Itemlist Got a Huge Revenue Boost from Black Friday 2024

Black Friday 2024 was a fantastic opportunity for Itemlist. Since the event falls at the end of November, its impact was also visible in December’s revenue figures.

• November Revenue: $2,156 (a significant jump from October’s $955)

• December Revenue: $1,795 (still far above October’s baseline)

If you look at Itemlist’s 2024 revenue graph, Black Friday truly stands out as a peak moment.

Why Indie Devs Love Black Friday

Black Friday season is the highlight of the year for many indie developers. During this period, consumers are primed to spend, and indie devs can seize the opportunity to boost their revenue significantly. Here’s why it’s so effective:

1. Massive Discounts Drive Sales: Shoppers expect big savings, and offering substantial discounts can convert many fence-sitters into buyers.

2. Free Marketing Opportunities: Listing your offer on Black Friday deal directories can generate a surge of impressions without additional advertising costs.

3. Budget-Friendly Growth: For indies with limited marketing budgets, Black Friday can be a game-changer.

How to prepare for Black Friday

Here are some tips to help you maximize your results during the Black Friday season:

1. Start Early: Begin preparations a few weeks in advance. Craft a compelling offer with a significant discount. For instance, I offered 50% off a lifetime PRO subscription. The bigger the discount, the higher your chances of attracting buyers.

2. Optimize Your Paywall: For mobile apps, ensure your paywall is visible immediately after onboarding. Don’t make users hunt for your special offer.

3. Extend Your Offer: Launch your deal at least a week before Black Friday and keep it running for a week afterward. Early birds and latecomers alike can take advantage of your promotion.

4. Leverage Deal Directories: Submit your deal to Black Friday directories. These platforms draw substantial traffic, giving your app free visibility. Here’s a list to get you started:

   • indiegoodies.com/blackfriday

   • app.indieappsales.com

   • github.com/danmindru/rare-big-deal

   • github.com/trungdq88/Awesome-Black-Friday-Cyber-Monday

   • github.com/mRs-/Black-Friday-Deals

   • github.com/twf-nikhila/Awesome-Black-Friday-Cyber-Monday-deals#apps

   • github.com/dqhieu/black-friday-deals

   • indie.deals

   • saasfridaydeals.com

   • draftss.com/black-friday-deals-software

   • realsaasdeals.com

   • deals.motyar.workers.dev

Don’t Miss Out on Black Friday 2025

Black Friday is an incredible opportunity for indie developers to grow their revenue, attract new users, and gain valuable exposure. The key is to plan ahead, offer an irresistible deal, and leverage free marketing tools like deal directories.

Action Step: Bookmark this blog post and set a calendar reminder for early November 2025. Don’t miss your chance to make the most of next year’s Black Friday season!

Here’s a recap of the past two months, including the key highlights and growth metrics that marked this period of fluctuation and recovery.

Localization Efforts: Expanding Global Reach

After introducing initial localizations over the summer, I continued to expand Itemlist’s accessibility to users worldwide. This update was a major milestone, adding support for 16 additional languages, bringing the total to 24.

These new languages include Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

This significant localization effort aims to make Itemlist more inclusive and user-friendly across diverse regions, enhancing the app’s appeal and accessibility to a global audience.

Setapp Mobile Open Beta Launch

A significant event in this period was the open beta launch of Setapp Mobile, allowing users across the EU to download and explore the platform. Itemlist’s inclusion in Setapp Mobile is a big step forward, potentially reaching an entirely new audience. I’ve shared more about this collaboration in a previous post, but if you’d like to try Setapp Mobile, you can get a 7-day free trial here.

App Growth Summit in Barcelona

I was also privileged to attend the App Growth Summit in Barcelona, a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow indie developers, the team behind Setapp, and other inspiring industry professionals. This experience not only provided valuable insights into growth strategies but also reinforced the sense of community that comes with being part of the indie dev world.

September Revenue: A Temporary Dip

September saw a decrease in revenue, with a drop of 38.37% compared to August. Revenue fell from $985 in August to $607 in September.

MRR Comparison

Despite the decline in total revenue, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) continued to grow, showing a solid 9.58% increase from $261 in August to $286 in September.

