Amy Worrallamyworrall@mastodon.social
Sep 23, 2026, 1:23 AMNo sales of #McKinley over the last few days. I was pleased with my launch week, but now I’m worrying again about how I can market this going forward :(
Replies
Nick Lockwoodnicklockwood@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 9:37 AM@amyworrall did you check out @twostraws kickstart materials? https://www.hackingwithswift.com/articles/285/introducing-kickstart-the-app-that-helps-indie-developers-ship
- Amy Worrallamyworrall@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 10:07 AM
@nicklockwood @twostraws I had a bit of a play earlier on. I didn’t love its AI generated social media messages (they didn’t sound authentic) so I didn’t follow up using it. There’s a bunch of stuff in the app though so maybe there’s other good bits!
Paul Hudsontwostraws@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 11:00 AM@amyworrall @nicklockwood Are you saying you want AI-generated messages that sound authentic, or just that the suggestions existed in the first place? If it's the former, it's not impossible, but it's a tricky problem to crack – "authentic" and "AI-generated" are tricky to put together.
- Amy Worrallamyworrall@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 12:47 PM
@twostraws hi Paul! I wasn’t meaning to slander your app btw!
I tried to start using it at the wrong point in the process I think, I wasn’t at the beginning of the process for the app I tried it for.
My preferred build-in-public posts are more towards the ‘unique challenges for this problem domain’, which is harder for a generic template. I should really have just given myself permission to skip the prompts that didn’t vibe with me.
- Paul Hudsontwostraws@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 2:33 PM
@amyworrall It's okay; I didn't read it as slander 😅 All feedback is most welcome!
Sep 23, 2026, 12:04 PM@amyworrall Ugh, I'm sorry to hear. I still haven't bought my copy (which I will, because I've lost countless hours failing at custom SF Symbols!) So that's at least *one* sale! 😰
@deepgreen struggles with the same. Once I’m done with Duo support, I’ll check out Kickstart to at least *learn* something.
But it's an uphill battle. I watched a marketeer who made a lot of money from his AI-generated apps, and it made me puke. I’m not going to go there.
- Amy Worrallamyworrall@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 12:57 PM
@bondo Yeah I’m not going to do the ‘throw slop at the wall and see what sticks’. These folks on Reddit trying a dozen ‘app ideas’ and they’ll cancel the eleven worst performing… that’s not the kind of career I want!
But I am going to have to learn more about marketing I think. For McKinley, it’s actually quite an easy one to convey the selling point, because anyone who’s made SF Symbols the old way knows the pain. But actually reaching the right people is hard…
- Sep 23, 2026, 1:12 PM
@amyworrall Yes, it's hard.
I came across this post by @lexfri, and he was super nice and did a great little feature! It was a good experience, and it added to whatever momentum there was already. I can't remember if he wrote about McKinley. https://hachyderm.io/@lexfri/117167811348684516
To me, this is a long-term effort that will accumulate effect very little by little over a long time. Eventually there might be a certain, maybe even critical, mass.
Lex Friedmanlexfri@hachyderm.ioSep 23, 2026, 1:13 PM@bondo @amyworrall Indeed! https://lexontech.org/mckinley-is-a-real-editor-for-sf-symbols
Marketing is imo the hardest part of app development. By a wide margin.