The brutal list of building apps: 96% churn, 15% cut, instant refunds
LuoSays · x · 2026-08-31
A viral thread lists indie developers' biggest pain points in building apps — and the Chinese poster's takeaway is blunt: don't build apps, you'll be miserable:
- 96% churn, with trials canceled instantly or right before conversion;
- refund requests auto-approved by the platform;
- App Store rejections citing vague "Guideline …" rules;
- net proceeds = revenue minus a 15% cut;
- download skew toward low-monetization markets (India 62%, Philippines 27%);
- plus 1-star reviews for "app not free".
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