๐Ÿงต Three years ago I quit my job to go indie.
Hereโ€™s what really happened โ€” the highs, lows, burnout, community, competition, money, creativity, and why Iโ€™d still choose it again. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‘‡
Five years ago I lost my wife to cancer โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน
I kept working full-timeโ€™ish while raising two kids alone and building apps at night. It became unsustainable.
In 2022 I finally went indie โ€” for my kids ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ and to rebuild a life that made sense.
I had been building @AppDabApp a fast native App Store Connect client ๐Ÿ’ป
Launch day was Nov 2022โ€ฆ the same moment Twitter collapsed.
Engagement disappeared overnight.
The launch fell flat โ€” a huge emotional blow.
So I coped the way many indies do: I built more apps.
๐Ÿ›๏ธ Score Wonders
๐Ÿ’ฌ Talkasy
๐Ÿ• Deep Dish Lie
๐ŸŒธ HeyAIku
It became a burst of momentum โ€” frustration turning into creativity.
Community became my fuel.
@DeepDishSwift ๐Ÿ•, #WWDC23 ๐Ÿ โ€” meeting people Iโ€™d only known online was transformative.
These events gave me support, energy, and the feeling of belonging that I didnโ€™t know I needed.
Then I tried chasing the iOS 17 launch with Akryla ๐ŸŽจ
I pushed myself too hard and completely burned out ๐Ÿ˜ตโ€๐Ÿ’ซ
Almost nobody downloaded it.
It taught me a big lesson: chasing Appleโ€™s spotlight is not a healthy strategy for me.
Surprisingly, freelance work showed up out of nowhere ๐Ÿ’ผ
A VoIP app in Denmark ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ, a travel app in Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช.
All because I shared my work publicly.
It helped bridge the financial gap and reminded me visibility matters.
Then competition arrived ๐Ÿ˜ฌ
Someone started building an AppDab competitor ๐Ÿšข
It hit me harder than expected โ€” sleepless nights, anxiety, and some sessions with a psychologist.
But eventually the fear turned into motivation ๐Ÿ’ช
I shipped some of my best updates.
2024โ€“2025 brought work Iโ€™m really proud of:
๐Ÿค– AppDab Intelligence
๐Ÿ›๏ธ Score Wonders with expansions
๐Ÿ• Deep Dish Unofficial on iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS & visionOS
And building Miniotaur with my son was incredibly meaningful โค๏ธ
Score Wonders had a huge update in 2025 โ€” adding every expansion and a $5.99 subscription.
For the first time, I saw a real revenue spike ๐Ÿ“ˆ
I also crossed 100 active subscribers across all apps.
A tiny milestone, but huge emotionally.
But the financial reality?
From 2022โ€“2025, all my apps combined earned $2,865 ๐Ÿ’ธ
The only reason the indie journey was possible is because of pension payments and savings after my wife passed away.
Without that runway, indie life wouldnโ€™t have been an option.

Stillโ€ฆ going indie has been absolutely worth it.
Time with my kids ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿ‘ง
Freedom to build ๐Ÿ’ก
Community ๐Ÿค
Creativity โœจ
A life rebuilt, one app at a time.

If you want the full (long, honest, personal) story, here it is ๐Ÿ‘‡
https://atterdagapps.com/posts/3-years-as-indie-dev/

From loss to launch: Three years of surviving and building as an indie dev | Atterdag Apps

Three years ago I quit my job to go indie. This is the story of what happened โ€” the highs, the failures, the unexpected moments, the financial realities, and the apps that shaped my life.

Atterdag Apps
@mortengregersen amazing thread Morten, I had no idea. Prioritising life and family is always the right choice.
@colourfool Thank you James ๐Ÿฅฐ No, it is hard telling all that a at quick encounter at a conference.
@mortengregersen Thank you so much for writing up and sharing your journey. I really enjoyed, and was so encouraged, to read it.
@_Davidsmith Hi David. Thank you for the kind words. It feels so weird, you being encouraged by my journey. Through my journey, I have looked up to people like you, who know how to get the word out about your apps and optimize. I've learned so much by you and @marcoarment in Under the Radar. That was also why, I was a bit "star struck" when we briefly talked at Infinite Loop at WWDC23.
@mortengregersen Great writeup, thank you for sharing all of this! It was lovely to connect with you in person at Deep Dish 1&2!
I was sorry to read that going indie hasnโ€™t really paid off for you financially so far. Though Score Wonders looks like it is doing quite well now, congratulations on that! I hope that keeps going and growing. ๐Ÿš€
And great that going indie still has been an overall positive experience for you and you arenโ€™t regretting taking that step!
@hendrik_kueck Thank you, Hendrik. Yeah, I still laugh at the first time I met you. I didnโ€™t realize it was you, before you said โ€˜hiโ€™. You have no idea of peopleโ€™s height by just having a video call ๐Ÿ˜‚ It was the same with @ryanlintott.
@mortengregersen @hendrik_kueck Morten, you were a full foot taller than I thought you were!
@mortengregersen What a journey! Thanks for sharing it and for going into such personal detail. Wishing you all the best going forward!