Active Subscribers: A Steady Increase

Active subscriptions rose by 10.37% in September, going from 135 in August to 149.

October Revenue: A Strong Rebound

In October, revenue rebounded with an impressive growth of 63.93%, rising from $607 in September to $995. This significant increase was driven by localization efforts.

In October, around 40% of revenue came from outside the US.

MRR Comparison

The MRR maintained its upward trend, growing by 13.99% from $286 in September to $326 in October.

Active Subscribers on the Rise Again

The number of active subscribers saw another substantial rise in October, with a 15.44% growth from 149 in September to 172.

Embracing New Opportunities

The past two months have been a journey through both challenges and achievements. While September’s revenue dip was a setback, the steps taken to localize Itemlist and reach a wider audience paid off, as evidenced by October’s strong recovery. With the app now supporting 24 languages and attracting international users, I’m excited to see where these localization efforts will lead in the coming months.

Thank you for following along with this journey. Your feedback and support continue to inspire me as I work to make Itemlist even better for users around the world. Stay tuned for what’s next!

Localization Effects: Big Win for My App

At the end of July, I added 7 new languages to my app: German, French, Dutch, Slovak, Brazilian Portuguese, Croatian, and Traditional Chinese. The result? A clear boost in downloads from countries with these languages. Check out the graph:

As you can see, Germany (green line) saw the biggest jump, with other countries following suit.

Lesson learned: Even for a solo dev, localization can make a real difference. People prefer apps in their own language - who knew?

Preparing for iOS 18: Itemlist Gets a Makeover

Big changes are coming to Itemlist! I'm working on a major update to get ready for iOS 18. First up, I've added App Intents for common actions. Now you can add items, create containers, and search your inventory more easily than ever.

But that's not all. I've also redesigned the navigation with a sleek new tab bar. You'll notice a new 'Add' button right in the middle for quick item entry.

These updates should make Itemlist smoother and more powerful.

Breaking into the Top 5: A Milestone for Itemlist

August marked a significant milestone for Itemlist. For the first time, it reached the top 5 in App Store Optimization (ASO) rankings for its main keyword "Home Inventory" in the US App Store.

Being in the top 5 means increased visibility, which could help more people discover Itemlist when searching for home inventory solutions.

iOS Market Insights for EU report

Setapp released a free iOS Market Insights report for the EU. It's packed with valuable data for developers.

This report helps developers estimate market size, plan localization, and choose app types. It's also part of Setapp's preparation for their EU mobile launch.

August Revenue: A Steady Growth

In August, we continued to see positive momentum with a modest revenue increase of 1.13% compared to July. Revenue rose from $974 in July to $985 in August. Localization efforts contributed to increased sales in newly supported countries like Germany.

MMR Comparison

The Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) also experienced a healthy increase of 12.02%, growing from $233 in July to $261 in August.

Active Subscribers on the Rise

In addition, the number of active subscribers continued to climb, increasing by 14.41% from 118 in July to 135 in August.

Final Thoughts

August has proven that even small, strategic changes can have a big impact. From expanding Itemlist’s reach through localization to preparing for iOS 18’s upcoming features, each step has pushed the app forward. It’s been rewarding to see the positive trends in downloads, revenue, and subscribers, proof that the hard work is paying off.

Stay tuned for more updates, and thanks for being part of this journey!

Summer Vacation

I spent my vacation in Novalja, a beautiful coastal town on the island of Pag in Croatia, where my ancestors are from. Novalja is known for its pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and world-renowned party clubs, making it a favorite summer destination for tourists from around the globe. It was the perfect place to unwind and reconnect with nature while reflecting on the year so far.

July Revenue: A Major Surge

Though I wasn’t focused that much on work, July brought a significant surprise, a 127% increase in revenue compared to June. Revenue jumped from $429 in June to $974 in July. This surge likely coincided with the vacation season when people had more time to manage and organize their homes, leading to increased engagement with my app.

MMR Comparison

The Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) also saw a strong upward trend, growing by 18.27%, from $197 in June to $233 in July. This steady climb reflects consistent customer satisfaction and retention, helping to ensure a more reliable stream of income.

Active Subscribers on the Rise

In addition, the number of active subscribers increased by 19.19%, climbing from 99 in June to 118 in July.

