Ask HN: Is it still doable to make money in the App Store?
With people downloading fewer apps, I'm wondering if it's still doable to make $5k+ a month from an app in the store? Has anyone had recent success?
Suggestion, if you are the programmer find a marketing partner and you'll do great.
I hate to use this as an example but look at the kim kardashian app. It make lots of money yet there's nothing really special other that the marketing power she brings along to the app. Do you think she programmed it or even that she had the initial idea? The reality is that some smart programing firm offered her some cash plus a big chunk of the apps revenue in exchange for the marketing. Brilliant!
And I personally would suggest the iOS app store first, because people tend to spend more money there.
Finally think about splitting up your $5k goal across several apps which solve niche problems. They're easier - in my opionion - to market, maybe just make $500-$800 monthly but that adds up.
Best of luck for your journey.
As an iOS indie dev, I'm looking more into Mac and Web first approaches. The reason being iOS keywords are increasingly difficult to rank for, and you have more modes of user acquisition outside of app stores.
As someone who marketed and supported an app for a few years, I've never seen a cheaper, more demanding, more entitled group than Android app users. One even claimed that adding a feature to iOS but not Anrdoid was a clear case of discrimination.