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Developer Thoughts

Release Day Craziness

It was not like I was prepared for release day. We all know the tales of incredible parties, pizza for everyone, tons of confetti in the office. Everyone going wild on that single moment, where the CEO pushes the “Publish” Button for the Product that everyone involved has worked their asses off.

This is not that story.


I mean, it’s not like I haven’t imagined what it would feel like to release an App into the AppStore. But when the day came and Apple let me know that my App was ready for release, in an automated email that was sent while I was drooling onto my pillow, sound asleep, I wasn’t even the slightest bit nervous.

I didn’t have any champaign in the fridge. I didn’t have a standing pizza delivery for that day. There were no confetti canons and I certainly wasn’t wearing any pants. I just woke up, showered, went into my home office and saw that Apple Email and was like, “Yeah, let’s just get it over with.”. That was 2 minutes before I put my pants on and got to work on my day job. I just wanted to get the App that I worked 350+ hours on into the AppStore and see where things go. After all, I was (and still am) just one guy sitting in his apartment developing an app. No fancy company behind me, no employees. I don’t even have a ball pool. Do I still get to call myself a developer?

Truth be told, I was hoping for 100 Downloads in the first week. Little did I know what was about to come.


Fast forward to my lunch break. I thought, well the App is in the store now. Now what?

I had posted about the beta testing for my app on /r/breadit before and had gotten roughly 100 beta testers with that post, so I though there definitely is some interest for an app like mine in this community. Might as well just let them know, they now don’t have to go through many steps and signups to get to the app, but can just download it from the store like a normal person.

Honest and sincere thank you from the depth of my heart to everyone I just called “not normal”. You Beta testers are the core of this app, and thanks to you I was able to smash a lot of bugs before the release. Your service will not be forgotten!

But Breadit is no ordinary community. I’ve gotten hundreds of comments from people telling me they absolutely love the app, how cool they thought it was that a single boring iOS dev set out on this mission to make this app. They were so incredibly nice, that I was completely floored. Some people were actually begging me to put up a donate button so they could give me money. Is that even a thing?


To make a long story short: That first week, I reached over 2,300 Downloads of this app. I’ve received over 250 comments on how awesome this app was and that people loved the dedication I’ve put into this. I’ve received so many great ideas on how to further improve the app that I don’t even know where to start.

Not completely true though. I have listed every single request and ranked it based on how many people requested it, so I know exactly what my users want, but still… you get the point.

This was an even more successful launch then I ever could have hoped for. Of course, what I built here is no Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. No Uber, Deliveroo or Spotify, but I am dang proud of what happened there. I feel like even though, compared to many many other apps and projects, this might not be a big success, it is still far more than I ever would have dreamed of.

Thank you.
You are all awesome.

P.S.: I still ordered Pizza that day. And I also drank a small glass of champaign. Couldn’t find any confetti canons on such short notice though. Can I call myself a developer now?

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