Final Thoughts

Even while I was on vacation, the business experienced a remarkable uptick, reinforcing the benefits of building a sustainable model that can grow while you’re away. The significant gains in revenue, MRR, and active subscribers provide a strong foundation for the rest of the year.

June wasn’t the most eventful month for my app business, but it was a month of important groundwork. Most of my time was dedicated to preparing for the upcoming localization app update. However, there was one significant highlight 🤩

I Hired a Part-time Freelancer

Amidst all the exciting developments like Setapp Mobile, localization, and the new iOS 18 features, I found myself struggling to dedicate time to my next app, Herba. To accelerate progress, I decided to bring on a part-time freelancer, Frantisek Varadzin. He’s currently working on an exciting Itemlist update, but I have to keep the details under wraps for now 🤐

May to June: A Look at the Revenue

In June, revenue rose by only 1% compared to May, from $425 to $429.

MMR Comparison

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) grew by 5.9%, from $186 in May to $197 in June.

Number of Active Subscribers

The number of active subscribers grew by 8.8%, from 91 in May to 99 in June.

One More Thing

It’s incredibly beneficial to apply for WWDC labs. Just make sure to come prepared. In my case, I prepared by writing down details about my app and my marketing plans, which we then discussed together during the consultation. This preparation made the session much more productive and insightful.

May was an exciting month for my app business, filled with several exciting developments.

Setapp Mobile Beta Launch and Mention by The Verge

On May 14, the Setapp Mobile Beta was launched, and Itemlist was among the first apps featured. This milestone marks the beginning of a new era for Itemlist. The Verge covered the launch, highlighting Itemlist along with other apps available in Setapp Mobile. They also included a do-follow link to Itemlist, a great gift for Itemlist's website SEO 😍

Localization: Crowdsourcing Translations with Crowdin

Until May, Itemlist was only available in English. Recognizing the need for localization, I decided to translate the app into multiple languages by crowdsourcing help from users and followers. Initially unsure which tool to use, I eventually chose Crowdin due to its comprehensive features for managing languages, strings, and translators, along with its superior user experience. I reached out via Twitter, LinkedIn, and email, offering a free subscription in exchange for translation help. Over 50 users responded, and Itemlist is now being translated into more than 10 languages.

Pinterest is Blowing Up

I began publishing on Pinterest shortly after launching the Itemlist Blog in September 2023. Initially, the effort seemed unpromising, and I neglected it. Then I discovered BlogToPin, an AI tool for automatic pin scheduling. Previously, I used the Tailwind scheduler, which was time-consuming and yielded low initial results. BlogToPin, however, is quicker to set up and affordable. After giving it a try, my older pins started gaining impressions and continue to grow. The most successful pins direct traffic to my most popular blog posts.

April to May: A Look at the Revenue

In May, revenue rose by 11% compared to April, from $383 to $425.

MMR Comparison

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) grew just a bit, from $182 in April to $186 in May.

Number of Active Subscribers

The number of active subscribers grew from 85 in April to 85 in May, only a 7,1% increase.

One More Thing

I took a few weeks off to recover my strength. It was the first time in years I managed to fully relax and disconnect from work during my vacation. I highly recommend everyone take their vacations seriously and avoid any unnecessary work 😊

After a surprisingly high surge in revenue from Itemlist in March, April has brought a return to reality. As expected, monthly revenue has dropped. Despite this, March was a great month for my business due to a new opportunity for Itemlist to join Setapp Mobile in the EU. Let's take a deeper look at the results from March.

March to April: A Look at the Revenue

In April, revenue dropped by 36% compared to March, from $605 to $383. However, this is still better than the revenue in February, which was $337.

MMR Comparison

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) grew from $143 in March to $182 in April. This growth was driven by an increased number of new monthly subscriptions, which contribute significantly to MRR growth but less to monthly revenue.

Number of Active Subscribers

The number of active subscribers grew from 68 in March to 85 in April, marking a 25% increase. This growth is promising.

New opportunity: Setapp Mobile in the EU

Despite underwhelming revenue stats, April was a significant month for my business. A new opportunity to join Setapp Mobile in the EU emerged. After learning about this opportunity from Florian, I applied to join.

