Florian Mielke Profile Banner
Florian Mielke Profile
Florian Mielke

@FlorianMielke

2,507
Followers
263
Following
679
Media
4,351
Statuses

I make products and help companies get better at it. β€’ β€’ β˜•οΈ Coffee Lover | 🎧 Muso | πŸƒ Runner

Germany
Joined July 2019
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
I finally joined the $10k MRR club. πŸ₯³ 3.5 years ago, I switched my iOS apps from one-time payments to subscriptions, and with that, things started kicking in. What a journey, what a ride. Let's move on. Disclaimer: That's gross MRR (incl. VAT and 15% Apple)
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
In my last tweet, I wrote that my current MRR of $7.777 is "not as high as I would have liked". This confused some people, so let's put that number into context: This revenue is 100% iOS App Store generated. So we have to deduct that revenue a bit: $7.7k (Gross MRR) - $1.1k
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
7 months
I finally unlocked a big milestone of my indie business: $100k ARR πŸ₯³ Yes, that is gross ARR, including VAT and Apple's 15%. So it's far away from having $100k in my pocket. But I'm really proud of it anyway. 😊
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I finally reached €4k MRR. πŸ₯³ I switched my apps to subscriptions 2 years ago. Before, I usually made around €1k a month (paid upfront). Now they pay my bills, and I can focus 100% on growing them even further. πŸ€— #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Not as high as I would have liked, but at least it looks nice. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
iOS newbies often ask if they still should learn UIKit. I have built iOS apps since 2009 with UIKit in code, Interface Builder, and Storyboards. I began layouting interfaces using pixel-perfect framing, then auto-layout as more and more screen sizes became available. SwiftUI
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
My iOS revenue before and after I switched to subscriptions: - 2009 - 2020: €160k - 2021 - today: €70k
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
I'm back with a big goal reached! πŸ₯³ January '23 was the first $10k revenue month. πŸ“ˆ 🟩 new revenue πŸŸͺ renewal revenue #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
So you're freaking out because of Gumroad’s 10%? Sell an app in the App Store or Play Store, and give Apple or Google 15-30% of your revenue. Now you can freak out.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
How did I change my iOS side business to a full-time one? 1. Switched from one-time payments to subscriptions. 2. Learned from the build-in-public community. 3. Tried, experimented, and tested. 4. Measured the results. 5. Repeat 2. - 4. till today.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
2022 was an incredible year. 2022 Growth: πŸ‘₯ Subscribers: 1,9k β†’ 3,3k πŸ’° MRR: €3k β†’ €6k 🏦 Revenue: €37k β†’ €74k Oh, and I started on Twitter: 🐦 Followers: 60 β†’ 1,2k Thanks, everybody for your support. I really love being part of this community! πŸ€— #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
It took 3 years to grow from $0 to $10k MRR. It's not super fast. It's not hype. And that's good. It's long-term. It's substantial.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Two weeks ago, I released a redesigned paywall for @WorkTimesApp . I not only redesigned it and promoted only annual subscription, but also showed it more "aggressively". πŸ‘Š My trials increased by 260% (21 to 61). πŸ“ˆ Thanks to @jakemor for the insights on improving paywalls. πŸ‘Œ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Today I reached 3,100 active subscriptions and €3,4000 MRR. πŸ₯³ 6 months ago, I was at 2,100 active subscriptions and €2,300 MRR. Growing slowly but steady. πŸ“ˆ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
My MRR is at €3.9k, so I slightly miss my goal of €4k for this month. But, end of last month, I was at €3.7k, so the current growth is fine. If I continue at this pace, I'll reach €4.6k by the end of this year. Let's see if I can get it to €5k. 🎯
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
As a non-native, I can read, write and understand English. But I'm still bad a speaking it. I want to change that! My plan is to document my #buildinpublic journey not only here on Twitter but also on YouTube. I hope I'll become more comfortable with speaking English by that.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
This was November for my indie business: πŸ’° €5,872 MRR (+5%) 🏦 €8,183 Revenue (-7%) πŸ‘€ 3,626 DAU avg. (+9%) πŸ‘₯ 3,350 Subscriptions (+2%) πŸ’Έ 4.09% Churn (-23%) #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Yesterday, the LanceID beta ended, and 160 registered beta users had to subscribe to continue getting the complete feature set. I sent them an email 3 days before and another yesterday with appropriate information. Only *2* subscribed. 😒 How demoralizing. 😞
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
To analyze my iOS business's health, I look at various charts regularly. I check these metrics at least monthly and more frequently after I’ve made some significant updates (new features, paywall updates, keyword changes, screenshot updates, …): App Store Connect Analytics I
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Revenue means nothing. Profit means everything.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
I have worked from home since 2019. But recently, having a 1.5yr daughter, it has become more and more difficult. In contrast to my 8yr daughter, the youngest does not understand when dad is at home but can't spend time with her. So it became quite challenging and stressful,
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
My oldest daughter does not take that much care when it comes to brushing her teeth. 🦷 So yesterday evening, I made a little iPad app to help her stay motivated. Guess what's her first response: It would be cool to have more confetti. πŸŽ‰ 😩
