It’s coming up to my 1st year anniversary since releasing my first app on the Apple App Store. What a year it has been, filled with doubt & many a lesson. But today I wanted to go back and talk about the journey that got me there int he first place.
The start of it all
I started out in the usual way when it comes to dipping your toes into the wonderful world of coding & software building, yes you guessed it, web design. I truly loved web design. I love anything design related as I am such a creative thinker coming from an animation background. Some days the code can seem so uncreative but most days an elegant code base can really be quite creative and indeed creating new features & quirks can always be a creative experience. I had this long distant thought of working more in the games/apps side of things but when you’re new, the world of tech is so vast, you truly don’t know where to start or where you’d like it most. So I stuck with websites for a while.
Then I learned about Harvard’s CS50 programme. I was enthralled by computer science. I mean I also wanted to rip my hair out at times, but generally enthralled. Halfway through, I got bored…yes bored. The autism in me felt lost. I found a Udemy course (i’m not going to recommend it because I don’t believe it ever got updated to the world of SwiftUI etc) but it launched me into the world of iOS development. That was it, I had found my calling. I eventually went back to& finished CS50 and my final project was indeed a space trivia game app. I then knew where I wanted to be, now to learn it…I have done many a course including HWS & Code With Chris along with amassing a large library of books from Big Mountain Studio & HWS.
How did I know I was ready to make my first app?
Well in all honesty, I didn’t know. I had a confidence that was somewhat new to me. I finally felt like things clicked and I understood programming with Swift & SwiftUI. I had a yearn to stop following tutorials or lessons and try programming myself. My intention was to attempt to make a few workable apps to maybe build a portfolio. It just so happened I came up with an idea that I wanted to use, so I figured in the end I would build it and attempt to put it on the App Store.
How did I come up with the idea for My Yarn Pal?
When it comes to thinking of a new app idea, it truly can feel overwhelming. I mean there are already millions of apps out there. No matter what idea you have, someone has already made a version of it nowadays. But I have truly found, you really shouldn’t let that stop you. Your app, will if you build it from your own idea, your creativity & design stand out as unique. You see, your app will generally have that one feature, one design, or one something that no one else has, simply because you made it.
Anyway back to the point. Coming up with My Yarn Pal was actually a happy mistake. You see I was thinking of types of apps for days and days. Then one day whilst crocheting away I was frustrated that the app I currently used to track my projects didn’t have a particular feature. Upon complaining about it to others, they simply looked at me & said “well build it then”. That was truly how My Yarn Pal was born. I wanted the app ha ha.
What was my process?
Well I started out with a simple notepad. Scribbling down all the features I wanted to include. There was a lot of them. So from there I started to realise the list wasn’t realistic. So I made a timeline. The base features that were a must have, with the features set out at specific update points I had planned. Turns out as I updated the features got moved up & indeed grew into bigger features. But still it lifted some of the weight, as a solo indie developer setting out a potentially large feature packed app.
Next was the design. I wanted a neutral yet inviting colour palette, one that was good not he eyes too. Accessibility is a must for me, I too have accessibility needs & thus from day one wanted to make sure I had others needs in mind. The design of this app has been a challenge. At first I designed for me, then I designed for a better interaction for the user, recently I added more accessibility features along with a set of themes which I had requests for. Now I am totally redesigning the app again to include/ adapt to the new design guidelines with iOS26 coming soon. The design part, I think never ends lol.
After 5 months of building this app, I felt it was ready to launch, I nervously put it into the hand of the Apple Review Process and within the hour it was live on the App Store. Seeing people around the world use my app, the app i mainly made for myself, is just crazy.
Lessons I learned along the way
- Design for a complete dim wit who has never used a phone before.
- Gather feedback from users, this is truly the best way to learn what needs adjusting
- Use your own app. The ugliest parts of my app, were often found by me. Things I had made so hard for a user but no one had complained about.
- Take your time. In today’s world of content, it’s easy to feel bad that you didn’t;’t make an app within a month. My app took me 5 months to solo build. It felt like forever. But I have never had a rejection from apple, never had a bad review & more importantly, I knew in my gut, that my app was ready, not half baked.
- You don’t have to know everything to take the leap to make your first app. Making it, without rushing means you will learn a ton of frameworks, what works & doesn’t work & most importantly, the quirks of working with Xcode.
Lessons I am still learning now My Yarn Pal is live with many real world users
- Don’t rush the updates. When you get a feature request or an idea. You want to send it out to your user as fast as you can…never rush it. That is how mistakes happen. Users will wait.
- Customer service isn’t too hard. Just make sure to be polite & respectful, but if your app doesn’t have bugs, you don’t have to send many emails back.
- Design once, redesign a million more times. There are always improvements to be made, as my app grows, as the user base gets larger, the design is definitely being more refined for everyone else.
- Marketing is key. I don’t mean sponsored ads, but having an online presence, engaging in the community for the users that would use your app. That is where the success to your app lies. Ready for you to tap into.
- Accessibility is forever changing. I am constantly learning how I can help users get the best out of My Yarn Pal. Never stop learning what can help your users the most.
- It’s okay to feel like an idiot & a useless developer some days even though your app currently has 100’s of users.