If you haven't heard of Setapp yet, it's like Netflix for macOS apps. You pay a monthly subscription and get access to hundreds of high-quality apps without paywalls and ads. Notable apps included with Setapp are CleanMyMac X for cleaning your Mac and Bartender for customizing your menu bar. You can try Setapp for free with this link.

After the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) required Apple to allow alternative app stores, new opportunities arose. Setapp announced their alternative marketplace on iOS in the EU called Setapp Mobile. Itemlist has been part of Setapp Mobile since its inception.

Setapp Mobile's invite-only beta launched on May 14, 2024, and will officially launch in the next few months. If you have an iOS app and would like to see it on Setapp Mobile, fill out this form to apply.

As we look forward to the official launch of Setapp Mobile, the future holds exciting potential for Itemlist. Stay tuned for more updates on my journey.

March 2024 turned out to be a phenomenal month for my app business, likely driven by the annual spring cleaning trend that led to a spike in downloads for home inventory apps like Itemlist.

February to March: A Look at the Revenue Spike

In March, total revenue soared by 78% from February, topping $600 for the first time, excluding Black Friday. This represents a significant milestone. Purchases were consistent throughout the month despite a few flat periods, as illustrated in the graph above.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MMR) Growth

Although the overall revenue spiked, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MMR) experienced modest growth, going from $127 to $143. This relatively small increase, especially compared to February, is likely because of the surge in lifetime purchases in March.

The number of active subscribers grew from 59 in February to 68 in March.

Excluding the Black Friday spike in November, March recorded the highest month-over-month revenue growth yet. April, on the other hand, has started more slowly, and it seems unlikely to match March's figures.

Wrapping Up

This month's results highlight the importance of understanding seasonality in app markets. Given the impact of spring cleaning, I plan to increase marketing efforts during this season next year to capitalize on similar trends.

This marks my second blog post in the Indie Dev Diary series. For insights from the beginning of my journey, take a look at the first blog post in the series, where I initially shared my revenue metrics.

You can also follow me on X/Twitter and LinkedIn, and subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss out on my upcoming blog posts 👇

Why Even Bother with Reddit?

According to Business of Apps, Reddit had 850 million monthly active users in 2023. It has become the forum of the internet. Chances are, if someone's looking for something, they might just stumble upon a thread about it on Reddit. If your app can solve a problem, you want to be part of that conversation.

Reddit is also awesome for SEO. Google loves Reddit, so if you're active there, you might get some extra love from search engines too.

Create Your Own Subreddit

I went ahead and made a subreddit for my app, Itemlist. It’s where I can post updates, share tips, and chat with users. Being in charge means you can keep the trolls out and make sure the vibes stay good.

Listen to Keywords Relevant to Your app

There's this cool tool called F5Bot where you can set up alerts for specific keywords that pop up on Reddit. It’s totally free! Monitoring keywords lets you engage directly with users who are already interested in your app’s niche. When someone mentions something related to your app, jump into the conversation and throw in a friendly word about your app. Just make sure your comments are genuine and not just spammy plugs.

Find relevant Google search results

Have you noticed that Google often highlights Reddit links in its top search results? In recent years, Reddit posts have become more prominent in Google search, offering a unique way to promote your app organically.

Start by identifying relevant SEO keywords for your app. For example, if you’re developing a budgeting tool, keywords like “budgeting app” or “expense tracker” can be effective starting points. Search these terms on Google and look for Reddit threads in the results. When you find a relevant discussion, consider adding a thoughtful comment that mentions your app as a potential solution. If your comment adds genuine value, it’s likely to stay up, bringing new visibility and potential users to your app.

This approach has significantly boosted the traffic I receive from Reddit.

Post on r/iosapps

I tried posting about Itemlist on r/iosapps in March 2024, and guess what? It actually led to a bunch of new downloads. If you haven’t posted there yet, definitely give it a shot. Just read up on their rules first so you don’t step on any toes.

Ready to Dive Into Reddit?

Now you are ready to conquer Reddit! Try out these tricks and drop a comment to let me know how it went. I’d love to hear about your own Reddit experiments in the comments.

