Rob Craig

🍕 I couldn’t bite pizza or look at photos of myself. 🦷 Now I’m building @BracieApp so no one feels that alone in their braces journey again. ✝️

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

I spent most of my teens being called a “mouth breather” and avoiding cameras.

Last week, I shipped my first app to help people with braces feel informed and in control.

Here’s the story behind @BracieApp 👇

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Braces: 10% metal, 90% confusion.

I built @BracieApp for the 90%.

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Big things are not coming 📉

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Big things coming 📈

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Sunday evening batch cooking 🤝 vibe coding

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

I would definitely say the hunger is the worst part. For the first 2 weeks I basically needed my mum to be a full time carer. By the time I finished one meal I was hungry for the next because it took so long to eat. Shameless plug lol but I built @BracieApp to help at appointments like these! All the best for tomorrow 🦷🩵

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Let’s do an AMA 👇

I’ve:
• had braces twice for >7 years
• gone through double jaw surgery (then surgery single jaw again)
• spent years confused about my own treatment
• turned it all into a braces app (@BracieApp)

Ask me anything about:
• braces
• jaw surgery + recovery
• the mental side of treatment
• building & launching a niche app

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

I was told pretty much the exact same thing. It's not an easy journey but from personal experience I would say if you are able go for it! If you have any questions at all about anything I would be happy to answer. Obviously I'm not an orthodontist but having gone through the surgery twice I think I have a bit of experience not even the orthodontists have.

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@arghavantas @BracieApp Have you seen an orthodontist or surgeon about it? I always hated the way I looked but couldn't even pin point why until I met my orthodontist. It made so much sense at that point when they explained everything.

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

There's not a day goes by when I look in the mirror and regret it. It was the worth it 100%. From breathing to chewing to even just being able to look at photos of myself. If you are able I would recommend to anyone who could benefit from it. I had a 10mm overbite. I've pinned my whole story to my profile if you want a read!

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@toddham All your ideas are so cool! Where do you get them?

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Surgery itself, no pain at all. That's the easy part. The first few hours are just numb but then the pain starts. If you're not careful about pain medication it will be absolute misery for about 3 - 4 weeks.
I was quite lucky that I have a strong stomach so I didn't feel much nausea but I've heard this is a real problem. There was only one point I felt nausea really bad. The nurses took me for an xray the day after to see if everything was alright. The problem is for a head xray I had to stand up in the machine while it twirled around.
I remember barely being able to stand for 10 seconds before nearly falling completely unconscious and almost being sick. It was a 7+ hour surgery for me after all so no wonder I was unable to stand!
My teeth were bound shut with elastics so as you can imagine the last thing I wanted was to be sick. I can't even imagine how awful that would have been. 🤢

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@adamlyttleapps It's just migrated to the bottom of your head 😎

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@david_attisaas @BracieApp Adding now 😎

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

📊 Week 1 for @BracieApp:
📈4,160 impressions
📈150 App Store product page views
📈0.8% conversion rate
📈23 downloads
📈0 revenue
📈0 trials

This is the unglamorous side of launching a niche app.

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@CapWords @AppStore Amazing job guys!!! Love it

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@bwedgarr @adamlyttleapps @designerants Haha saved me doing the maths. Cheers

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

@dmiiiitrii

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

For the next week I’m going to:
➡️ improve the App Store page
➡️ tighten the first-time experience in the app
➡️ keep telling the braces + jaw surgery story, but with sharper problem/solution angles

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Honestly? I’d love to be tweeting “1000+ downloads, £££ MRR” right now.

Seeing 0 trials and £0 stings.

At the same time: 23 real humans decided to install an app about braces from a complete stranger on the internet. That’s not nothing - that’s a starting point.

[Rob Craig @RobCraiggg]

Working on new screen shots for my app. It really was time for a refresh.

Anyone got any tips to improve it?