Morten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
🧵 Three years ago I quit my job to go indie.
Here’s what really happened — the highs, lows, burnout, community, competition, money, creativity, and why I’d still choose it again. ❤️👇
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Five years ago I lost my wife to cancer ❤️‍🩹
I kept working full-time’ish while raising two kids alone and building apps at night. It became unsustainable.
In 2022 I finally went indie — for my kids 👨‍👧‍👦 and to rebuild a life that made sense.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
I had been building @AppDabApp a fast native App Store Connect client 💻
Launch day was Nov 2022… the same moment Twitter collapsed.
Engagement disappeared overnight.
The launch fell flat — a huge emotional blow.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
So I coped the way many indies do: I built more apps.
🏛️ Score Wonders
💬 Talkasy
🍕 Deep Dish Lie
🌸 HeyAIku
It became a burst of momentum — frustration turning into creativity.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Community became my fuel.
@DeepDishSwift 🍕, #WWDC23 🍏 — meeting people I’d only known online was transformative.
These events gave me support, energy, and the feeling of belonging that I didn’t know I needed.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Then I tried chasing the iOS 17 launch with Akryla 🎨
I pushed myself too hard and completely burned out 😵‍💫
Almost nobody downloaded it.
It taught me a big lesson: chasing Apple’s spotlight is not a healthy strategy for me.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Surprisingly, freelance work showed up out of nowhere 💼
A VoIP app in Denmark 🇩🇰, a travel app in Germany 🇩🇪.
All because I shared my work publicly.
It helped bridge the financial gap and reminded me visibility matters.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Then competition arrived 😬
Someone started building an AppDab competitor 🚢
It hit me harder than expected — sleepless nights, anxiety, and some sessions with a psychologist.
But eventually the fear turned into motivation 💪
I shipped some of my best updates.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
2024–2025 brought work I’m really proud of:
🤖 AppDab Intelligence
🏛️ Score Wonders with expansions
🍕 Deep Dish Unofficial on iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS & visionOS
And building Miniotaur with my son was incredibly meaningful ❤️
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
Score Wonders had a huge update in 2025 — adding every expansion and a $5.99 subscription.
For the first time, I saw a real revenue spike 📈
I also crossed 100 active subscribers across all apps.
A tiny milestone, but huge emotionally.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22
But the financial reality?
From 2022–2025, all my apps combined earned $2,865 💸
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 wouldn’t have been an option.
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 22

Still… going indie has been absolutely worth it.
Time with my kids 👦👧
Freedom to build 💡
Community 🤝
Creativity ✨
A life rebuilt, one app at a time.

If you want the full (long, honest, personal) story, here it is 👇
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 — the highs, the failures, the unexpected moments, the financial realities, and the apps that shaped my life.

Atterdag Apps
Show threadDavid Smith
@mortengregersen Thank you so much for writing up and sharing your journey. I really enjoyed, and was so encouraged, to read it.
Nov 23 at 4:06pmIvory for Mac
Show threadMorten Bjerg GregersenNov 24
@_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.