u/No_Builder_1977

Hi 👋 I’m keen to know how others approach app icon design and any tips or advice on workflows that have worked for you. I don’t know if it’s just me (I might be a closet perfectionist), but I reckon I spend as much time sweating over an icon as building the app!
Do you have any online resources you use, leveraging AI, engage a professional or does it just come naturally to you?

I’m keen to know how others approach Mac app icon design and any tips or advice on workflows that have worked for you. I don’t know if it’s just me (I might be a closet perfectionist), but I reckon I spend as much time sweating over an icon as building the app!
Do you have any online resources you use, leveraging AI, engage a professional or does it just come naturally to you?

Yes, another ASO post to add to the mix!

I run a small Mac utility called DockStacks alongside my day job. It's been in the App Store for about five weeks with some growth, nothing amazing, so I decided to tweak my ASO and a few other things and see how it goes. No marketing budget and some Reddit posts (I need to work on that).

For context: 1.45K impressions, 345 product page views, 20 downloads. About 24% impression→page view, ~5.8% page view→download — the conversion itself isn't bad, there just wasn't much traffic reaching it early on.

Sharing some of the learnings in progress:

1. Subtitles: Check every word is something a person would actually type into search. Mine had a phrase that read nicely but wasn't searchable at all. Swapped it for the actual feature terms.
2. Keywords field: Look for redundancy (don't repeat your app name if it's already indexed elsewhere) and for real gaps. I had a whole feature with zero keyword coverage.
3. Screenshots: The big one. Screenshots are prime real estate and need to get attention, so don't waste them. Make the content count, include the key hook(s) for the app, and use free space for captions or short phrases on key features.
4. Preview video: Always worth rewatching with fresh eyes rather than assuming it's fine because it exists. What's front-loaded matters more than what's polished later in the cut. Re-sequence if you need to so the strongest hook lands immediately on load.
5. Localization & regional pricing: App Store search is per-locale, so an English-only listing is invisible to non-English searches even if the app itself works everywhere. Translated the listing into a handful of key languages, and adjusted pricing by region rather than relying on Apple's flat currency-tier conversion, which doesn't account for local purchasing power on its own.

All of the above is live now. Too early to say what it's done for the funnel yet, but happy to report back once there's real signal.

Curious what's worked for others here — any specific change that had an outsized effect in your own early days?

Yes, another ASO post to add to the mix!

I run a small Mac utility called DockStacks alongside my day job. It's been in the App Store for about five weeks with some growth, nothing amazing, so I decided to tweak my ASO and a few other things and see how it goes. No marketing budget and some Reddit posts (I need to work on that).

For context: 1.45K impressions, 345 product page views, 20 downloads. About 24% impression→page view, ~5.8% page view→download — the conversion itself isn't bad, there just wasn't much traffic reaching it early on.

Sharing some of the learnings in progress:

1. Subtitles: Check every word is something a person would actually type into search. Mine had a phrase that read nicely but wasn't searchable at all. Swapped it for the actual feature terms.
2. Keywords field: Look for redundancy (don't repeat your app name if it's already indexed elsewhere) and for real gaps. I had a whole feature with zero keyword coverage.
3. Screenshots: The big one. Screenshots are prime real estate and need to get attention, so don't waste them. Make the content count, include the key hook(s) for the app, and use free space for captions or short phrases on key features.
4. Preview video: Always worth rewatching with fresh eyes rather than assuming it's fine because it exists. What's front-loaded matters more than what's polished later in the cut. Re-sequence if you need to so the strongest hook lands immediately on load.
5. Localization & regional pricing: App Store search is per-locale, so an English-only listing is invisible to non-English searches even if the app itself works everywhere. Translated the listing into a handful of key languages, and adjusted pricing by region rather than relying on Apple's flat currency-tier conversion, which doesn't account for local purchasing power on its own.

All of the above is live now. Too early to say what it's done for the funnel yet, but happy to report back once there's real signal.

Curious what's worked for others here — any specific change that had an outsized effect in your own early days?

Hi 👋 I’ve always struggled culling photos and maybe just too attached to them. The best advice I’ve seen to date is to not look at my photos straight after taking them, instead come back to them later with less ‘emotional’ attachment.
I have an idea for an app to take a more objective review of photo sets and rate them against criteria set by the user. The idea from there is low rated photos are the ones to cull.
I’m keen to know how others keep-or-cull and if an app to help would be a useful tool?

Hi 👋 I’ve always struggled culling photos and maybe just too attached to them. The best advice I’ve seen to date is to not look at my photos straight after taking them, instead come back to them later with less ‘emotional’ attachment.
I have an idea for an app to take a more objective review of photo sets and rate them against criteria set by the user. The idea from there is low rated photos are the ones to cull.
I’m keen to know how others keep-or-cull and if an app to help would be a useful tool?

Hi 👋 I’ve always struggled culling photos and maybe just too attached to them. The best advice I’ve seen to date is to not look at my photos straight after taking them, instead come back to them later with less ‘emotional’ attachment.
I have an idea for an app to take a more objective review of photo sets and rate them against criteria set by the user. The idea from there is low rated photos are the ones to cull.
I’m keen to know how others keep-or-cull and if an app to help would be a useful tool?

I have an macOS app on the App Store and thinking about signing up for Apple Search Ads but I really have no idea if it’s good idea and if it offers real benefits.

Am keen to know if others have experience they could share?

