Releasing Topiary

4 days ago, I released my new app, Topiary, in the App Store.

It has been a great experience and a bunch of firsts for me in my approach for indie apps.

• Direct feedback with users and rhe community via Testflight and building in public. I did this earlier than I'd ever done before.
• Using Figma to create my screenshots. I've used Fastlane + Snapshot in the past, and just plain screenshots. This time I wanted to experience using a dedicated tool. It was fun!
• A proper design review and layout from my friend Kris.
• Using AI. The profile pictures of users in my screenshots are all AI generated.
• First time going straight through App review for 1.0 after releasing 6 apps to the app store as an indie dev.
• My first app using TootSDK.
• First time using JIRA to organise my indie tasks. I've used Notes/Bear/Trello in the past, but this felt much more organised.  

It's been fun. The initial feedback from the launch has been super positive. I've a list of next tasks and features to attack too!

It also marks the 5th app (including 2 from my previous job in 2021/22), that has gone into production with my SwiftUI Router design pattern. Being able to lift and shift whole flows from previous apps, meant I had Settings screens, About, and even a Paywall simply by reusing what I made in Video to Audio. There was minimal refactoring/editing.

I make indie apps because I have to. I get an idea and it just won't quit bugging me.

I've loved being able to start hacking on something and have it in the store in less than 4 weeks' of part time effort by leveraging things I've built in previous projects.

If you're an indie who wants to release new things or ship updates regularly in anyway, then I recommend building your own systems that help speed up the process for you with each release or iteration.

You can download Topiary for free from the AppStore