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
I highly recommend using the "Core Data Lab" if you are dealing with Core Data. It has many helpful features that make digging into your database a breath and save you a lot of time. πŸ‘Œ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
The speed of App Store reviews in the last months has been awesome! πŸ‘ When I submitted my first iOS app in 2009, I usually had to wait TWO weeks to get updates approved. 🀯
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I've started working on a new app. It's called "Buster Beep," and it's a music player for kids based on Apple Music. The idea: Parents add new albums (music, radio play, ...) from a protected area. The kid then has a kids-friendly interface to start playing the music.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
@BoringSaaSGuy Every Solopreneur should read Growth Hacker Marketing by @RyanHoliday . Can't recommend it enough. It was an eye-opener for me on how to marketing.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
7 months
One of the first signs you’ve grown as a developer is when you do NOT try to make your code clever and fancy but understandable.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I want to start a newsletter. What service do you recommend?
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
That feeling when you record a demo video of your own product and constantly think: "This is a damn good product" πŸ¦Έβ€β™‚οΈ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
How it started: Freelance > Indie How it's going: Freelance < Indie My goal: Indie
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
@tdinh_me Yes! Especially for side projects! I can't afford to waste time debugging and to test manually to move fast. I need to know immediately if that last change broke anything or if it even does what I expected.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
The indie hackers community on Twitter is probably the biggest self-help group in the world.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
@metzgereduard @dannypostmaa …, and social proof, and numbers, …
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
4 months
@Pauline_Cx @theandreboso @PierreDeWulf Im mainly on the following tap these days. My β€žFor Youβ€œ tap is a mess.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
This is why we do this all day, right?! πŸ₯°
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
4 months
@donnfelker Sadly, as a freelancer, I've worked for exactly ZERO customers who do communications right. There's so much valuable time wasted; it's scary.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
So the day starts promising... πŸ˜ƒ Wish you all a successful day. β˜€οΈβ˜•
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
@pjscow A! It's much more readable. B looks choppy.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
@pbertrand_dev @philkellr Back in town. 🀘
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Crossed the line of 1,000 followers. πŸ₯³ I hope at least one follower has benefited from some of my content here. Thank you for following my journey. πŸ€—
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Completed my first week entirely in a co-working space. Before, I worked from home since 2009 and decided I needed a change. It was one of the most productive weeks in the last months. πŸ’ͺ I even forgot to tweet (post) for the last few days. 🫠
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 years
Let's start by getting the right mindset - by @arvidkahl and @shl
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Today I learned an important lesson as an Indie Hacker. It's great to talk about success. It's motivating for yourself and others. But it's even more important to talk about failures. Surrounded by the right people, you'll get a lot of helpful advice and lovely support. πŸ’ͺ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
@jasonleowsg PureFrontend
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Quick follow-up: Trials for @WorkTimesApp are growing like crazy since I doubled the free trial period from 7 to 14 days. However, the number of new downloads stayed about the same period. I'll keep you up to date about the trial conversion.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Man, I love being a full-time indie hacker so much! I decide what to work, when to work, and how to work. If I decide to play with my kids instead of doing some work, no one can for it it. I can't imagine anything else being more fulfilling right now.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
With the last update, I stopped showing the paywall in @MinuteTakerApp to free users at every start. This is what happens to my trials. πŸ“‰ I think I have a good validation showing it at every start is a good thing.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Woohoo ... LanceID now has its first subscriber! To be honest, it was me 😁 testing the payment flow with @PaddleHQ . Seems to work! πŸ€—
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Thanks to 600 followers. πŸ€— I started in this March with around 80 followers. I learned so much during the last 5 months. I got so much support from the community. And I made a lot of new connections here on Twitter. πŸ™ #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
August will be my 4th best month in terms of monthly revenue. πŸ“ˆ πŸ₯³