For transparency and context… My app is a productivity based app (DockStacks) that personalised and organises your Dock experience and currently a one-time payment.

Hi everyone,
I recently released my first macOS app and have managed to get 15 paid users entirely through organic growth, which I’m pretty excited about.

It’s currently a small, one-time purchase (I'm not a fan of subscriptions). Now that the baseline is there, I’m trying to figure out how to scale:

1. Trials: Is it worth rebuilding the app to offer a free trial/freemium model, or keep it paid upfront?
2. Localization: Do you manually optimize pricing by country, or just trust Apple’s defaults?
3. Marketing: Do paid ads offer a positive ROI for a cheap, one-time purchase app, or should I stick to organic/community outreach?

For context, the app is a productivity app to keep your dock clean with speedy drag-and-drop access to the apps, folders, files and links you use regularly (called DockStacks).

Would love to hear what worked for you at this stage!

I have an App in the App Store in English and have added some language support there, but keen to know some developer experience in adding in-app language support and learnings. I'm using Swift in Visual Studio Code and then passing through Xcode.

It didn't last long, but still a nice surprise.
If it's an app you think you might find useful, or want to know more about, check out the app page DockStacks or Mac App Store (one-time purchase).

As a new app developer who's just launched I'm super keen on your interest and comments.

https://preview.redd.it/tdumuaim295h1.png?width=2490&format=png&auto=webp&s=243bddf60bcd22c1bb26bd321ae113b0d8eeb30d

It didn't last long in this group of awesome apps, but still a nice surprise.
If it's an app you think you might find useful, or want to know more about, check out the app page https://dockstacks.app

As a new app developer I'm super keen on your interest and comments.

https://preview.redd.it/uus7yweimd4h1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=0627d983ee481747534ed10e590c28e5e8a2e06d

Excited to share my first app, after many hours of code time — DockStacks!

The idea came from wanting faster access to the apps, folders, files, and websites I use most, without cluttering my Dock or Desktop. DockStacks adds a floating panel just above your Dock that holds named "stacks" of shortcuts — click the Dock icon and it pops up instantly.

Some of the things it can do:

·       Add apps, folders, files, and website bookmarks by drag and drop

·       Drag a URL straight from Safari to add a bookmark — opens in your default browser

·       Password-protect individual stacks with Keychain storage and auto-lock

·       Global keyboard shortcut to show/hide the panel from anywhere

·       Per-stack grid sizes and tab colour tinting

·       Always-on-top pin, transparency slider, and position memory

·       Backup and restore via JSON export/import

DockStacks is fully local — no network access, no account, no tracking.

This has been a huge learning experience and I'd love to hear any feedback. Being my first app I'm offering a 'snack-priced' one-time payment at launch.

Find DockStacks in the App Store: https://apple.co/3Rz9FB6

Thanks for checking it out! Happy to answer any questions.

https://reddit.com/link/1tshia8/video/t178hx6wld4h1/player

Excited to share my first app, after many hours of code time — DockStacks!

The idea came from wanting faster access to the apps, folders, files, and websites I use most, without cluttering my Dock or Desktop. DockStacks adds a floating panel just above your Dock that holds named "stacks" of shortcuts — click the Dock icon and it pops up instantly.

Some of the things it can do:

·       Add apps, folders, files, and website bookmarks by drag and drop

·       Drag a URL straight from Safari to add a bookmark — opens in your default browser

·       Password-protect individual stacks with Keychain storage and auto-lock

·       Global keyboard shortcut to show/hide the panel from anywhere

·       Per-stack grid sizes and tab colour tinting

·       Always-on-top pin, transparency slider, and position memory

·       Backup and restore via JSON export/import

DockStacks is fully local — no network access, no account, no tracking.

This has been a huge learning experience and I'd love to hear any feedback. Being my first app I'm offering a 'snack-priced' one-time payment at launch.

Find DockStacks in the App Store: https://apple.co/3Rz9FB6

Thanks for checking it out! Happy to answer any questions.

https://reddit.com/link/1tshe4c/video/h4x82x81kd4h1/player

Excited to share my first app, after many hours of code time — DockStacks!

The idea came from wanting faster access to the apps, folders, files, and websites I use most, without cluttering my Dock or Desktop. DockStacks adds a floating panel just above your Dock that holds named "stacks" of shortcuts — click the Dock icon and it pops up instantly.

Some of the things it can do:

• Add apps, folders, files, and website bookmarks by drag and drop
• Drag a URL straight from Safari to add a bookmark — opens in your default browser
• Password-protect individual stacks with Keychain storage and auto-lock
• Global keyboard shortcut to show/hide the panel from anywhere
• Per-stack grid sizes and tab colour tinting
• Always-on-top pin, transparency slider, and position memory
• Backup and restore via JSON export/import

DockStacks is fully local — no network access, no account, no tracking.

This has been a huge learning experience and I'd love to hear any feedback. Being my first app I'm offering a 'snack-priced' one-time payment at launch.

Find DockStacks in the App Store: https://apple.co/3Rz9FB6

Thanks for checking it out! Happy to answer any questions.

Is there a way to remove the white border around app icons on the Mac dock? I know the OS has some build in UI that adds this but hoping there’s a way around it. I’m using VSCode. Anyone got advice?

Anyone got advice on a good workflow for creating icns icons from png files, with current icon shape but ideally without that white highlight on new Mac icons?