Cre8
Photo editing App
So happy to share this! This day has finally arrived and Cre8 got featured by IndieAppSanta.
I can already see some spike in the downloads and usage but will definitely share all the learnings and statistics afterwards.
Please support me on Twitter
Or check out their website http://www.indieappsanta.com/
As I mentioned in the previous update I have now some active Pro users and wanted to make an App to be more useful for them. So, I have added a requested Eraser functionality to the photo editing. It's still available for non-Pro users to try it 3 times before it gets hidden under the paywall. Will see how it goes.
Follow the link to download an App:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1529769524
Didn't expect that people would be buying it at all, as I wasn't focused on the money-making and the only reason to subscribe was to remove the watermark. Even more, I didn't expect that I'll get more Yearly subscriptions (3) than Monthly ones (2).
What can I say? Try things and pivot if they don't work.
Now I have to go and add more features for the Pro users.
Added Settings page.
SwiftUI is a great tool for the pages with the standard layout. So I was able to quickly prototype and then add all necessary information and links to the new page. It's now much easier to change notifications settings and have all contact info in one place.
Check it out here:
Few days after I got the very first customer who bought Monthly subscription I'm getting someone (from Belgium) to buy Yearly subscription. That's very good news for me and a great feeling to have, especially when I wasn't focused much on pushing users towards the upgrade to the Pro version. All features in the App are for free and the only reason to upgrade is to remove the watermark (or just support me). Hopefully, that means that person did enjoy an App so much that made a decision to use it for a year at least.
Few days after the previous released I did push the new one and it got to the App Store as quickly as the previous one.
In this release, I have decided to add some relevant content for the current time so 2 new sticker packs got in - "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year".
Also fixed some nasty bug when the text was "jumping" a bit when rotation and resizing were performed simultaneously.
One person reported the scrolling performance not being great for the collection of images and sticker, so that's improved too.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cre8-photo-editor/id1529769524
Three weeks after release I’ve got first paying customer (from Peru) that got the monthly subscription and passed the three day trial period. That means a lot to me to move forward, add more features and content. Also, gives me a hope to try with some paid advertising.
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Congrats! Brave you to go after an overcrowded niche like that. How do you plan to get a competitive advantage over the hundreds of photo editing apps out there ?
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Hi @AlterEcho
That's a very good question! :) Long story short I have another super simple photo editing App (just adding a text on the photo) with about 200 DAU and they were requesting for more features. So I thought about a way I can keep both - simple for the users that need just that and features rich for more advanced users. I hope that I did manage to do that. I couldn't add all that to the previous App, it was easier to write completely new with different architecture that would allow me to add features and content easily.
When I was exploring the photo editing there were lots of them with different functionality, not many of them didn't share my vision on how it should look and work, so I come up with my requirements for an app:- No focus on a single background photo or text. User should have a scrollable and zoom-able canvas with an option to add many photos (or other elements) and easily edit them.
- No ads or premium content. I don't like ads as my 8 years old kid loves to play with my apps. No premium content until I really make a truly unique premium functionality. I believe that people who don't want or can't pay will be fine with the watermark.
- (The development one) It should be easy to add content like photos, stickers, filters or quotes.
- It's ok if I'll fail. I don't have a goal to be better than "Photo Editing App X". My wish is to provide a good product I'm proud of. That's the hardest part and I have a large backlog to make it. :)
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Congratulations - 3 weeks is not bad at all, especially for such a competitive market!
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Thank you! Yes, agree it's very competitive. I also don't push users for subscription at all. It's not required as all the features are open and no ads in the App. I even promote it "join the club and support me". The only thing free version does is adding a small watermark. Also, there are 3 days free trial period. After posting this update I got 1 more monthly and 2 yearly subscription. I'm super surprised that people go for it, but will see if they will stay after trial. 🤞
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Hi Vladimir,
curious how you got the traffic for your first paying customer. Do you use ads?
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Hi @sharlsz
No, I didn't use adds yet but planning to run some App Store and Instagram ads.
So far my traffic sources were:- Family and Friends (and social networks - Twitter, LinkedIn)
- Beta users (about 250 during the testing stage)
- Reddit (gave away some codes during Black Friday what lead to about 200 downloads)
- ProductHunt and IndieHackers
- App Store featured on the front page in the "Hot Right Now" category (UK and Ireland)
- Ads in my other personal Apps
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One day after being featured on the App store! You're on a roll!!
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Congrats!! The niche you chosen is very crowded so I would consider it as success. Keep going and good luck!!
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Thank you!!
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This comment was deleted 3 years ago
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Thank you!! That's crazy how the internet connects people so far away from each other. After writing an article and before I wrote this comment got another user from Peru. Now how to understand what caused that interest there. :)
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That was probably one of the dreams for me personally as an iOS developer and right before Christmas, it came true!
Cre8 photo editor got featured in "Hot Right Now" category (UK and Ireland) and was there for a week.
Although it did bring some downloads and for some time got Cre8 in the Top 50 for Graphics & Design I would expect more downloads from being on the first page.
But it gave me something more important than the number of users. It gave me a push to keep working on the App.
The main enhancement in this release is the support for PencilKit. This allows the native smooth drawing capabilities as well bringing more brushes to use.
Also, some small overall improvements like showing the tooltip with the size name while switching the canvas sizes.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cre8-photo-editor/id1529769524
Some new features:
- New image editing functionality to mirror the image horizontally.
- Added functionality to change text size using pinch gesture.
- Try the new Posterize, Chrome and Instant filters.
Also, updated screenshots in the AppStore.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cre8-photo-editor/id1529769524
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