How to launch an iOS app as a solo developer

In September I posted my solo founder productivity report: build product, done. Fix bugs, done. Talk to users, not done. Market product, not done. "Maybe I should redesign the settings page."

That's the solo developer's launch problem in four lines. You can do everything, so you do the parts you're comfortable with. The launch is the part nobody else will do for you.

What does launching cost a solo developer?

Less than most launch advice implies.

Enrolling in the Small Business Program is the cheapest win on this list. It isn't automatic, so do it before your first sale.

Which jobs can Apple's own tools do for you?

More than you'd think, and they're already in App Store Connect:

• Timing. Set the version to release manually or after a date you pick, so approval doesn't decide your launch day while you're asleep.
• Testing. TestFlight lets you invite up to 100 internal and 10,000 external testers, and a build stays testable for 90 days.
• Rollout. A phased release spreads an update over 7 days, so a bug in your first fix doesn't reach everyone with automatic updates at once.
• Messaging. Promotional text can be changed any time without an update, so it can follow your launch week.
• Measuring. A campaign link per place you post tells you which one sent downloads, without any analytics code.

What should you do yourself?

Two things, and they're the ones that feel least like work.

• Reply. To every comment, every review, every email, for the first weeks. A maker who answers is rare, and people remember it.
• Talk to the people who try it. Ask one question: what did you expect it to do that it didn't? You'll learn more from five answers than from any dashboard.

Those are the jobs that can't be delegated, because the point of them is that it's you.

What can you write once and reuse?

• One launch post per place, written the week before, in each place's style. An X post, a Reddit post and a Product Hunt description are three different texts.
• One paragraph about why you built it. You'll paste it into directory forms, press emails and replies for months.
• Your review notes. They explain your app to Apple, and with small edits to journalists and testers too.

What can you skip?

• Launching everywhere on one day. You can't reply properly in ten places at once. Pick two or three.
• Ads before you know what works. Until a free channel brings people who stay, an ad is guessing with money.
• Press, until you have a story. A launch is not news on its own; a surprising user, a real number or an unusual reason is.
• A perfect app. Ship, listen, fix. Phased release is there for exactly that.

What does a one-person launch week look like?

A rough plan, sized for evenings and a weekend:

Then do it again the next week, somewhere new. The 30-day plan has the rest of the month.

What if nothing happens?

Something usually does, just slower than you hoped. I put it this way on X: week 1, nobody downloads it; week 3, a friend buys it; week 4, a stranger in Finland buys it.

And two apps can teach you opposite lessons. One of mine gets attention but few downloads; the other struggles to get attention at all. Both problems have different fixes, and you only find out which one you have by launching.