Don't clone success, build what you need

The advice everyone gives

Watch a YouTube video, scroll through Reddit, or check Twitter. An "App Store expert" or "App guru" will tell you the same thing: you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Go to the App Store, use an ASO tool, check download numbers and conversion rates, find an app with high demand and a gap for improvement, then look at the better version and clone it or improve on what's missing.

It sounds like solid advice. Data-driven. Logical. Safe.

But is it really?

Why the formula fails

First, it's not that simple. When you do exactly that, you end up competing against established apps or companies. Or you're fighting in an oversaturated niche where you don't even understand the real problem. You're looking at numbers, not people.

But here's what really doesn't make sense to me: you're not looking to solve a problem. You're looking to solve your income problem.

Think about it. That brilliant advice your favorite YouTuber just shared changed how you approach apps. But it also changed how the other 100,000 people who watched the video approach apps. Now you're all thinking the exact same thing: "I know what the perfect habit tracker is missing. I know what the fitness app needs. I know what the digital wallet should do."

So at the end of the day, you're just competing with more people. And when the dust settles, it comes down to marketing or luck. Because there are now 50 new apps with the same "unique" feature you thought no one else would see. And half of them have better conversion than you.

The real reason it fails

But the actual reason this doesn't work is simpler: you need to be an expert.

I'm not saying it's a must, but it's certainly the most important value compared to everything else mentioned. If you only go and create an app to make money without understanding your users, their real problems, and their actual needs, how are you going to solve anything at all? And how are you going to sustain it long-term compared to someone who does understand?

Here's the thing people miss: you don't need 1 million users for your app to change your life. Even 1,000 or 2,000 will do more than you can imagine." to keep the focus tight on small, dedicated audiences.

Build what you need

So here's my point: build apps that you understand. Better yet, build apps that you need.

Because no one understands your struggle better than you do. Do you wish a mood tracker did a certain thing? Build it. Do you need a fitness app to work a specific way? Build it. I promise you there are at least 500,000 people in the world who wish the exact same thing. Your goal isn't to aim for all of them. Aim to be useful to 1 percent.

I've built multiple apps. Except the first one, the rest have a monetization model. But all of them, without exception, were built for problems I have or had.

A simple freemium app in most cases, doing one thing really well. In many cases, a cheap lifetime purchase. Because not everything needs to be a forever monthly subscription, especially if there's no database or external cost apart from your work and App Store Connect's yearly fee.

The real benefits

The benefit of doing this is that you know exactly what the app needs to be. You know what's lacking and what doesn't need to exist. You're not creating for users you don't know or guessing what they need. You're creating for people like you, solving a problem that feels personal because it is.

Once you get it right, it's easier to iterate. You know where your users are. You know how, when, and where to find them. You're not shooting in the dark. You're pointing a torch in a dark room and finding the next room full of light.

I understand the pressure. Rent is due. It needs to work now. It needed to work yesterday. But that urgency only leads to disappointment and burnout. Your app ends up in the graveyard not because it was bad, but because you never understood who really needed it.

When you build the app you need, something changes. You open it honestly every day. Every now and then you think about what would make it better. And if it's worth it, you add it. Or you wait until another user suggests that feature too. Either way, you're building with confidence, not desperation.

Marketing feels different

Marketing will still be hard. But it won't feel like failure. Remember, you're not hunting for the first 10,000 users who wander your way. You're finding the first 1,000 people who feel represented by what you built.

When you create a blog post, an Instagram post, or a TikTok video, it will hurt less when it doesn't go viral. And it will feel more valuable to see those followers add up slowly and steadily until suddenly they're not slow anymore.

Your app is a product to you. But to them, it needs to become their identity. It needs to feel like you built it just for them. Because in a way, you did.

The long game

As indie developers, we've all been in the same boat. Shipwrecked in what feels like an empty sea, where few or no downloads feel devastating. Especially when you see that post from someone who made 2K the first week or got 10,000 users after one post.

But here's the truth: if you really created something with value and you dare to stay long enough with a good roadmap and strategy, you will most likely reach shore.

The boats that sink aren't the ones with good products and patience. They're the ones built on hype and desperation, steered by someone who still hasn't figured out who they're actually building for.

Build for yourself. The rest will follow.

Resources: App Store Apps