[quanganhdo]

I built a new Pinboard.in client for iOS and macOS called Pins (Show HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25881622)

If it were back in the old days, I would've charged for it upfront for $5 or so. Instead I decided to make it free to try with an in-app purchase to remove all limitations. Targetting a niche customer base that have already paid at least $22/year for a Pinboard.in subscription and are likely to be disappointed by the current offerings meant I was able to go for a more sensible price. Right now the full unlock costs $15 and includes 3 platforms (iOS, iPadOS, and macOS) with family sharing enabled.

I was able to recruit 100+ beta testers and added some much needed features before launch. Since then it has been a steady pace of one update every month or two which adds either new features, UX improvements, or bug fixes.

The app is highly rated (4.8/5 overall rating) and has a good number of loyal customers who follow me on Twitter (@GetPinsApp).

[arthur-st]

Thank you for making it, I'm a fan.

[scary-size]

Cool! How did you recruit the beta users? Shared among friends? Or did you use dedicated service?

[quanganhdo]

Hanging out where my potential users are I guess. I announced the upcoming app release on Twitter, mentioned @Pinboard; it got retweeted and people started reaching out.

Original tweet: https://twitter.com/quanganhdo/status/1346130521034788864