BuiltAfter6

Pinning a proper intro. Office worker by day, parent of a kindergartener. Networking background, but I'd never built an app before this. After work I build iOS apps for problems I hit as a parent. AI helps with code; product thinking, testing and fixing are on me. #buildinpublic

Day 19. W3 starts on overtime. Networking background, no coding before - evenings only. I built Overtime Tracker: on-device SHA-256 hash chain so edits leave a trace; export PDF. Doesn't estimate wages or give legal conclusions. Needs iOS 26.5+. #buildinpublic

Day 17. First bad App Store review hit hard. Later found the parent had messaged on Xiaohongshu and I missed it - they felt ignored. Still after-work only; reply speed is part of the product now. #buildinpublic

Day 16. Planned a May 1 ship; v1 landed mid-August. Networking background, no prior coding - half the delay was learning where to start (dev account, CloudKit, Family Controls with almost no docs). Still after-work only. #buildinpublic

Day 15. Before building anything, I bought a ~¥50 Screen Time helper. Too basic - couldn't pin limits to real school-day slots. That gap is why I started after work (networking background, no prior coding). Still learning Family Controls the hard way. #buildinpublic

Day 14. Why the remote parent side exists: changing Screen Time on the kid's iPad while I was away was the pain that stuck. Built that first; packing checklist came later. Still answering Zhihu Screen Time Qs while this X channel crawls. #buildinpublic

Day 13. W2 starts - parent apps this week (remote lock + packing checklist). Honest start: X 9 followers. The channel that actually moved was answering old Screen Time questions on Zhihu, not my own posts. Keeping that bias. #buildinpublic

Day 12 of building in public. W1 wrapped: X 9 followers (+5 vs Fri morning), pin intro 35 views. Day 10 at 25 views / 1 reply. Lesson: the pin crawls; most replies die at single digits. #buildinpublic

Day 10 of building in public. Zhihu: 586 total reads (+98 vs 10-21). One answer on an old iPad question got 69 reads day one. X locked ~2 days — still 4 followers, 676 impressions. Lesson: unlock first, then answer people who already showed up. #buildinpublic

Day 8 of building in public. Zhihu: 488 total reads across 21 posts, +38 overnight. The two answers I posted yesterday on old iPad questions went from 1 to 11 and 12 reads on day two. X: still 4 followers. Answers keep getting found later; posts fade. #buildinpublic

Day 7 of building in public, honest numbers: 4 followers here (lost one yesterday). On Zhihu, a practical answer to an old iPad Screen Time question with 147k views and only 3 other answers got 44 reads on day one. Old questions with few answers beat my own posts. #buildinpublic

Day 5 #buildinpublic: followers flat at 5. Yesterday's 7 replies got 16 impressions in total; my Day 4 post got 7, but 2 builders replied. One said 3 months in, all his traceable followers came from replies. Next: fewer replies, fresher posts. Still building after work.

Day 4 #buildinpublic: followers 1→5, launch thread 31→39 impressions. Replies to other builders still beat my own posts. Most replies came on one honest question about my keyword index dropping. Lesson: ask, don't announce. Still polishing one iOS app after work.

Indie iOS question: my App Store keyword index count peaked at 1,300+ and has slid to ~400 over the last two months. Organic traffic is dropping with it. Anyone seen this? Algorithm shift, competitors, or something on my side? Curious how you'd debug it.

Day 3 #buildinpublic: followers 0→1. Launch thread ~31 impressions. Replies beat my own posts so far. Engage first, announce second. Networking background, never shipped code before; year+ polishing a small iOS parental-control app after work. Slow is fine.

Day 2 of building in public from 0 followers. Launch thread: 24 views, 0 likes, 0 new followers. Lesson: at 0 followers, your own posts reach almost nobody. So no announcements for now. This week I just answer other people's questions and see what moves. #buildinpublic