Discussion
Feeling a bit depressed because I want to be excited about new hardware and stuff, but I simply cannot afford it. I see other indie devs lining up to buy stuff and meanwhile we're over here barely surviving. Tapestry doesn't make enough each month to afford *anything*. We've never recovered from the death of Twitterrific. I work harder and longer on Tapestry doing far more complex things than I've ever done before but it's just not paying off.
So anyway. Ignore me being sad.
Back to the code.
Don’t apologise for talking/venting and sharing what you are feeling on here. Men generally don’t and that’s a bad thing as we can hide how we are really feelings quite well.
Just know that there are lots of us out here who care. (2/2)
@bigzaphod
@bigzaphod Downloaded Tapestry
@bigzaphod it's sad to read this. I'm on Android, but Tapestry is one of those "I'd love to use" apps. Which reminds me I should really get a pixel portrait, to support you (and because they are objectively awesome!)
@endorama I wish it was easier to imagine porting things to other ecosystems, but... wow... it'd be a lot! A pixel portrait is cross platform, though! 😀
@bigzaphod you could afford a nice life for the family. So, maybe that’s a good thing already. That indie guy maybe is just himself, so he can buy that Duo or the new Pro. Just saying.
@longfy a lot of the indie guys do apps as a side gig, too, and they have “real” jobs that pay more than any of us make.
@bigzaphod You’re an important member of the community. Purchases don’t matter. 💚
@bigzaphod As a Tapestry KS backer and someone who loves the app, what is a realistic amount you’d need per active user to make things sustainable?
I hate seeing the position you guys are in and I use Tapestry daily. So what’s it take to support you guys in a sustainable way?
@Aaron I don’t have exact numbers in front of me but we raised the subscription price around double because we really needed to basically double our monthly revenue but we ended up losing enough people that it kind of… remained steady. So now feeling a bit stuck. Maybe there’s no market anymore. Or we don’t know how to reach it. Or people don’t like it.
@bigzaphod as a former Twitterific user, Thank You!
I’d been putting off giving Tapestry a try since I’m not on Bluesky yet but I’ll give it a try.
@bigzaphod look at me. Posting from Tapestry! Glad I’m finally trying it.
@jefframnani yay! It’s still not quite a full social media client experience but it’s moving that way.
@bigzaphod I’m already impressed with the ability to see Mastodon and RSS feeds in the same timeline. Still a lot to learn in here.
@bigzaphod $14.5k for a laptop configuration is just… wtaf Who does something like that right now?
@bigzaphod It is unfortunate. Less than flexible payment models on a single App Store can't help nor the fact podcasters will be more likely to talk about their own vibe-coded apps than promote other people's work these days.
While I use Tapestry as more of an escape from social media (I'm glad go comics is back btw), hopefully the fact it can be used for posting to both Mastodon and Bluesky will help draw in more people. That's probably what the average person wants more these days.
@bigzaphod same. not about twitter — but i was served walking papers on my platform around the same time — but i doubt my new app will ever recover from it completely.
plus… i'm a 9-5 day job at a big company unrealistic with all the AI layoffs — and surely many more to come.
it's grim all around.
i don't have any solution, just a bit of commiseration, and hope for better days for our kids.
@bigzaphod@mastodon.social If it helps, most probably can’t actually afford it either, they just do it anyway 😉 Best to not be like that.
Also, keep up the great work, Tapestry is easily my favorite app since coming back to an iphone.
@bigzaphod This is why I still have an M1 Max for all of my work. And a 15 Pro.
@bigzaphod Man, as a regular IT guy that also can't afford all the shiny new toys I see devs buying this hurts to read. Tapestry is my favorite app for following news and I'm always trying to find new uses for it since it's so pretty and pleasing to interact with.
I'll continue to spread the word to all the people I know and wish you and your team the best. Entering the holiday season with these feelings must be tough.
@bigzaphod I understand, I can't afford all the new stuff either, my phone is like 5 years old, anyway just wanted to say you're not the only one, hang in there 🙂
@thatfisch88 yeah my phone, iPad, and Mac are all 5 years old now except this isn't a side gig for us, people keep buying these new devices and want us to support them and not enough people buy the apps for us to afford buying the new devices ourselves. sigh....
@bigzaphod I hear you, don't have any Apple stuff, I'm an Android guy, lol, not that there's anything wrong with that.. 😁
@bigzaphod If top teams like you all can’t make a decent living off the App Store that should be a red alert for Apple that something’s not right with their store economics.
I hope this turns around for you, because quality apps like yours are a big reason many people perceive the Apple ecosystem as superior.
Install Fedizen
Get the full app experience
@bigzaphod I know words don’t pay the bills but you and the icon factory mean a lot to the iPhone and apple community and have made some of the most powerful and pleasant apps to use over the years and far more approachable and friendly online than some very big name indie devs in the space.
If I ever happen to be in the same vicinity as Space Karen I’ll do my best to kick him as hard as possible in the balls from Ollie. (1/2)