Don’t miss out on more helpful tips like these—subscribe to my newsletter to stay updated! 👇

Why am I starting sharing revenue metrics only now?

Like many indie developers, I was very reluctant to share specific revenue numbers. I only shared relative metrics like X% growth month to month. There are many reasons people don't share their numbers like fear of copycats.
I'm okay with copycats. It's not like I've invented the concept of a home inventory app. I'm just here building my version of a home inventory app in the way it makes the most sense for me.
But my biggest fear was what would other people think. Since I was a kid I often appeared as shy because I was afraid of what would others think of my actions.
I've decided to step out of my comfort zone, and take this opportunity to face that fear by building in public.

I'm very happy I'm starting this new chapter of my indie journey. There are many benefits of doing full-on build-in-public with sharing revenue metrics:

• Stepping out of your comfort zone.

• Getting more eyeballs which leads to other benefits.

• Getting more downloads/leads.

• Getting more feedback.

• Faster building of your personal brand.

• Connecting with more people and building your network.

• Inspiring others to become indie developers.

• Teaching others about indie development backed by concrete numbers.

Current Itemlist stats

These are the current stats for Itemlist taken from the RevenueCat dashboard. Itemlist has 3 pricing options: $2.99 per month / $19.99 per year / $59.99 lifetime.

Most paid users choose yearly or lifetime option. Monthly option is a good solution for users who want to use the app for moving. They usually subscribe for 1-2 months, and it ends up very cheap for them.

Revenue metrics graph

MVP release and Indie App Santa

I've released the app in November 2022. It was an almost useless MVP. I had been improving the app over time The app was part of Indie App Santa in January 2023. I've offered the lifetime option for free. The app got tons of active users who gave tons of feedback. I'm very grateful for that opportunity as it helped me a lot with knowing what to focus on next.

Rebranding to Itemlist

When the app was released, it was called Golden Squirrel and it got a cute orange squirrel on the app icon. Many people didn't take the app seriously because of that branding. Some people thought the app was a game.

The app's revenue wasn't growing, and I was becoming very frustrated. I had been thinking for months what to do about it. At the beginning of summer 2023, I've finally decided to do a complete rebranding with a new app name and new app icon. Learn more about rebranding to Itemlist here.

After the rebranding, the revenue started climbing. It grew almost every month since. It's unbelievable how branding can affect sales, even for a mobile app. Downloads doubled just because of the new brand.

At that time, I also started doing more marketing by being more active on X/Twitter and staring the Itemlist Blog.

Black Friday 2023

Black Friday is a great opportunity for indie devs to get more attention, sales and a nice boost of revenue. Itemlist PRO lifetime was 50% off. It got quite a few sales, and the revenue reached more than $1400 that month.

December and January were better than expected. February was lower than January, but still higher than December. March started much better than expected.

MRR stats graph

MRR stats for Itemlist are not that strong. By most users buying yearly and lifetime options, MRR growth is low.

As you can see on the graph, MRR growth started rising after the rebranding. It dipped a bit around the Black Friday. It grows faster with more monthly sales that are $3, which sometimes happens unexpectedly like in February 2024.

Exciting future ahead

Some exciting things are coming for Itemlist in the near future. I'm also working on a new app that I'm going to share more about very soon 😉

I'll also start writing more blog posts with different topics regarding indie mobile development, so stay tuned.

Thank you for reading through this whole blog post 🙏 What is your opinion about sharing revenue metrics in public? Leave a comment bellow.

If you want to learn more about my indie life, check out my Indie Goodies interview.

You can also follow me on X/Twitter and LinkedIn, and subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss out my upcoming blog posts 👇

Back in 2020, after two and a half years of working as an iOS developer, I got a chance to work with Flutter. Even though I had been enjoying working with Flutter very much, I decided to go back to native iOS only after four months. I've given my best to explore the platform in those four months. In this blog post, I summarized my thoughts about Flutter.

If you develop mobile apps or you are a beginner and aren't sure whether to learn native iOS or Flutter, this blog post can help you decide.

And if you are a decision maker and you are thinking about going with Flutter to cut costs, skip to the paragraph "Should I use Flutter for my next project?".

