🛠️ Yesterday I went against my "best practice" instincts and developed a small PHP (!) script for a new feature.
I needed to allow users to share some music data with a public link pointing to a dynamic page.
I had to choose between a fast and a clean solution.
#buildinpublic

I iterated on my screenshots and ended up adding sketches of musicians, now it's much more lively...
Some final tests and then it is submission time!
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

The new app is almost ready, I'm sketching the App Store screenshots 🎉
Here's my first go at it.
I need to improve the text legibility, but we're getting there...
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

Today I crossed a nice milestone, 1000 MMR🎉
For reference, it's almost a year since I added AR purchases to Menu Plan and MMR started growing.
In a couple of weeks yearly renewals should hopefully kick in, fingers crossed 🤞
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

Today was an icon day!
A book-shaped icon is not the most original concept ever, but it fits perfectly the concept of my new app, a tune book, so I decided to go with it.
I'll have to experiment with more colours and details, but all in all I think it's not bad.
#buildinpublic

This week I dived into (codename) MyTunes.
🐞 Fixed bugs from my beta testers
🎼 Added a routine to make score music previews
💵 Integrated @RevenueCat.
Now on to the paywall!
🚀 Launch is approaching!
#buildinpublic

What did you do this week?

MyTunes is still in the making, but I managed to get 7 beta testers; they're all musicians, perfectly in the target. Also, I realized my "contact me when published" form has already collected some contacts. Not bad! Maybe this time I'm doing this #buildinpublic thing right 🙃

With my new app, I am trying to be much more "in public" than usual.
Today I posted a "call for beta testers" on TheSession, the main website for practitioners of Irish music. I also shared a temporary website, to showcase the UI: davidebenini.it/mytunes/
#buildinpublic

Time to share some more about my new app-in-the-making, codename MyTunes.
On the left, a list of the tunes in the users' repertoire, on the right a tune detail.
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

Last week I decided I'll publish a new app. Actually, it's not new, I have been using this app for years, but never took the time to complete it and make it into a product. For now here's the (temporary) icon, I'll let you guys know more in the next few days.
#buildinpublic

Folks, any Dutch speaker out there who might double check 5 strings translated from English? #buildinginpublic #buildinpublic

Today I released the first new tale of Read Me Aloud.
It's called "The Pig in the Tub" and it's about pigs and their stance on cleanliness. I'm quite proud of this because I did the drawing myself.
#buildinpublic

Menu Plan currently gets 1 trials each 10 downloads; not bad all things considered, but it can definitely be improved.
This update was just sent to the reviewer.
Will this generate more trials? I'll keep you guys posted!
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

Here is how I changed my iOS app paywall:
- Instead of the old list, I put a carousel showcasing the app with lifestyle images
- Unlike the previous list, each slide describes user benefits rather than the app features
#buildinpublic

Read Me Aloud has an animated background that changes with the seasons. Now that spring is upon us, I've submitted a new version with screenshots matching the spring theme.
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

What about 🇧🇷BR? Well, no Apple Search ADS in BR unfortunately, so I can just hope the price decrease drives some adoption...
I'll keep you guys posted!
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

Menu Plan App Store downloads/subscription numbers are:
😍 excellent in 🇮🇹IT 🇩🇪DE 🇦🇹AT 🇨🇭CH
🙂 decent in 🇫🇷FR 🇪🇸SP
😐 allright-ish in 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇮🇪 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 🇿🇦 (English-speaking countries)
😭 bad in the 🇳🇱NL 🇵🇹PT and 🇧🇷BR; these three are the latest localization I added.
#buildinpublic

The experiment will keep on collecting data for 7 days, until all users trials expire.
When starting this experiment I wasn't sure about raising the price, but the data speak clearly, so I switched the active offering to the 15$/year tier.
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

🧪 Today I finally completed my @RevenueCat price experiment comparing the A) 10$/year vs B) 15$/year price for @themenuplanapp.
📅 The experiment ran from Jan 23rd 2023 to Feb 27th 2023 (34 Days).
🍾 B wins hands down, with 30% more revenue!
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic

To sum up my advice is: do use iCloud and Cloud Kit, they're a great way to introduce users into your app with very little friction. But don't trust iCloud completely (I wish I hadn't!) and build a on-device backup system. You'll thank me later 🙂
#buildinpublic #buildinginpublic