Building my first iOS app solo, here's where I'm at
Been wanting to build and ship my own app for a while, and a few weeks ago I finally started. Just an idea and pure stubbornness.
The idea came from a problem I kept having. I'd get good ideas while walking, in the shower, whatever, and by the time I could write them down they were gone. Voice memos didn't work because I never go back and listen to recordings. So I figured, what if the app just transcribes everything automatically and makes it searchable?
So I built it (it's not live anywhere yet!)
You hit record, talk, and it turns your voice into text you can actually find later. You can keep adding to the same note throughout the day, organize stuff into projects, and there's an AI feature that can summarize your notes or pull out action items.
For transcription I'm using OpenAI because the accuracy is way better than Apple's built-in model, and Gemini for the AI features. Everything is stored locally on the phone though. No accounts, no servers, nothing stored anywhere.
Eventually I'd like it to be fully local.
I'm not a developer, but I'm tech-savvy, so this has been a learning experience. I've tried to keep it clean and stick to Apple's design guidelines instead of cramming in features. It's still early. Lots missing, lots to improve!
My plan is to launch on TestFlight soon to get some early users, then eventually put it on the App Store with a freemium model. Free for basic recording and transcription, subscription for the AI features.
A few things I'm still figuring out:
- How do you get your first 100 users without a marketing budget?
- Is a $3-4/month subscription realistic for a utility app like this, or should I be thinking differently about pricing?
- When do you know the MVP is "ready enough" to put in front of people?
Would love to hear from anyone who's been through this.