Disclaimer:

Before I dive into my thoughts on Flutter, I must disclose two things. My opinions might be biased towards native iOS development since I'm a big Swift fan and I chose to go back to native iOS development. It's been a while since I've worked with Flutter, so some information might be outdated. If that's the case, feel free to correct me so I can update this article.

Flutter pros

Flutter pro #1: Cross-platform development speed

Mobile cross-platform development can be much faster than developing two separate iOS and Android native apps. It depends on your use-case and if you use platform-specific APIs.

Flutter pro #2: Autocomplete

Reliable code completion and Xcode can’t fit in the same sentence. But Flutter apps are developed using Android Studio or VS Code. Both offer fast and reliable code completion.

Flutter pro #3: Declarative programming

Declarative approach in Flutter makes creating UI layout a pleasure. Sure, iOS is catching up with SwiftUI which also makes creating UI declaratively possible in iOS. Actually, I use SwiftUI on a daily basis for creating my own indie app. But, a lot of existing iOS projects are still using UIKit for most of their UI, and UIKit is imperative. But SwiftUI still doesn’t support all of iOS APIs. Also, there is still a lot of legacy UIKit code in existing apps that are not brand new.

My favourite thing about declarative programming is the ease of extracting widgets (views in SwiftUI). That way, it’s simple to create reusable components and makes UI code much more readable. Also, it makes easy to use existing UI components on other projects. It can make creating apps with similar design less expensive.

Flutter cons

Flutter con #1: Performance and app size

Flutter does not use a virtual machine (VM) to run on iOS. Instead, it compiles Dart code Ahead-of-Time (AOT) into native machine code for iOS, which provides good runtime performance. However, Flutter apps tend to have larger initial app sizes compared to native iOS apps because they must include the Flutter engine, Skia rendering engine, and other necessary libraries. This can result in an increased app size from the start, even for relatively simple apps.

While performance in release mode is generally smooth, the Flutter engine isn’t as finely optimized as iOS-native frameworks like UIKit or SwiftUI. Native iOS frameworks have been specifically tuned for the platform, making them lighter and more efficient. As a result, Flutter apps may require slightly more resources in terms of CPU and memory to achieve similar performance levels.

IDEs used for Flutter development need more resources to run on your device. As Xcode is natively built for MacOS, it requires less resources.

Flutter con #2: Platform specific use cases (need for native API frameworks)

When working with Flutter, for every platform specific use-case, you need to use a plugin. You can use existing open-source plugin, if it exists, or you can create your own. When using plugins, you depend on how well they are maintained, and a lot of them are not well maintained.

If you are creating your own plugin, it takes more time in comparison to doing it natively in the first place, because it includes native logic + bridging logic. For applications which are dependent on native API frameworks like ARKit or Core Data, going with Flutter doesn't make much sense at all.

Flutter con #3: Dart language

Swift is one of the programming languages with the nicest syntax.

Comparing Swift's and Dart's syntax could take a whole another article, but I'm going to write a few reasons why I prefer Swift:

1. Swift doesn't require semicolons ; . If you write semicolons in Swift, you are probably doing something wrong.

2. Swift looks like a modern language, and Dart doesn't. Swift has a lot of options for syntactic sugar that makes the code much more pleasant to read and write, like Nil Coalescing Operator and Optional Chaining.

3. Enums in Swift are super powerful with support for Associated Values and Raw Values. I missed Swift's enums very often when I was writing Dart.

The only way Dart was better than Swift was it's support for async await, but Swift also added support for async await since the release of iOS 15, so this advantage is gone.

Should I use Flutter for my next project?

If your budget is very tight, and you need to build a prototype as fast as possible, Flutter might be a great solution for you. For most use-cases Flutter lets you build an app for iOS and Android with fewer resources than going with native app development.

But if you want to build a product with a best quality achievable, for iOS app development, there is no other way to do it other than sticking with native. Native iOS development will give you most stable application, best performance, smallest app size, and many other benefits.

Conclusion

Flutter is the best cross-platform mobile app development solution yet. But as any other cross-platform framework, it has some unavoidable downsides. If you are considering embracing Flutter in your life, you should be aware what it will bring you. And if you want to go with a safe bet, stick with native.

Follow my journey as an indie iOS developer on Twitter 😊