How do I find app ideas?

I've been collecting a list of potential ideas I could use to build an app for years.

Then one day I thought I might share or sell it, so I tweeted about it:

The tweet blew up, reaching almost 20k views. Some people even reached out to me later asking if the list is ready.

I tried to prepare it, but after a while, I got discouraged thinking that's not enough, especially since it's all available out there in the app store.

I won’t give you a list, but I thought I might share how I look for new markets and new app ideas.

Change your mindset

First of all, you need to get rid of the idea in your head that you have to be unique. It’s hard to be unique nowadays. With so many people on Earth, most of the ideas were already invented at some point in the past.

Whenever you find a market, consider asking questions such as:

• "OK, I see there is a bunch of competition here, can I build something better? Can I compete with something that's already existing on the market?"

  • This can be done in various ways. For example, this developer found an opening in the market by targeting a Spanish-speaking audience. There was already high competition in the Bible market in English, but not in Spanish.

• “Based on my experience and knowledge, can I tackle this problem from a different angle? Can I add something that users demand and competition doesn’t have?”

• “Is this market worth entering? Is it profitable enough? Are users willing to pay for the particular offering?”

  • For example, you can build another dog whistle or tarot app, but people don’t want to pay for those things, so the LTV will be lower than for example video captions app, which they often use for work, so they justify the payment.

How to find different markets?

Simply, go to the App Store and start browsing.

1. Check the Search tab daily. App Store shows a list of 6 keywords that people often search for.

2. Then, check each app. Check the developer portfolio and see if something interests you. Make notes. You can go into this rabbit hole for weeks.

3. Now, when you have a list of potential markets, start researching. Google the topic. Browse Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook groups. Read app store reviews (you can use ReadReviews.dev). Those are a goldmine of good insights straight from users.

4. And then, only when you identify a potential opening, proceed with building.

A small note.

I’ve changed the newsletter name from The Market Wrap to Filip’s Take. One of your e-mails made me realize that what you want me to write about is more general and the initial name wasn’t right. Thank you for the feedback!

That being said, don’t mind e-mailing me back. I’m happy to learn, why you subscribed, what would you like to learn about from me, or if you just want to say hi.