Everybody can make an app now, right? Apple’s slogan, “There’s an app for that,” holds more true than ever. There’s an app for everything. In fact, there are multiple.
There are probably too many apps for “that” now.
How did we get here? Let’s look at how our superpowers as developers have become…what’s the right phrase here…less of a competitive advantage than they used to be? I think there are two distinct events:
- SwiftUI: “Designers should code.” That whole movement got started around here. SwiftUI made it trivial to kick off real, native iOS designs. And so designers started going nuts, creating their own fine-tuned UI since they no longer had to rely on developers.
- Then agents: The obvious one now. We all can build stuff because writing code is no longer the thing keeping you from doing it.
So if there’s an app for everything, and designers who can design better than you are shipping — where does that leave crusty ol’ developers? The answer, I think, is simple. We simply have to do one thing:
Stay motivated!
We have battle-tested experience, and we should use it. I think developers are still the best-positioned people around to ship and succeed with software. But a lot of us make the same mistakes that stop progress before it ever starts. And it’s because we don’t want to market.
You cannot afford to do that anymore. Some dropshipper, some designer, some vibecoder, or some other experienced developer will come along and straight up obliterate your niche. Simply put, you cannot ship to an empty room in 2026.1 You have to bring people in, talk to others about your app, or generally gain some fans pre-launch.
Momentum is at a premium, marketing is paramount, and retention is going to be the only semblance of a moat we can really have going forward.
Here’s how I think you can avoid empty room syndrome, straight to the point in a few sentences:
- Grab some emails: Stand up a landing page that lets people drop their email if they’re interested in your app. This is NOT for a TestFlight.2 Boost an Instagram post or something, show off your app, and use a “Let me know when it launches” type of approach.
- Find at least three places to share: Think outside of the typical box. Not X. Not Reddit. Find Facebook groups, or a newsletter, or a Discord, or something where people who are your ICP might be. They are usually open to hearing about stuff a bit more. Get them to step 1.
- Then, stand up preorders: Now, once your app is approved, drive your mailing list to preorder. You get that nice chart boost on launch day, and it’s so nice as a dev to see an app charting out of the gate.
That’s it.
Final thoughts
And that’s how I would do it. I mean, that’s how I’ve been doing it! You have to give yourself a boost. The days of building it and having users just show up are long gone, and even though we have to sing for our supper a bit — you can still have a strong launch. If you’re fine with launching in stealth and slowly building up your user base, then I applaud you. I can’t stomach that anymore. I need the endorphins right out of the gate!
Until next time ✌️
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Yes, it’s possible and some do it this way. For me, though, I just don’t see a way forward to release apps like this anymore. ↩
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This might completely just be me, and it’s also a little bit unreasonable, but the whole “Join my TestFlight!” post that leads to a landing page asking for an email completely turns me off. Either let me in or don’t. Don’t say you have a TestFlight and then gate me. There are simply too many other apps out there. I’m out. In my example, you aren’t letting people in; you’re gauging interest. ↩