Birth story of my first app published to playstore

From an Idea to a product

It was a summer afternoon, and I was exhausted and hungry. I went to the kitchen, hoping to find something to eat, but alas, nothing was there. I opened my phone to order some food, but I couldn't decide what to get. I knew there was a dish I was craving, but I couldn't remember what it was. I wished there was an app to help me with that... and that sparked the idea for this app.

No, that's not quite how it happened, but I like to paint a picture. Here's the real story:

Every weekend my friend and I would spend time at my house. I lived alone in Bangalore, and after a week of work, my friend (who lived in a PG) would come over for the weekend. We didn't do much besides work, watch movies, and occasionally go out. Sometimes we'd even browse dating sites just to see what was out there.

One time, we were watching a compilation of funny YouTube videos. It reminded me of a similar video I'd seen on Instagram, and I wanted to show it to him. I searched Instagram high and low – I was sure I'd seen it there – but then I started to doubt myself. "Was it really Instagram, or was it YouTube?" After searching YouTube with no luck, I eventually gave up. At that moment, I realized how useful it would be to have an app where I could save links for easy access later. And that's how the idea for this app was born...well, not really, but you get the picture!

You're getting where I'm going, right? Those exact events didn't happen, but over time, similar experiences fueled the idea for this app. Ideas are often born from the problems we face in life, and the solutions to those problems represent new ideas or products.

Like the stories I shared, I've had plenty of similar instances. I'm sure you use social media or browse the internet for at least an hour a day, saving things regularly. But do you remember the last time you actually revisited those saved links?

When was the last time you went back and viewed your saved Instagram reels? Or checked your YouTube "Watch Later" list, or any other website's saved content? We often think we're saving links for future use, but in reality, we rarely revisit them. These platforms give us the ability to save content, but not to easily recall it. That's the exact problem I wanted to solve.

There are plenty of apps that let you save links (I won't name them), but how many address the underlying problem – the ability to easily recall what you've saved? I faced this issue countless times within the past year. When I was at my job, I'd save a lot of links or reels, but I never went back to them. I wanted a tool for myself where I could truly access the things I'd saved.

Believe me, I tried all the apps out there. I even resorted to storing links in WhatsApp so I could revisit them later, but I never did. I desperately wanted to build an app that solved my problem. The only drawback was that I didn't know how to code mobile apps.

If you're familiar with programming, you might have heard of Java, which can be used to write mobile apps. I knew Java, so that wasn't the problem. The real issue was UI design – I was terrible at writing good XML code.

I could have learned other languages used for mobile development, like React Native or Flutter, but I was hesitant to try. More than fear, it wasn't something my job demanded, so I never found the time to learn.

But the idea stayed with me. I didn't know when I would build the app, but I was certain I would one day. I left my job on December 23rd, 2023, to pursue the things I love and explore other possibilities. As a result, I gained a lot of free time.

For a month, I didn't try to learn any new programming languages – I'm not sure why, but I just didn't. Finally, in February 2024, I started exploring the basics of Flutter, and it changed everything. I learned the fundamentals of the language and began building the app. Below, you can see the first rough sketch of an idea. the app was called the project recall radar

The goal wasn't simply to save links, but to add features that encourage revisiting them more frequently. When we save a link, we're essentially saying that it will be helpful for our 'future self.' Maybe it motivated us, maybe it sparked an idea. I aimed to solve the problem of carrying those ideas forward and making the most of the content we save.

The best way to do anything is to simply start. No matter how rough the first product may seem, just starting builds momentum. As I gathered the images I'd taken, I realized I'd developed the app within a span of just two weeks. This was surprising, since I had no prior Android programming knowledge.

Anyway, once I had the rough sketch ready, the next step was to translate that into code. Using what I'd learned, I jumped right in and started coding. Below you can see the first version of the app.

At this point, I was feeling confident. The database was set up, I was saving links, and everything seemed to be working. But as with anything, when things are going smoothly, you can expect a few setbacks. That's exactly what happened.

A week into the project, I was overwhelmed with bugs. I spent countless hours on ChatGPT, StackOverflow, and poring over documentation – more time than I can imagine. In the end, though, I learned a ton about app development, and slowly things started to come under control.

I have to mention this one bug that drove me absolutely crazy, and still kind of does – Google's backup and restore functionality. I wanted to keep everything local rather than relying on a cloud database. The problem is, I needed a way for users to save their data, either for reinstalling the app or switching phones. Google doesn't provide clear guidance on how to do this in Flutter, so I had to scour the internet and read tons of documentation to find a workable method.

