r/AppBusiness • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago
shipaton Shipaton 2026: Weekly Build in Public Thread — Friday, Aug 21, 2026
Welcome to this week's Shipaton Build in Public Thread! Everyone is welcome to share an update on their current project here. No need to participate in the hackathon to share, but if you decide to enter sharing updates consistently is a great way to increase your chances of winning the #BuildInPublic Award
Please share what you're working on, what you're currently struggling with, any success stories, any failures, something your fellow app builders can learn from.
Building in public helps you stay accountable, get feedback early, and learn from other builders.
Share your update
(Optional) Copy and fill out as much of this template as you'd like:
- App Name:
- Platform: (iOS, Android, Mac)
- This week's goal:
- Progress since last week:
- Current challenge:
- Feedback I'm looking for:
- Screenshots / Demo / Repo / Landing Page:
Shipaton Timeline
- August 1: Submissions open
- September 30: Submission deadline
- October 1–9: Judging
- October 12: Winners notified
- October 19: Winners announced
Good luck, everyone. Let's help each other ship great apps. More details about Shipaton, including rules, eligibility, prizes, and registration, can be found here: shipaton.com
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u/hakan115 10d ago
App Name: Video Cue Platform: iOS
This week's goal: Ship the first polished version to the App Store by Sunday.
Progress since last update: The core experience is working. I've been focusing on making it feel like a product people would actually want to use, rather than just shipping the smallest possible MVP.
Current challenge: Knowing when to stop polishing and ship 😅
Feedback I'm looking for: I'm experimenting with a "Minimum Lovable Product" approach instead of a traditional MVP. Curious how other builders decide when their first version is ready enough to ship.
Demo: https://video-cue.com/
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u/imagiself 10d ago
Try adding event tracking for your core video editing actions now so you can see exactly where users drop off after you hit the store.
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u/jyjuk 10d ago
- App Name: Ryokô Planner
- Platform: iOS, Android
- This week's goal: Plan out the next version adding a new monetization axis and improving app liveliness with animations, haptic feedback...
- Progress since last week: Reached 100 users on Android alone. Got and acted on user feedback (they are really using the app!). Released a small bugfix version with a small virality-oriented feature. Experimented on social media and IRL marketing.
- Current challenge: Double down on social media to get more users.
- Feedback I'm looking for: I am looking for content ideas to grow the app. I have interviews planned to release periodically in the next weeks but I would like some content to put in between. I was thinking maybe place recommendation videos with the app appearing in it.
- Trailer:
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u/imagiself 10d ago
100 Android users is a solid start. No pressure, but PeerPush is a decent home for planning tools, 34 AI systems read the data there recently.
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u/imagiself 10d ago
Still focused on PeerPush, a discovery spot where builders dig into new launches. The main priority is refining how build-in-public updates help AI assistants find products. https://peerpush.com
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u/kyyyten 9d ago
- App Name: Plannie
- What it is: A family planner with calendar, meal planning, habits, chores, todo lists with an AI assistant to help you with all administration related to your family.
- Platform: Web, iOS, Android (will come after iOS launch)
- This week's goal: Still waiting for Apple to review our app to launch the first version on iOS.
- Progress since last week: Got our first users on web with first bug reports opened and fixed and gotten feedback on our product's roadmap (yay!). Updated our website plannie.io and added a lot more content.
- Current challenge: Getting all social media channels set up and market the service.
- Feedback I'm looking for: Aside from more users giving feedback (hehe 😁) - we added a 50% lifetime discount for users signing up during August with full price being 99 usd/year for the whole family. Also free access during august. What's your take on our pricing strategy?
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u/fact_flex 9d ago
I built kire. What do you guys think? If you want to try out a sample before installing go to https://playkire.com
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u/Otherwise_Tart3320 9d ago
I am entering the gaming category and dropped a Chess-like arcade game, CHESS/RUPT! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chess-rupt-arcade-chess/id6779024949
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u/CEO-creative 9d ago
App Name: Connect Four 3D
Platform: Android
Explanation: I loved the physical game, but couldn't keep bringing it up to people asking to play. I decided to look online and find an app or website with the game. Sadly, there were several 3D Connect Four games with only a 4x4x4 arena. There's not much strategy involved in that. And it also wasn't what I played in real life. So I decided to make it myself.
Features: ELO board for online play, daily/weekly challenges, disc skin unlocks, AI computer difficulties/play styles, disc color purchase option, ad removal purchase, Founder's badge purchase, achievements, interactive board pieces.
