming your asking about my Mac, and it s a 2020 M1 with 16GB

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

@@tiannahl I have only a MacBook Air 2015 8gb ram 256 gb ssd

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

@@tiannahl I will get one by the end of this year.

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

I got m2 but still 8 Gb ram.

[@draycole3565]

Can I build an app for $1000???

[@Agroth2333]

Hey Tianna! Could you come back to KZbin and keep giving us updates?

[@tiannahl]

Hi Aaron, working on that. If there are more things you want to know I would love to know.

[@SHINBAXTER]

"A CUPPA CUPPA CUPPA" XD =)

[@de_h_unknown4294]

I have a question!! I'm from Bangladesh..can I become swift developer.. Please replay me back if you know..thanks you.Please mam

[@tiannahl]

If you want to be a Swift Developer I don't see why not. What it comes down to is if you want to, and if you put in the effort. If you want to just work on your own projects then just get started. If you are looking for a more formal employment situation then it will be if there are jobs available in your area, or if not then at least remote being an option. Good luck with your pursuits.

[@beepositive2596]

Have you ever tried to find full term me employment

[@tiannahl]

Not really, I have worked on my own projects, a little freelancing on some small jobs. At one time I wanted to see what the process was so sent out some resumes and had a handful of interviews.

[@Kyle-ho4lj]

i thought it would be more lol

[@tiannahl]

That would've been nice. But I figure it's a process and have to start somewhere.

[@_Viking]

Why would anyone subsidice a billion dollar company like Apple? 30% ??? For what?

[@tiannahl]

For the vast majority of apps the commission is 15%, but regardless yeah if that margin doesn't work for someone then I understand.

[@trapcitymusiq_]

💯🇯🇲❤️

[@alphasuperior100]

You're not easy on the eyes if you know what I mean.

[@feuerherz007]

Guys dont buy a course. Its all scams. Knowledge should be free and you can find it free! Also do urself dont just follow tutorials

[@ishandutta2045]

$99 per year is too much for 3rd world countries. Is there a way where multiple developers can share one apple developer account ? they allow unlimited apps with one account.

[@KaroCodes]

Great content Tianna! I definitely agree that money and earnings shouldn't be a taboo and transparency can only help the community 💪 I should make a video like that myself 😊 Subbed, we should collab one day! ♥️

[@tiannahl]

Thank you. We should!

[@AX100G]

Nice that you managed to make a decent amount of money with your app! My app's don't really make me money, but they definitely paid for themselves in allowing me to learn new things, helped me gain interviews and gave me interesting projects to talk about at interviews.

[@tiannahl]

And that can't be overlooked, there is real value in all of those things. I would say that earning money is a bonus considering what my goal was when I set out, making a full app from scratch by myself.

[@youdontsay2529]

You just motivated me to get back to coding. Thank you.

[@TheNinjai74]

This video has been very inspirational. Thanks again for sharing Tianna! This is organic, love it.

[@tiannahl]

Thank you Sean!

[@kslazinski]

Congratulations 🎉 and thanks for sharing. Which apps were you talking about?

[@mikelippold7054]

Thanks very much for sharing Tianna. Nice to see a Canadian iOS developer posting KZbin videos!

[@tiannahl]

More to come!

[@cristianjuarez1086]

Hey Tianna! Loved the honest content and subscribed immediatly, such a good channel. I wanted to ask, how did you manage to get traffic to your apps? have you paid for ads? did you promote them on social media? if its just organic, have you worked on ASO?

[@tiannahl]

Thanks for subbing! And to answer your question I would say it's organic as I haven't done any ads or social media marketing. I think what helped was adding support for other languages which allows other regions to find and use it.

[@parishare2750]

Great job and thank you for sharing! I am a professional dev on the fence of starting but your experience was very encouraging! Hope 2021 is going great!

[@tiannahl]

Thank you Paris, glad it was helpful if even only a little.

[@walterdiaz2003]

Apple’s cut + government tax. No less than 50% in loses.

[@kiravd5392]

Great to see other women in tech, especially women of color! Love it :) Keep the videos coming.

[@tiannahl]

Thank you Amy!

[@THEDOORIZCLOSED]

Just say “black women” smh🙄🙄🙄

[@acromos]

Very inspiring.

[@melaninking4551]

What is the name of your app?

[@alienencore3848]

Like the video, but 443 minus 30% isn't 288.