Time to update my intro Viktor Seraleev 👋 I started my solo founder journey in 2020 when I launched my first mobile app. Eight months later, I sold it for $410K. After that came a streak of failed projects (turns out having money doesn’t guarantee success). Nothing worked, so I started from scratch, opened a new company, and called it Sarafan Mobile. ⛔️ In September 2023, Apple deleted my developer account with $33K MRR because of ties to a previously closed account. I sued (and lost), then started over once again. 💸 This time, I set a goal of $30K MRR. I hit it in 1 year and 8 months. Today, I’m at $600K ARR, and my goal is to cross $1M in annual revenue this year. 📱 I’ve launched 19 iOS apps. Sold 5 apps (+$44.5K). 💻 I have one SaaS: Type.link – a website, blog, and link-in-bio builder (web + mobile). My second SaaS I shut down at a loss (B2B is not my thing). 🧲 Audience: 13.8K on X, 5.6K on Threads, 3.4K on Telegram. Ex-cofounder of Siter and Apphud. ⚡️ I don’t sell ads. I don’t sell courses. I just build. Build in public. 📍 Based in Chile. Married. Two kids. 🏃‍♂️ Passionate runner. I’ve won multiple trail races, half-marathons, and 10K races.

I know Apple new leadership is putting a lot of focus on the App Store, and the company seems more open to listening to developers. Here are a few ideas I’d love to see: 1. Gradual app rollouts When you have a lot of users, releasing a buggy update can be very costly. It would be great to roll out new builds to a small percentage of users first, then gradually increase the rollout. And, of course, have the option to quickly roll back an update if something goes wrong. 2. Search query analytics It would be great to see which search terms lead users to download your app. Apple already has this data. Sharing it with developers would help us better understand our audience, improve ASO, and build products that better match what users are looking for. 3. A warning system for developer accounts How about a yellow card system before closing developer accounts? Everyone should have a chance to fix an honest mistake, as long as it’s not a serious or intentional violation. Give developers a warning and time to fix the issue. If it happens again, then take stronger action, up to account termination. Sometimes, a warning and a chance to fix things can make all the difference. @johnternus 👋

Couldn’t ignore what’s been happening in the iOS developer world lately: rejections, long review delays and developer accounts being shut down. What’s going on, and what can we do about it? I wrote down my thoughts and some practical steps to take.

I paid off my debts. It feels really good to write those words. $360,000 in loans and debt. I did it. I managed to restart my business, get back in the game, learn so much along the way, and help hundreds of developers. It was a very difficult journey. There were moments when I genuinely didn’t know if I would be able to make it back. But I kept moving forward. I’m also really happy that my friend @adamlyttleapps made a new video about me and my story. I hope my little story can serve as a reference point for developers who are going through difficult times right now. No matter how hard things are, remember: you can start over. You can rebuild. You can change everything. It’s hard, but it’s possible. Stay strong. Keep moving forward. Enjoy the video. youtu.be/Ye3GlkxjfH8?si=C4yI…

I’m taking a break from X. I don’t know how long it will last. I’m a bit tired of the constant focus on reach, monetization and being public all the time. I want to spend some time in silence, focusing on my business. Over the last 2.5 years of my build-in-public journey, I grew from $0 to $100K/month. Here are 10 short lessons I’ve learned: 1. If you want to build a personal brand, X is the perfect place to start. Some of the most well-known people in tech might end up reading your posts. I was shocked that people I looked up to not only read my posts, but also replied and supported me. 2. X is the perfect place to bring attention to a problem. Things can go viral and even large corporations may start responding. I’ve experienced this firsthand. 3. If you’re building products for developers, X is an amazing launch platform. Your audience can help you with Product Hunt launches and be your first supporters on Reddit. 4. If you’re a mobile developer and become popular on X, be prepared for a lot of copies. And I mean a lot. Names, icons, screenshots, internal models, UX, paywalls. Accept it early and understand that it’s simply part of the journey. 5. You can grow without hard paywalls. You can let customers actually try your product. This approach works surprisingly well. 6. Filter all advice. Seriously, filter everything. Some of the advice you read on X can get your developer account terminated. I’ve helped many developers who shared harmful advice on X, gained huge reach, and later ran into serious issues with Apple themselves. 7. Design matters. People have learned to distinguish AI slop from products built with care. Don’t be afraid to put a piece of yourself into every app you create. 8. Learn paid acquisition. It’s a reliable and controllable growth channel. I’ve been growing this way consistently for the last 2.5 years. 9. If you don’t have a budget, learn ASO, localize your app and pricing, create videos about your products, and publish them on Reels, TikTok, and Shorts. You can grow without money too. 10. Stay true to your principles. That’s something I’ve carried throughout this entire journey. Sometimes people will hate you for it (and that’s okay). It’s still better than changing your beliefs every single day. Thank you to everyone who followed my journey. See you soon ❤️