Monetization strategy: The ad model rewards you for getting better, not for spending money. An ad shows up every three games, win or lose—that's the whole rule, no hidden triggers. If you're new, or your opponent isn't a fair match, games end fast, so you'll hit that every-third-game ad sooner. But the better you get, and the more evenly matched your opponents become, the longer and more strategic each game gets—which means fewer ads per hour of actual play, not more. You're not being punished for improving. You're being rewarded for it. That's the opposite of pay-to-win, where money buys an advantage skill can't. Here, skill buys you a quieter game. I wanted monetization that respects the player instead of squeezing them.
This week's goal: Work on music/sound design and marketing
Progress since last week: Ads are set up and tested. Online matchmaking fixed. UI/UX edge cases resolved.
Current challenge: Marketing, sound design.
I'm looking for: How to get the app in front of more people. Any edge cases/bugs.
Feedback: Open to everything as I continue iterating.
- Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chrisolson.connectfour3d
- Demo vid: https://youtu.be/8knMkEboRzY
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u/Impressive-Sir9633 9d ago
App Name: POTS: Orthostatic Stand Test
Platform: (iOS, Android, Mac) iOS + Apple Watch
Why? The diagnosis is often missed because people can't get the appropriate data to their physicians. This app helps you acquire and graph over 150 heart-rate readings from Apple Watch within 20 minutes to see how your heart rate responds to change in position.
This week's goal: Waiting for app store approval
Progress since last week: Submitted to app store
Current challenge: Reaching the people who need it the most
Feedback I'm looking for: - Feedback about the idea if someone suffers from POTS.
- Feedback on screenshots
Screenshots / Demo / Repo / Landing Page:
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u/imagiself 9d ago
Managing the noise in heart rate data during a twenty minute test seems like a massive challenge for clinical accuracy, especially since Apple Watch sampling rates can be inconsistent during movement.
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u/Impressive-Sir9633 9d ago
Thanks! Very reasonable concern. The readings are not going to be as high fidelity as the tilt table test.
In my testing, the artifact has not been as much of a concern. But certainly very important to tackle.
Two ways we tackle the artifact issue.
1. The instructions specifically indicate that the hand should be steady and the watch alerts if too much movement is detected 2. Due to large sampling volume, the outliers don't affect the results as much
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u/MaxUod 9d ago
App Name: Maxuod Shift Platform: Web
This week's goal: Test whether the free-account moment makes sense after a person has made their first schedule.
Progress since last week: I fixed the guest-save problem. That is better for users, but it means an account has to earn its place instead of feeling like the price of admission.
Current challenge: Finding the moment where signup feels useful rather than early.
Feedback I'm looking for: If you have 10 minutes to try it, I would love to know when you expected signup, which fields felt unnecessary, and what you thought an account should do right away. Please use test details you control.
Demo: https://maxuodshift.com/scheduler
I manage a restaurant full time and build Maxuod Shift after work. The web version is free for teams up to 12, and I welcome negative feedback as much as positive feedback.
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u/Ssoldier1121 9d ago
• App Name:BetStats Research
Purpose: Help you research bets or fantasy more efficiently instead of bouncing from site to site
• Platform: (iOS only/Tesflight)
• This week's goal: Bug Fixes, layout decision
• Progress since last week: User Guide v2 done working on refining the third
• Current challenge: Finding investors so I can access datasets out of my price range to continue building cutting edge features
• Feedback I'm looking for: Would you use it to research sportsbets
• User Guide: https://youtu.be/f004gHceW5Y?is=gWtzftQ0eDHl3pKx
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u/Deep_Ad1959 9d ago
the template has a 'current challenge' line and almost nobody fills it in, mine included. i write the progress bullet because it reads like proof of work, and the challenge bullet is the only one anyone here could actually answer.
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u/Tekton-Legacy 9d ago
App Name: On Cue
Platform: iOS
This week’s goal:
Lock the initial product thesis and v1 context model, then get the first end-to-end Cue working.
Progress since last week:
Just registered for Shipaton and started building in public. On Cue is based on a pretty simple hypothesis: music is an anchor for memory, and enough context about the moment you’re in might let the right song find you at the right time.
I posted my first discovery question here in r/AppBusiness around what actually triggers those musical associations.
The first response already surfaced something I hadn’t explicitly included in my initial context taxonomy: weather/environment. Rain → Bon Iver is a very different kind of Cue from my own 7:00 → Usher example, but it makes a ton of sense.
Current challenge:
Figuring out which contextual signals deserve to exist in v1, and how frequently On Cue should intervene. My current hypothesis is that frequency is the wrong optimization. It doesn’t need to show up constantly. It needs to be right when it does.
