12 months from idea to product - bootstrapping my own mobile app from 0

Introduction

It has taken 12 months to develop an app that uses a camera to seamlessly detect fridge ingredients and generate recipes—solving the everyday problem I faced while traveling: "What should I cook for dinner today?" Although the end product has evolved from the initial concept, the ingredient detection feature remains one of the key elements that makes this app truly unique.

When I started Keto, the biggest challenge I faced was tracking carbs, typically done through barcode scanning or manual searches. While Swifto offers both of these options, we are proud to introduce a feature that allows you to extract net carb values from a single image with just one click. We’ve combined AI with a great user experience to ensure that anyone embarking on their Keto journey can track their progress with ease.

My Experience

The app is now at a stage where I can truly seek market validation. Yes, this journey took me around 12 months, starting with the idea, creating the website, and developing the app's UI/UX and backend.

At this point, many people might wonder: "Did you validate your idea before? Why create such a complex app without first understanding if there's a market need?" While this approach is undoubtedly risky and may not pay off in the future, I had a strong belief that this product could only be validated when people experienced how it works and saw how seamless the UX is compared to other similar apps.

Would I Do It Again?

Probably not. While developing the mobile app, I learned a lot about how mobile apps are advertised on the Google Play Store and how challenging it is to break into niche markets. You can develop the best application out there, but if no one sees it, it will never reach the top searches, which is crucial for any app's organic reach.

I'll need to devise very creative strategies to gain the attention of those who truly matter for this product's validation and then go from there. However, it seems this will require much more effort than I initially anticipated.

I'm open to any questions/suggestions.