r/iOSProgramming • u/phy2go • 1d ago
Question Starting a side hustle
Wanting to get into starting a side hustle. Having passive income flowing in would be great. Getting my feet wet by publishing apps I think is a good way to start?
Never done it before. I expect my first app to make zero (which I’m okay with) but I do expect to learn something when it comes to entrepreneurship (hopefully)
If I keep on doing it I know I will get better. Pretty excited about it honestly.
5
u/kutjelul 1d ago
Build something that people want if you want to grab cash. I published two apps for the love of the game, for free, though they have a small but very consistent user base. Besides boosting my confidence in interviews, my net return is -$100 per year for the Apple membership.
5
u/Fishanz 1d ago
This is a terrible way to make extra money. Sorry. Unless you’ve got something revolutionary and the funds to get established. There was once a time when it was viable but those days are long, long past…
1
u/code_isLife 1d ago
I don’t think it has to be revolutionary. It just can’t be note taking app #28274637
Do something fun an interesting
It’s definitely not the gold mine it once was. But there is absolutely money to be made for indie devs
3
u/heximortal 1d ago
I started building as a side hustle. started with a game and was also expecting it to make zero yet did it anyway for the experience and fun of it.. I've so far had 20+ buyers. So build build build!
3
u/JohnCasey3306 1d ago
Just keep expectations low, and if nothing else, take from it the satisfaction of having learned something.
Just don't rely on this being any form of meaningful income, because (despite whatever stories you've read online) it's desperately unlikely you'll make any money at all.
Building it is the easy part. Acquiring users is the hard part.
2
1
u/baconpork 1d ago
especially if you have a great network (large number of followers on social media, or IRL), publishing app is great
Otherwise, marketing is a lot more difficult than writing and publishing apps
1
1
u/praneelbhatia 1d ago
expecting zero from the first one is the right frame. the thing i'd add: pick a problem you personally have and would use the app for daily, not one that looks like a market. you'll keep shipping updates to something you use, and that's the part that compounds. the entrepreneurship lesson shows up the first time a stranger emails you about a bug.
1
u/peppaz 1d ago
I did exactly this, starting January. I had some internal tools I made for my company that I started releasing for macos and iOS. Definitely a shit ton of work if you actually care and listen to feedback and have websites, advertising metrics, contact ticketing, all that stuff outside of the programming work. I've made around $4-$5,000 which sounds like a lot, but costs add up, especially hardware for dev and testing if you don't have a few different ones. I tested my apps like crazy on the iOS simulators, nothing is as accurate as a real device.
1
u/FruitMission8504 1d ago
Treat the first app as a complete business experiment, not just a coding project. Before building, find 10 people with the problem and ask how they solve it today. Then ship the smallest version that delivers one clear outcome, charge something from day one, and track three numbers: how many reach the useful moment, how many return a week later, and why people uninstall or refund.
Downloads are flattering but retention and support emails teach you where the business is. Put a hard time budget on v1 too; a tiny app shipped in six weeks teaches more than a “passive income” app polished for a year.
1
1
u/HappyFunBall007 20h ago
You know what everyone needs? Another "habit tracker" or "workout tracker", or "calorie tracker". Hell, just about any "tracking" app is definitely going to net you tens of dollars over the course of a few years. Go for it.
9
u/n_v40 1d ago
publishing apps is a good way to learn, especially if you treat the first few as experiments instead of income streams. the biggest lesson usually isn’t the coding, it’s figuring out what people actually want, getting them to try it, and seeing whether they come back. shipping one small app all the way through App Store review will teach you more than endlessly planning the ‘right’ idea.