Starting indie journey step 2: Verifying idea and design

If you didn’t read the previous post, you can do it here

Starting indie journey

Starting with a simple idea, build an app for storing encrypted photos and videos in iCloud. We decided to put a real MVP definition to cut down hundreds of questions. The real question which is crucial will people buy that?
We’ve started with the description
Safe Space — is an application to store and access protected photos and videos on an iCloud.
With a key focus on simplicity and affordability

• No subscriptions
• no hassle with setting up another account use your iCloud
• Simple UI similar to Apple photos app.

Is there a market for it?

That was the toughest question. I don’t have any experience with marketing, so I started simple, search through the App Store to find rivals.
I did find quite a lot, one of the most popular being KeepSafe and Secret photos KYMS both are pretty great applications with many reviews.
I take it as a good sign, I’ve tried most of the apps and all of them have some crucial problems. In an ideal world where there are no rivals, that’s the potential number of users. In the real one, I can solve problems for unhappy users and try to catch that remaining percentage and work from there.
Anyway, if there won’t be a similar application I would consider dropping the idea.
Scrolling through reviews I find some pain points, which will be solved in Safe Space from day one

• UI is a big user's concerns. Most of the apps trying to look too complicated and exhausting which in the end pushing users away.
• Many hate subscriptions and don’t use these apps specifically because of that. Especially if the pricing model is not clear from the description.
• Some people want to mask the application to pretend as a disguise app like a calculator and there are not many options (maybe because of Apple Store policy)
  And a couple I would add by myself
• No server-side
• Universal Mac app
  Although the existing audience doesn’t seem massive it’s certainly not small.
  64k reviews in the App Store for keeping safe alone gives me confidence.

Growth

Here goes the most intriguing part for me.
Since there are no subscriptions, I will need to rely on new users every time.
How to do that? I don’t have an audience and I’m not a growth guru. So I want to try conventional, ** paid marketing **. The idea is simple: lifetime user value - lead cost = profit in my spare time I also do some 3D animations and videos so building custom and engaging animation should be both helpful and fun for me + the mechanics are clear.
But there is also a couple of other sources
Company blog - with Mac tips - I’m an addicted Mac user and gladly share tips and I want to share our indie journey with transparent numbers if there would be any profit
Set app - Subscription bundler for Mac. Great service which I use by myself and Safe Space seems to be a good fit.

Design and MVP

At the moment we’ve started design we already have a ton of controversial features. Should an app pretend it’s a calculator? (Number 1 request in App Store comments of similar apps) Should we add secure sharing with other people? How should the encryption work?
But we knew we could not possibly build it all to the MVP. So we decided to stick to this:

Login and a couple of screens. That’s it. You can upload a photo to the app, encrypt it, and preview it. We’ve set a timeframe for 2 months to build it to beta. And gather feedback. Hopefully, it will go well. So far, building an app is the funniest experience I’ve ever had and that fact that you can work only on important things is both stressful but extremely rewarding.

P.S. What is the best place to find beta users for a test flight? I’ve heard about community hubs like a beat list but never used one. Does anyone want to be a beta user? Please dm me that would be extremely helpful.

P.S.S. That’s my 2nd post ever written on the web and the first time ever building an indie project, if you have any feedback I mean ANY at all I would be happy to hear that or answer any questions. I know it’s just the beginning of the journey, but I will do my best of being transparent and honest from start to finish.
Cheers 🍻