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Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#111

Post by colbyhub »

DizzyDoo wrote: post #91

I make video games like this one [0] or this one [1]. It's pretty simple, you can buy the game and then download and play it. Are games 'desktop apps'? It's not the language I would normally use but I think it applies. Having been out of the web app development bubble for about seven years now, there's whole industries that work entirely in the pay-for-it-and-then-download model, and while games-as-a-service is more…

I've been wanting to enter the game space for some time now. Is this what you do full-time? If so, how did you transition from web dev to game dev?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#112

Post by pjerem »

smoldesu wrote: post #107
semireg wrote: post #68

This is my 3rd (or is it 4th?) year of developing and selling Label LIVE, an electron app for designing and printing labels. Originally it only worked with USB thermal printers, but over the last few years it's grown into a multi-function image-rendering pipeline that integrates data import (via spreadsheet, CSV or API) with barcodes, text, image output. My app revenue eclipsed my iOS/NodeJS consulting in 2021 and I…

> I don't yet support Linux because out of thousands of users, only 2 people have emailed about Linux support (probably both from HN!). I'm a little surprised to read this from an Electron dev. I remember reading old forum posts about how the Spotify port for Linux was arranged by two devs who met after work for a few hours and got it working well enough that Spotify let them release it as an unsupported client. Ther…

> I remember reading old forum posts about how the Spotify port for Linux was arranged by two devs who met after work for a few hours and got it working well enough that Spotify let them release it as an unsupported client.

IIRC, Spotify "unofficial-but-official" client largely predates the Electron version and this story is from the Qt era of Spotify (which was wonderfully light and fast).

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#114

Post by cvhashim »

yboris wrote: post #106

My Video Hub App is generating about $500 / month. It's a perpetual license for $5 per copy. I am planning to create another app that might generate a similar income stream. I've done 0 paid advertising - only some posts here-and-there; I would probably have more sales if I knew how to market my app better. https://videohubapp.com/en/ - MIT open source: https://github.com/whyboris/Video-Hub-App

Dumb question but why don't you get some help with sales and marketing. Even some affiliate marketing to increase usage.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#115

Post by DizzyDoo »

colbyhub wrote: post #111
DizzyDoo wrote: post #91

I make video games like this one [0] or this one [1]. It's pretty simple, you can buy the game and then download and play it. Are games 'desktop apps'? It's not the language I would normally use but I think it applies. Having been out of the web app development bubble for about seven years now, there's whole industries that work entirely in the pay-for-it-and-then-download model, and while games-as-a-service is more…

I've been wanting to enter the game space for some time now. Is this what you do full-time? If so, how did you transition from web dev to game dev?

I got up early every day and got in an hour or two before my proper full-time backend Python programming job begun. That and working on The Cat Machine on Saturdays got it finished within a year, and then after it came out I could go full-time. It's hard to just make the switch from 'real' (normal?) job to small business game programming without already having a game that's done okay released, so that's what worked for me.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#116

Post by grujicd »

I'm making Windows/.Net based app for managing queues - QueueExplorer. Started with MSMQ support back in 2005, now it supports Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ and ActiveMQ. It's old fashioned perpetual licensing, so revenue is a rollercoaster. Because of that, it's emotional rollercoaster as well. Good thing is you get paid for full license at the time of purchase instead of collecting it in 10-20 months. Bad thing is every month starts at zero.

Although .Net went multiplatform years ago, my app relies on WinForms a lot so it's Win only, except through Wine. I would love to support Mac as well but the only realistic option looks to be Electron based, and it would be a significant step back for my Windows users. Maintaining two different GUIs looks like a problem for micro company.

The best thing about desktop software is it can't break for all the users at once like server-based app can. That gives some piece of mind when you're micropreneur. Sure, there are bugs, but they affect only users who downloaded buggy version. You can't crash all installed instances just like that.

The worst thing is, it's hard to ask for a subscription. Yes, I hate it as a user, but would love it as a business owner :)

https://www.cogin.com

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#117

Post by yboris »

cvhashim wrote: post #114
yboris wrote: post #106

My Video Hub App is generating about $500 / month. It's a perpetual license for $5 per copy. I am planning to create another app that might generate a similar income stream. I've done 0 paid advertising - only some posts here-and-there; I would probably have more sales if I knew how to market my app better. https://videohubapp.com/en/ - MIT open source: https://github.com/whyboris/Video-Hub-App

Dumb question but why don't you get some help with sales and marketing. Even some affiliate marketing to increase usage.

Unsure where to ask. Worried about high costs. Suggestions welcome :)

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#118

Post by grujicd »

mapmap wrote: post #32
eps wrote: post #8

Plenty of people do this. Go onto any software listing site (eg. Softpedia or AlternativeTo), pick a not-a-brandname commercial product and chances are that it will be a single-person project. From things that are really well-polished and look like a team effort to pimped-up crappy weekend projects. Lots and lots are made and run by a single individual. Whether they sell well is an altogether different question, but…

What is the state of the art in shareware for drop in payment / piracy protection?

There are payment services which were originally made for desktop apps, with built in support for license files, downloads after payment, etc. I'm using MyCommerce (ex ShareIt), but also had good experience with Avangate - which was later purchased by 2checkout, and now renamed to Verifone.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#119

Post by finiteseries »

newaccount74 wrote: post #110

I make a Mac app targeted at developers and sell around 150k euro worth of licenses a year. It's been my only income for the last ten years or so. In my case a web app just wouldn't work very well (it's hard to connect a web app to things behind a firewall) I'm also a firm believer in pay-once software, you still get recurring revenue unless you saturate the market, which a small company won't do anyway.

Sharing it here wouldn’t even qualify as an advertisement mate, feel free to throw that link in there and maybe scoop up a few more users for your troubles.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

#120

Post by dgellow »

newaccount74 wrote: post #110

I make a Mac app targeted at developers and sell around 150k euro worth of licenses a year. It's been my only income for the last ten years or so. In my case a web app just wouldn't work very well (it's hard to connect a web app to things behind a firewall) I'm also a firm believer in pay-once software, you still get recurring revenue unless you saturate the market, which a small company won't do anyway.

Would you mind sharing more details regarding your application?
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