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I've doubled the trial period for my apps to improve the conversion rate. WorkTimes: 1 β†’ 2 weeks MinuteTaker: 2 β†’ 4 weeks The idea is that the longer the users can use them for free, the higher the chance they will create a habit of using my products and "can't" go back.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Here is a side-by-side of the old and new paywall for better comparison.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Yesterday I reached my highest number of subscribers and MRR ever. Then I tweeted about it. That resulted in the highest number of impressions, engagements, and new followers for me on Twitter. Sometimes everything plays together.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
For the past years, I've worked on multiple products simultaneously. Two iOS apps and one web app. In 2020 I switched my iOS apps to subscriptions and grew them to $7.5k MRR. In 2022 I created my first web app, which has a lot of potential, but only makes a little decent
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I bought @dagorenouf 's course and watched 6 of 25 videos. I then wrote a tweet based on my learnings. That tweet got 10k impressions, and I gained 70 new followers (+7%) in 12h. 🀯 One of my better investments this year! πŸ‘‡
@dagorenouf
Dagobert Renouf
2 years
I'm launching a course 🀯 Learn how I took my startup from $300 to $3,000 monthly revenue, only with twitter πŸš€ – how to get engagement – daily routine to boost your growth – strategy depending on number of followers Bonus: how to become a MEME LORD 😳
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I'm not a great UI designer. Not even close. My strategy is to search for existing design bricks out there and put them together in a different way to match my product's requirements. I always need that existing starting point to get to an acceptable result.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
The programming languages that drive my mobile iOS business: Frontend: - UI Styling & Design: @SwiftLang - User Interaction: @SwiftLang - Application Coordination: @SwiftLang Backend - Domain Logic: @SwiftLang - Data Handling: @SwiftLang - Server: @SwiftLang
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
6 months
By moving @WorkTimesApp 's paywall after the onboarding, I increased the trial conversion rate to around 80%. πŸ”΄ Coming from 50-60% when showing the paywall before the onboarding. 🟠 I've tested this twice to verify it. πŸ’ͺ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
Dad’s Indie Hacker life: After reaching $10k MRR yesterday, today is all about preparing for my daughter's children's party. 🎈 May the force be with me. 🫣
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
10 months
This book kicked off my iOS side business in 2009, eventually becoming my main business 2,5 years ago. Found it today in my coworking space on the bookshelf.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Yesterday I missed a scheduled FaceTime call with a customer in a different time zone ... time zones are hard. πŸ˜Άβ€πŸŒ«οΈ So I recorded a 14 min video, uploaded it to YouTube, and sent him the private link. Today, I got this response from him! πŸ€—
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Created my first Apple Search Ads campaign for . Thanks to @arielmichaeli for his Getting Started Video () on this.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I've updated my Twitter header image and bio. Which one do you like more? πŸ€” New vs. Old
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
My father: Son, you've been working on your apps since 2009. Isn't it about time you finished them? Me: πŸ«₯
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Beginning of June, I reached 200 followers. πŸ˜ƒ Not quite a month later, I'm about to reach 300. 😲
@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
πŸ₯³ I finally reached 200 followers. Thank you all for joining me on this journey. πŸ™
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
It's the day after my @ProductHunt launch, so time for a recap. First of all, thank you so much for your awesome support. It means a lot to me. πŸ€— Here are the numbers for 2023: πŸ† #21 πŸ”Ό 69 upvotes πŸ“ˆ 131 visitors πŸ‘€ 9 new users Now compared to the first launch in 2022: πŸ†
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 months
@fabiangruss That's why I turn rough sketches with pen and paper of an idea directly into working code using SwiftUI. No more Photoshop, Sketch, or Figma involved.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
4 months
@poppacalypse @WorkTimesApp @MinuteTakerApp No, I have no plans to open-source it. It was my first step into Rails development so the code base is everything but ready to open-source it. 🫀
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
7 months
I'm always blown away by the number of people using @WorkTimesApp to track their working hours when starting their working day. 🀯
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
@scholz_felix : Your freelance status page. Just 4 without the product name, but I hope it still counts. πŸ™ˆ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Last year I dipped my toe into SaaS and web development with β€œFreelanceOne”. A service to manage your freelance availability. After 2 months, I released an MVP, launched it on ProductHunt, became #2 of the day, and gained 200 registered users within two months.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
This might be one of my biggest refactorings ever for @WorkTimesApp . It replaces over 10-year-old code, which was a big burden to move forward. This will enable faster development of new and exciting features.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
@dvassallo One thing that bothers me is the myth that writing unit tests slow you down. Our industry would be well-advised to get rid of this attitude finally. They make you faster. And they should finally be accepted as part of our craft.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
7 months
