App Store Earnings as an Indie Developer in 2020
It’s not a lot but it might be more than you think.
Introduction
With 2020 finally behind us all (finally!). Like others who have shared such information I believe discussing money shouldn’t be a taboo topic. It was information such as this that I sought out and was hard pressed to find when I became interested in learning about entrepreneurship, and passive income. It was the information provided by others that provided the resources and/or motivation I needed. So I felt it only fair to throw my stats into the ring so that anyone out there looking for such info can find a larger catalogue of information.
Background
Okay so jumping right in. I have been learning mobile development and developing apps since April 2017 but when I started my focus wasn’t in monetizing my apps. It was purely just learning, which I am still doing. But making apps takes time and to be able to justify the time I was spending on this new found hobby I decided to try adding monetization. In 2019 I started by doing the easy thing of slapping a $0.99 price tag on one of my apps. This app is no longer in the App Store, but while it was it did afford me a couple bucks every month. However in 2020 I decided to take things more seriously and decided to learn how to add in-app purchases. Bonus being that I could also learn a new avenue of app development.
Below I share the real graphs and numbers from my iTunes Connect account.
January
At the beginning of the year I didn’t have any apps that were purpose built for in-app purchases. I did stumble across an interesting idea and I did have any app getting on average 200 downloads a day. So I decided to add a tip jar to that app, so that users who felt they were getting good value could provide their support. It follows the use now pay later approach, but the pay later was optional.
February
March
There was a random spike in downloads in March that saw 10,000 downloads in one day, but I believe this is more likely an error in Apple’s reporting system than real data.
April
May
June
June was when I decided to switch up my strategy. After 5 months showing consistent results in terms of support coming through the tip jar I decided it was time to go beyond small bug fixes and minor updates. I decided to sit down and really think through adding new features that would warrant a real unlock content/features style of in-app purchase. And this was is when I started to really see an increase in the numbers.
July
August
September
October
November
December
Summary
So for those who haven’t been adding it all up, my earnings for 2020 from the App Store was $3260 ($2110 after Apple’s cut). Now this isn’t income replacing but it does pay for the Apple Membership fees and has allowed me to justify the time I spend learning and working on new projects. I have even purchased a small course or two to help explore new topics and strengthen my skills as a developer.
I am hoping to build on the success of 2020. I will be sure to try to think of ways to share my perspective over on my channel and in article when it fits the format.
