After 6 months of development, I finally launched my first mobile app today 🚀
Hi everyone,
Today is a pretty big milestone for me.
After more than 6 months of development, I finally launched CartBudget on both iOS and Android.
The idea came from a problem I was having myself.
Last year I realized I was spending over $1,200 every month on groceries without really noticing. Once I started tracking every shopping trip and reviewing my monthly spending, I gradually got that down to around $500 per month.
That experience inspired me to build CartBudget.
The goal wasn't to create another shopping list app—it was to help people understand where their grocery money is actually going before they reach the checkout.
Some of the features include:
🛒 Grocery and shopping lists
💰 Live cart total while shopping
📊 Weekly and monthly budgets
📈 Monthly spending reports
🚨 Budget alerts before overspending
Tech stack
Android: Kotlin + Jetpack Compose
iOS: Swift
Firebase Authentication
Firestore
Cloud Functions
Launching the app has been a learning experience far beyond coding. I've had to learn App Store optimization, short-form video marketing, Product Hunt launches, paid ads, and customer acquisition.
Today is launch day, so now comes the part every indie founder talks about:
Finding the first real users.
I'd love to hear from other founders:
What was the biggest thing that helped you get your first 100 users?
If you launched again today, what would you do differently?
If you'd like to check it out or share feedback:
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6766228722
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.altitudeengine.cartbudget.app
I'd be happy to answer any questions about the app or the development process.
Thanks!
Congratulations! I can understand you excitement level because I work for a mobile app development company. Being an app marketer, I understand the hustle of building some by yourself and market it. Kudos! to you.
Congratulations! Launching is a huge milestone. What’s the one thing you’re hoping to learn in the first week that will determine what you build next?
Congratulations! I'm at a stage where i am still validating my idea, so im interested, how did you validate this idea before deciding to spend the 6 months building?
Really simple but practical idea, are you making money from the app now.
My advise start marketing early build traction one of the things i learnt
X and Tiktok are best would not waste time with reddit
Huge congratulations on shipping your first mobile app! 'm also working with mobile apps. I’m really interested about the publishing side:
Did you manage the whole publishing process yourself, or did you get help or paid support?
Would love to hear what surprised you most about launch day versus what you expected while you were still in development.
The cost realisation is a much stronger hook for getting your first users than the feature list.
Have you tried posting the before/after story itself into places where people already swap grocery-savings tips, like r/personalfinance or budgeting communities on TikTok/Reddit, and letting the app be the natural follow-up rather than the lead? Curious what you've tried for first users so far.
Content distribution for me -you can build something great but if nobody sees it the revenue never comes. Curious whether you found organic search or community-driven growth worked better at your stage.
Reducing grocery spending is a compelling story because it's about changing behavior, not tracking expenses. One thing I'd keep validating is whether users see CartBudget as a budgeting app or as a tool that helps them make better decisions before they spend.