The Feature That Nearly Killed Our Launch: Exporting in PitchGrid
For the past few months, I’ve been building PitchGrid—a tool for youth sports players, coaches, and parents to visualize and compare pitching/batting videos across time using a grid format.
But there was one huge problem: exporting the grid was broken.
This wasn’t just another “nice to have.” It was the feature we advertised as core to the app—and it almost delayed the entire launch indefinitely.
What made it so hard?
Exporting dynamic layouts with synchronized video was a nightmare on Android.
Device-specific issues broke encoding across multiple test phones.
Memory leaks, permission edge cases, UI lifecycle bugs—you name it.
I re-architected the video pipeline three times before finally cracking a stable, performant export. And I was holding off release until it worked—because I refused to ship something that didn’t deliver its core promise.
Now it’s live.
✅ High-res exports
🆓 Watermark-free version via rewarded ad
💎 Subscription unlocks unlimited exports and removes ads ($1.99/month)
I’m keeping the app in open testing for now while I collect feedback and tune edge cases. But this was a massive milestone that unblocked our path to production.
Here’s what I’d love feedback on:
Would you tolerate one rewarded ad per export if you’re not paying?
How do you price an app like this right for parents/coaches without killing adoption?
Should I lean more into social sharing features next, or keep polishing core UX?
⚾ App: PitchGrid -- Now in Open Testing
🙏 Feedback very welcome.
It is great to read about the troubles of production, it gives me that welcoming sense that I am not alone trying to contribute my quota to make life more fun for other.
I can relate to the challenges of having to re-architect your solution and keep making tweaks until you are able to achieve your promise to your customers.
Unfortunately, I am not in a country which is heavy in the sports you mentioned; however, football is also a sport, and to answer your questions in that light,
1. One rewarded ad is very tolerable if I am using the app - I have tolerated worse, so that is a good deal
2. On pricing, I would say if you get the answer, I would also like to know, because it has been my weakness from the start of time. 🤣 😹 😆 😄😂
3. Well, sports are social events, and that is what makes them strong. The ability for a parent to export their kids' baseball video and share it on their Instagram reel or WhatsApp status, or any social platform, sounds like a great value to me. I would encourage you to work on social sharing features.
Hey wow, seriously—thank you for this! 🙏
You totally captured the exact vibe I’ve been feeling throughout this build. It’s such a grind sometimes—reworking stuff, hitting walls, fixing one thing just to break another—but it’s also super motivating when someone else gets it. So yeah, really appreciate you saying that.
And just to double check—when you said football, did you mean soccer? If so, that’s actually an awesome use case I hadn’t really leaned into yet. The app works great for comparing technique, so lining up kicks or drills against a pro or even your past self totally makes sense. Definitely something I want to explore more.
Also, your point about parents posting videos to social media? 🔥 I can’t believe I didn’t lean harder into that yet. That’s such a natural next step—letting people export a clean progress video and drop it right into Instagram or WhatsApp or whatever they use. I’m 100% going to make that part of the next phase.
Seriously, thanks again for taking the time to write this. Not only helpful—actually inspiring.
Yes, you are right. I meant soccer. We call it football here 🤣
It feels great to find a tribe-man around - someone doing something similar to what you are also doing, and be able to share experiences
I can't figure out how to attach pictures here or to even private message you to show it to you, but I took your advice and worked hard for the past 24 hours here and got the social media integration put in. You got me so excited with it as a great feature. I couldn't even do anything else today except to fix it and get it running. I actually immortalized your username in the change log in the Google Play Store update message. That's why I wanted to send you a picture to say thank you for this feature suggestion.
I got very busy trying to ship a feature in one of mine too, and have not had time to come here. I am just seeing this now.
It is a great honour to have been helpful in a way.
What tech are you using to build the app?
You can reach me on Twitter/X or LinkedIn with the same username
PitchGrid is an excellent tool for startups to practice and refine their pitches. It offers valuable feedback from a community of entrepreneurs, helping you improve your message clarity and delivery before presenting to investors or customers.
I appreciate the attempt to give me a valuable comment, but unfortunately your comment is not applicable to my app. There is a bit of Confusion with the idea that pitches are for startups and businesses, but they are also for athletes in baseball and softball. That is my target audience. Baseball, softball, and other sports. And more geared towards the coaches and the youth parents.
I will try it.
Would love to hear your feedback!
Okay we got it promoted to open testing! Please test away
Another classic over-excited developer mistake. The change is not yet live in the Play Store....