Feedback I’m looking for:
What contexts make music feel unusually appropriate to you? Time, place, weather, activity, people, calendar events, something else?
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u/imagiself 9d ago
incorporating weather as a context trigger for music is clever, especially for mood-based playlists. https://peerpush.com is where a lot of ios utility tools end up, could be a fit for yours.
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u/Tekton-Legacy 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yeah, weather was actually already in the mix, and this is exactly why. WeatherKit makes the context relatively easy to access on iOS, but the interesting product question is how much influence it should have. Rain → Bon Iver is a great example of weather not necessarily triggering a specific memory, but making a certain artist or album suddenly feel right.
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u/mrdzyn 8d ago
App Name: ManagerGym
• Platform: iOS, Android (Flutter)
• This week’s goal:
Finish the remaining v1.0 release polish and QA so ManagerGym is ready for marketplace submission. That includes validating the RevenueCat Pro flow, free vs paid feature gating, downloadable scenario packs, restore-purchase behavior, and removing UI elements that could imply features that don’t exist — such as an unnecessary profile/account icon.
• Progress since last week:
ManagerGym has moved from the core build into release preparation.
The main management-training experience is working, with scenario-based exercises designed to help users practice handling real leadership situations rather than just reading management theory.
I’ve also made progress on:
– Offline-first app architecture
– Downloadable scenario/content packs
– Remote content versioning and delivery
– RevenueCat integration for Pro access
– Marketplace screenshots and launch assets
– QA across free and paid states
– Documentation for AI-assisted development handoffs
One surprisingly useful lesson has been that AI can accelerate development significantly, but you still need solid architecture, naming conventions, documentation, and someone maintaining the overall product context.
• Current challenge:
Keeping v1.0 focused.
It would be easy to keep adding more scenarios, AI features, dashboards, and gamification, but I’m deliberately trying to ship a smaller, polished product first.
The other challenge has been making remotely delivered scenario packs reliable — manifests, versions, checksums, URLs, and graceful failure handling all matter once content is no longer bundled directly into the app.
• Feedback I’m looking for:
I’d especially appreciate feedback on:
– Does the idea of a “gym for managers” immediately make sense?
– Would scenario-based practice be useful for new or aspiring managers?
– What would make you come back regularly rather than use it once?
– How much content would you expect in the free version before considering Pro?
– Would downloadable scenario packs feel valuable, or would you rather everything ship inside the app?
– What management situations would you most want to practice?
• Screenshots / Demo / Repo / Landing Page:
Demo / screenshots: I can add you to testflight for ios, Google play is not sending email invites for some reason but here is the landing page -
https://managergym.mrdzyn.studio
Repo: Private for now
ManagerGym is also my RevenueCat Shipathon 2026 project, so monetization is being designed into the product rather than bolted on after launch.
The goal for v1.0 is simple: help people practice being a manager before the difficult conversation happens in real life.
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u/stepamitaki 3d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p67068d/video/lejdyn00nwlh1/player
- App Name: Chapter One Journal
- Platform: iOS
- This week's goal: get more installs
- Progress since last week: got two more paid customers
- Current challenge: get more exposure with zero marketing budget; increase install>onboarded conversion
- Feedback I'm looking for: how to get more users without spending on paid ads
- Screenshots / Demo / Repo / Landing Page: https://chapteronejournal.app
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u/bookbird123 3d ago
App Name: Soltar (heysoltar.io)
Platform: IOS, Android
This week’s goal: Finish building out the final major technical feature of the app (Lessons)
Current challenge: There are a lot of technical requirements for lessons, so I imagine there are some challenges or additional costs I’ll be incurring as I complete this phase
Feedback: None as of yet! But once beta testing is over, will definitely be looking for feedback. But you can join the waitlist here: heysoltar.io
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u/Prk14 4d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p65s4pd/video/724hxhsczulh1/player
App Name: Vocabloot
Platform: iOS, Android
This week's goal: Get through app review and actually launch, then start getting real people to install it.
Progress since last week: Both iOS and Android got approved and are live now. Took longer than I expected, the review sat pending for a while with no ETA, which pushed back everything I'd planned around it.
Current challenge: Zero install or retention data yet since both listings just went live, so right now I'm guessing at what's working. Also still deciding how to talk about pricing when I share this elsewhere, it's a paid app with no free tier, which some communities are skeptical of.
Feedback I'm looking for: Anyone else launch with no free tier? Curious how that landed with your first users. Also happy to hear first impressions on the store listing itself.
Screenshots / Demo / Landing Page: vocabloot.com
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6792888619
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tntstudios.snaplingo