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Comment by bachmeier | Hacker News Reader

Simple curiosity, with no claim of good or bad. Why a Mac app in 2021 when that excludes such a large part of the market?

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Mac desktop market is 1/10 of that of Windows. There are however multiple "buts". Windows users are more reluctant to pay for software. When they do, they want to pay less. They tend to have less regard for aestheics and well-crafted UI/UX, but those that do will be sold instantly on the app that have 'em.

Regrettably, the percentage of Windows users that do value build and design quality over the abundance of features and low pricing is, maybe, 10-20%. On the plus side, however, this acts as a natural filter and you end up with the userbase that really groks what you make and how you make it. This alone is a huge plus. "Those who like it, like it a lot."

Long story short, if you can take your well-made Mac app and port it to Windows, retaining the polish - do it. It's totally worth it, in all aspect of it. Just make sure it looks and feels native, and it's not an Electron ;)

I can confirm the first part from my own experience. I ported one of my other apps to Windows (native, had to learn C# and UWP). The Windows revenue unfortunately is way, way less than Mac/iOS.

Usually it's in reverse, but it depends on the nature of the app, how well it's made, and on how it is marketed and promoted. In general, if it's something useful, its Windows version will outsell the Mac one even at a lower price level.

I had similar thoughts. The app looks really good and interesting but mac-only is a non-starter for me as I can only use it on a small subset of my devices.

That being said, congrats to OP for launching. The execution seems to be great with attention to detail and focus on the right things.

Thanks for the kind words! Re: attention to detail: nobody has discovered the easter eggs yet!

Well, I did a thorough marked analysis, weighted pros and cons and...

...no, I really just wanted a good notes app that had all the features I wished for. So I went ahead and got started (not done yet :). That was 3 years ago. 2 years ago I wrote an importer and transferred all my notes over from the app I was using at the time and have been using my own app ever since. And I plan to use this for the rest of my life to save the things I learn(ed) along the way. That's why the focus on data-longevity.

It's often easier to start out with focusing on making a really good product for a single platform first, and then branching out to other platforms. That even counts for things built with Electron, Qt, etc since even if 90% of the app is cross platform there's still a sizable surface between the app and each supported platform that needs to be tested and polished.

Yes, you've got to start somewhere, especially as solo-dev.

When it’s not Electron/Web: wHy nOt an eLEctRoN wEB aPp

When it’s Electron/Web: wHy nOt nATivE

When it’s iOS: wHy nOt aNDroId; 80% oF tHe wOrLd

When it’s Android: i pErSoNALly prEfeR iOS fOr tHe UX

Maybe I should take a break from HN

> Maybe I should take a break from HN

Wouldn't be a bad idea, since it seems to bother you that different people ask different questions, and none of your cases is related to my question. Unless you think "why are you intentionally limiting your market" is the same as the ones you've listed.

PS: I think your keyboard is broken.

Oh, please, your reddit is leaking. Don't do it on HN.

I don't know, his comment was a pretty accurate representation of common responses of HN.

Though it's just the case of the loudest people voicing these complaints.

It doesn't represent everyone, but it certainly is prevalent and can be demoralizing hearing all the hate.

A well-made UX in GTK or QT can look fairly native on Mac with little-to-no effort, and would let you also distribute it to Windows/Linux/Chromebook (the other 93% of the PC market, for those of you who aren't paying attention)

I love Mac apps, I like their silly use of euphemism and laissez-faire design language, but I will outright not integrate it into my lifestyle if I can't run it on my 5 other devices too. Getting work done comes first, and I'm sure as hell not going to boot up my QEMU container just to add a bullet point for my shopping list.

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