As always, I really appreciate 5-star ratings and a few honest words in the reviews 🤝 apps.apple.com/us/app/waterm…

My App Review timeline with new app: - June 26: submitted a new app - Waited until June 30 - Requested an expedited review - Got a rejection 4 minutes later for issues that have absolutely nothing to do with my app Something seems to be broken at Apple again 🤷‍♂️ P.S. It also took me 6 attempts just to upload the review video because of constant App Store Connect errors

How I imagine App Review when I submit a new app vs how it actually works If you’re also waiting 3–5 days for App Review lately, drop a comment. Tell me I’m not the only one.

Acquiring an AI startup is easy. Giving it enough resources not to look like AI slop is apparently the hard part.

I encountered my first app rejection where the rejection message clearly wasn’t related to my app. Just 4 minutes after the review started, I got a rejection. The review notes claimed that my app was missing a Restore Purchases button and the App Tracking Transparency prompt. I checked everything four times. Both are there. My guess is that the rejection was either automated, or the reviewer accidentally used feedback intended for a different app🤷‍♂️

Had to call Apple myself. The first time, I waited 45 minutes for my turn. The second time, 1 hour and 20 minutes. Looks like a lot of people read my advice and decided to call Apple too 😂

Apple acquires Play. Not Rork. Not Anything. Not Replit. Apple acquires Play. A very unexpected choice.

I don’t have any viral products myself, so it’s hard for me to judge whether these points are actually correct. One of my friends does have a viral product. He uses a soft paywall and the app is largely free to use. But the real reason he achieved virality wasn’t the paywall. It was building a network of 300 UGC creators promoting the product. Without that distribution engine, it would have been just another creative app.

It’s nice to make a small exit instead of shutting down a project. A completely unexpected $10,000 deal on a Saturday.

Yesterday, I sent an email announcing that I was shutting down Typelink. A few hours later, one of my followers reached out and offered to save the project by acquiring it. We quickly discussed the details and signed the deal. The acquisition price wasn’t huge, just $10,000. But honestly, I’m just happy that Typelink will stay alive. ✅ Registrations are open again ✅ iOS and Android apps are back ✅ The project will continue What a crazy 24 hours. Typelink lives on 🎉

Auto review ✅ 1 min for review, wow

And what is the “love letter” from Apple? It’s an email developers receive when Apple believes your app may violate the guidelines. For example, if your app has: - unusually high refund rates, - poor user reviews, - a large number of complaints (often caused by aggressive hard paywalls), you may receive a DPLA violation notice citing Guideline 5.6.4 (App Quality). At that point, Apple may pause your payouts and open an investigation. What happens next depends on whether you can convince Apple that you’re able and willing to fix the issues. Another common scenario is running frequent free promotions. Apple sees traffic spikes but little or no purchasing activity, which can trigger a warning about potential rating manipulation (fraud, manipulation and dishonest practices). Sometimes this happens because one of your TikTok videos goes viral. In that case, you’ll need to provide evidence and explain that the traffic spike was organic. Usually, these cases don’t result in payout suspension. But repeated violations can eventually lead to account termination.

Many developers compare their hard paywall to Apple Music or Netflix. Seriously? Apple Music has millions of songs. Netflix has thousands of movies and one of the strongest brands in the world. Your vibe-coded app made in a weekend is not Apple Music or Netflix. Be more critical of your own product. For most vibe-coded apps, a hard paywall will only lead to: - unhappy users - bad reviews - refund requests - complaints to Apple My advice: Build a genuinely high-quality product first. Only then start testing a hard paywall.

Another problem with hard paywalls is inflated expectations. When users are forced to pay upfront, they naturally expect a high-quality product. But too often, a hard paywall hides a mediocre app. Expectation and reality don’t match. Users spend their time, pay money (often above market price), and then discover that many of the features promised during onboarding simply aren’t there. The result? - Refund requests - 1-star reviews - Complaints to Apple Before testing a hard paywall, make sure your product actually deserves one. Otherwise, after a few months of hard paywall experiments, you may end up receiving that “love letter” from Apple.