I've decided to discontinue my first and only SaaS product, FreelanceLink, on March 1st, 2024. I usually share my build-in-public strategies and steps. Now, I want to share my steps on how I discontinue in public. 1️⃣ On Friday, I send out the following email to all users.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
When I receive a review from the other side of the planet for a product I've made ... that is still unbelievable to me.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Some weeks ago, I started a new habit that improved my well-being significantly. I introduced a "Shut down" routine. Nothing fancy but effective. It's a short checklist I complete before ending my workday.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
4 months
@DonnyWals @KSlazinski It’s like SwiftUI 1.0 was back then. And look at SwiftUI in 2024. Iβ€˜m really excited about the future of SwiftData.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
3 months
@SebastianRoehl That's so kind. 😊
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
My iOS mobile tech stack: - Language: @SwiftLang (and a bit ObjC– yes my apps are that old) - IDE: Xcode (with a lower-case "c" ☝️) - Subscription Management: @RevenueCat - Analytics: @Amplitude_HQ - Support/HelpCenter: @helpscout - Crash Reporting: Bugsnag
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
5 months
@WillRBishop @halluxdev @RevenueCat You are not allowed to directly link to that article, right. But you can mention it in a separate area of your docs.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Build a product you need and want to use yourself. That's motivating and an important foundation to stay interested in pushing your product forward.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
Besides the fact that I love building (software) products and fully controlling my time, this is one of my most important motivations for being an indie. Shout out to @dagorenouf for manifesting it. πŸ™ #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 month
Why isn't this one of the first slides in any presentation about async/await in Apple's videos and documentation? Thanks, @DonnyWals , for the great talk. Source:
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
I love the iOS platform and its users for their adoption rate of new OS versions. WorkTimes already runs on more iOS 17 devices than iOS 15 devices. 🀯
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Xcode 14 can finally generate a complete initializer via auto-complete. 🀯 Finally ... πŸ₯°
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 months
@slowchaz Same for me. I appreciate the stuff from people I follow, but the algorithm has gotten β€œbetter” in recent weeks at attracting me.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Today, Apple rejected a @MinuteTakerApp iOS update. 😞 Apple does not allow you to show a monthly breakdown of an annual price in the subscription process. You have to show the total price. Fun fact: I did not change it with the update. It was in there for about 4 months. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
πŸ”₯ September is on fire πŸ”₯ It's only mid-September, but I've already reached the highest number of trials for bot apps ever. πŸ† Revenue is already at 55% compared to August and could replace it as my 4th most valuable month. πŸ“ˆ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Let's crush it! I made my first dollar ... ok, it's €0.75 ... with my sticker app Hey Honey! in the App Store yesterday. πŸ™ƒ And with that, I'm #3 in the Nigeria Sticker App Store! 🀭
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
@hyperfreelancer You can use to manage your freelance availability. Embed your FreelanceLink Badge into your website, and it will automatically update when your availability changes. πŸ‘‡
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
LinkedIn improves with the right features slowly but steadily. You can now schedule posts. πŸ‘
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
4 months
Exactly four years ago, I released WorkTimes 6.0 and switched from a one-time payment to subscriptions. Those subscriptions mostly renew today for the fourth timeβ€”something I couldn't imagine back then. Thanks to all customers for their support. πŸ™Œ
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Starting today, I will focus on one specific market. β†’ 92% of @WorkTimesApp 's users are from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. β†’ WorkTimes generates 80% of my total revenue. β†’ The German-speaking region is responsible for 72% of my total revenue.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
MRR is growing slower than expected. πŸ“‰ That's why I started to reduce my monthly expenses for both business and private. Many services have a free tier that offers mostly what I need for my business. So I started with those to see if they negatively impact my business.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
1 year
I've passed year 2 after switching my iOS apps to subscriptions, and renewals continue to kick in. πŸ“ˆ It was the 2nd best month in terms of revenue, and the 2nd month crossing $10k. πŸ’ͺ 🟩 new revenue πŸŸͺ renewal revenue #buildinpublic
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
New year's sales are kicking off. πŸ”₯ Trials are still climbing and already higher than a year before. πŸ“ˆ Last year's peak was on January 18th.
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Today's learning: Never use the word β€œdick” in DMs! ☝️
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
Over the past few days, I've talked to many customers and realized that they often only know a tiny part of what my apps are capable of. 😞 This is not their fault; it's mine. And I realized that...
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@FlorianMielke
Florian Mielke
2 years
I'm quite scared to release something with this version number. 😱
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