Initially, it seemed to work. But I'd overlooked an issue, and it wiped out all the links I'd saved – both from the backup and my device. Luckily, I found the problem, but it was still painful. I had put a lot of work into those links! Nevertheless, I got back to work on the backup and restore functionality. It took a huge amount of time to implement. It's working now, but I'll be adding cloud sync in the near future, so you guys won't have to worry about this again.

At this point in the app development stage, most of the features were ready. Below, you can see the next phase of UI changes compared to the earlier version I shared...looks a lot better, right? The thing is, I don't have any formal training in the UI/UX everyone talks about. I know a few basics, and I did the best I could with that. In my opinion, though, it still requires a lot more work.

Once you have an app ready, it's time for user testing. I don't have a large circle of friends, so it was hard for me to get extensive user feedback. Instead, I did a round of family testing. I pitched the idea to my brother-in-law, who was interested, and my sister joined in. This was the alpha testing phase of the app.

One piece of feedback I received was the need for a feature to organize links into folders, similar to Instagram's structure. Both my brother-in-law and sister are avid Instagram users who save a lot of content there. I already had this folder feature on my product roadmap, but not for the initial launch. It required additional work, which often means additional bugs! However, after my sister mentioned how useful it would be, I checked out existing link storage apps. App store reviews confirmed that people wanted this folder structure, so I jumped right in. Amazingly, I integrated the feature in just 2-3 hours after doing some research.

Once the app entered the alpha testing phase, I started to focus on designing a logo. Of course, I enlisted the help of ChatGPT to generate some ideas. I explained what my app did, and it provided several logo concepts. One of them was quite complex, as you can see below, and for some reason, I really liked it. However, after discussing it with my friend and sister, they convinced me that the logo was too difficult to remember. Ironically, I was trying to create an app to improve recall, and I'd overlooked the importance of a memorable logo! So, I went back to ChatGPT and requested a minimal logo based on a link structure. The result is the logo you see now – a link icon transformed into a location icon, signifying that all your links are stored in one place.

Next, I focused on the in-app images. Initially, I used static images to represent success and failure, but they weren't very eye-catching. I wanted something more exciting, and suddenly, the idea of using anime girls as mascots for the app popped into my head! I jumped on the idea and implemented it. You can see the images I used below. However, they didn't quite fit the overall aesthetic of the app, so I decided to change them.

The need to change the images became clear when I started designing the onboarding screens. The anime girls didn't fit the overall aesthetic, and I wanted a consistent character throughout the app for a cohesive look. While searching for inspiration, I stumbled across a Dribbble design for onboarding that featured a semi-realistic 3D boy. "That's what I want!" I thought.

Of course, I immediately turned to ChatGPT for help. While there were plenty of existing character creation tools, none of them quite matched my vision. So, I took matters into my own hands. I fed ChatGPT the Dribbble design I liked as a reference, along with my desired color scheme and theme. It generated the mascot you see in the app today! While crafting the second row of images was a bit more challenging, the first row was created effortlessly, and the character maintains a consistent look throughout.

With a character comes the need for a name. I wanted something meaningful, and I remembered how much I loved gazing at the night sky as a child. I'd search for constellations with my binoculars, and one always stood out – Orion. That seemed like the perfect name, so meet Orion! He'll have his own backstory written soon.

Now for some UI enhancements! While I was comfortable with backend development, frontend design was not my strong suit, and that's where I spent most of my time. Below, you can see the evolution of the link details screen, from the initial sketch to the final product you have in the app today.

The app was looking good, and I felt confident about publishing it. However, Google's new policy required a 14-day testing window with 20 testers. I don't even have 20 friends, so I hired someone on Fiverr to help me with testing. After 14 days, the app was ready to be published on the Play Store!

But of course, things didn't go entirely smoothly. Just when I thought everything was working, the backup and restore problem reared its head again. I had to work tirelessly to fix it once and for all, and it took nearly 3 days. Finally, it was ready!

The app still has many pending features and improvements as of this writing (April 10th, 2024), but it's ready for launch in its MVP stage.

There's so much more to the story that I haven't shared! I'll have to tell you about the challenges of ad integration, implementing in-app purchases with RevenueCat, and other hurdles I overcame.

One thing's for sure – this journey has taught me a tremendous amount. It's even helped me become fitter and healthier. Whenever things didn't work and I'd get frustrated, I'd hit the treadmill to cool off. In a way, this whole process has contributed to a better lifestyle for me.

So, there you have it – the whole story behind the birth of LinkSphere.

IF YOU READ ALL THAT THEN YOU HAVE MY MAD RESPECT