"If you are seriously looking to make some side income, and potentially even quit your job, I don't think there is a better option than iOS development right now."
"If you want to make more than 1K/month, then yes, it is pretty darn competitive."
Yes. Made ~75K last year. On track to triple that this year (I've released 2 more apps this year).
In response to below:
- How? Started off first app as a side project, released on app store. Got traction and went from there. Then started releasing more apps and each of those did well also.
- How long did it take you to reach this point? Released first app May 2010. Quit soul-sucking BigCo Dec 2010. Started traveling the world Apr 2011. Released second app last week (both are ranked Top 5 in sports on iPhone & iPad).
- Was luck a big factor? (Honestly.) - I think less so than for most apps. My app is pretty niche and I knew there was a market opportunity and took it. It was definitely not just throwing something out there to see if it would stick. I knew the market and knew there was pent up demand for my product because I am part of the community.
- Is your revenue spread evenly across your apps, or does it follow a power curve? Does your top-selling app account for around 50% of your income? - I have 3 apps. One accounts for 50% the other 2 account for about 25% each. Each of them are considered pretty successful by app store standards (currently all Top 5 in category).
- How did you market / promote your apps? - Did not do any marketing. Just released it and it grew organically.
- How did you decide what apps to build? (Probably the most important question.) - Built something that I needed to have, and I knew others would pay for. Much easier to do this if you have other interests outside of nerd-dom. Hint: Stop reading hacker news so much and get a hobby where the majority of participants are NOT technical.
- Do you have a "launch strategy"? Well, this is a bit of a cheat since I already have a pretty large userbase. But I have code in my app that notifies the user when I have a new app and links them directly to the app store. That's how I got traction for my 2nd and 3rd app. I'll give you an example of how powerful this is. When my 3rd app was released last week, iTunes rankings were broken. I did not show up AT ALL on the app store except via manual search. Despite this, I shot up all the way to #4 in spots purely on downloads from existing customers and (I suspect) word of mouth to their friends. Lesson here is to not just get customers, but get fans who will evangelize your product for you. That's probably the best advice I can give.
Awesome success! Do you need to frequently publish app updates to keep your revenue up? Or can you launch your apps "fire and forget", generating money without needing to touch the code again? That seems like the only strategy that would scale well without being burdened by maintenance.
- Is your revenue spread evenly across your apps, or does it follow a power curve? Does your top-selling app account for around 50% of your income?
- How did you market / promote your apps?
- How did you decide what apps to build? (Probably the most important question.)
- Do you have a "launch strategy"? That is, when you finish making an app, and you submit it to the AppStore... Do you have any particular strategies? For example I've noticed a lot of developers write their app's description like: "Blah Blah says: our app is the bee's knees!" "Even your grandpa can't tear himself away from our app!" Etc. Does stupid stuff like that actually work? (Ok, those examples were perhaps exceptionally stupid, but you get the idea.)
edit: nevermind about disclosing your apps, just read your profile
Would you mind disclosing which apps you have written? Just basic curiosity, you can also mail me (see profile). I deduced most of what you're saying here and want to go on my own as well before I become an eternal wage slave.
I'm at step 2 of your list, my app is 80% finished so it's half done ;-). It isn't a weekend project and I want to polish it before putting it in the store.
"If you want to make more than 1K/month, then yes, it is pretty darn competitive."
So.. Do you make more than $12K/yr?