David

building iOS apps until they pay more than my day job. documenting as I go

[David @justddev]

time to set some goals for 2026

instead of betting everything on one app, i’ve decided to build a small app portfolio this year

no big vision talk, just concrete targets:

- ship 12+ apps
- keep experimenting with marketing
- reach at least $1k mrr
- hit 5k followers on x and join the revenue sharing program
- bench press 120kg

i’ll only double down on marketing for the best-performing apps.

all of this on top of still working a 9–5 and trying to put family first

what are your plans for next year?

[David @justddev]

started posting on a fresh TikTok account 4 days ago

first video hit 1.2k+ views

the next two got stuck below 30

paused posting for a day to see if the account recovers or if it’s completely cooked

[David @justddev]

this single AI video did over 3.5M views on TikTok

what’s interesting is that the app doesn’t seem to be making a ton from it

my guess is the content is optimized for virality, not conversion

people are watching for the transformation
not necessarily for the app itself

[David @justddev]

@stijnvwx good luck!

I'd love to hit at least one viral video 😆

[David @justddev]

working on pivoting one of my old apps right now

after realizing app store organic traffic isn't what it used to be, i don't see much point in endlessly releasing new apps

most of my existing apps are already generating revenue

feels like the smarter move is improving them and pushing marketing harder

[David @justddev]

@khan_kilo thanks Kenny! it's really random, I think luck is quite important factor in here

cannot really find another reason why my X account grew so fast

[David @justddev]

may marks 12 months since i started posting on X

during this time i:

- met tons of amazing builders
- shipped my first mobile apps
- grew this account to almost 5k followers
- made over $3k along the way

can’t wait to see where the next 12 months lead

crazy what can happen in a year

[David @justddev]

@sherifpeterson I think just keep showing up every single day no matter how hard it is

[David @justddev]

@nickventuri funny enough building is the easiest part nowadays

[David @justddev]

@solobuildz thanks bro

[David @justddev]

@ahmedgagan11 thanks Ahmed, you too!

[David @justddev]

@vadym_petryshyn yeah, showing there every single day wasn't the easiest thing for sure

[David @justddev]

@HeyYoGB good for you! how long was your break?

[David @justddev]

@nikolasbarwicki hope it will! im still trying to get the most out of my apps, what about you?

[David @justddev]

@Buildwithanishh good luck boss, hope you get there

[David @justddev]

@delopsu_com is this sora btw?

[David @justddev]

this account generated almost 8M views

with just 7 videos in total

fully AI generated

this format is absolutely crushing it right now

[David @justddev]

@delopsu_com i bet this is doing well, does it?

[David @justddev]

@samuel_yostt same here, same piece of content that went viral last week is barely crossing 300 impressions this week lmao

[David @justddev]

X algo feels so random

one day you’re getting thousands of impressions

the next you’re barely breaking a few hundred

seriously can’t understand why every algo tweak has to flip everything upside down

[David @justddev]

@stijnvwx I've got no idea how to deal with this, it happens every now and then

[David @justddev]

@zuess05 it's clearly visible when an update gets shipped

[David @justddev]

@iamnsilva exactly, all you need to do is just show up and post every single day, the rest it a bit out of your control

[David @justddev]

@ammar_nassri thanks Ammar!

[David @justddev]

one of my apps crossed 2k downloads today!

took 6 months to get there, can't wait to see what the next 6 look like