IndieDev Journey #2: Progress, Challenges & Taking Development Live on Twitch

A month ago, I laid out a detailed action plan to improve my app portfolio—standardizing development, cutting infrastructure costs, and driving growth. Now, it’s time for an update. What worked? What didn’t? And what’s next?

In this second installment of my IndieDev Journey, I’ll share progress on those initial goals, including early wins and ongoing challenges. But I’m also making a big shift: I’ll be live-streaming the rework of my Twitch tracker app on Twitch and launching a YouTube dev blog series.

Why? Because I want to build in public. Live coding streams offer real-time insights into my development process, and YouTube dev blogs will provide a deeper look at the strategies, tools, and lessons shaping my indie app business.

This journey is about more than just revenue growth—it’s about refining my workflow, staying accountable, and engaging with the dev community. Let’s dive in. 🚀

1. Revisiting the Action Plan: What’s Been Achieved So Far?

Over the past month, I’ve made significant progress in standardizing development, improving analytics, and transitioning to a more cost-effective infrastructure. While growth strategies still need more focus, the technical foundation for scaling and optimizing my app portfolio is steadily coming together.

Standardization Efforts: Laying the Groundwork

One of the key priorities in my action plan was to create a unified structure across all apps, ensuring efficiency in development and maintenance. Here’s what’s been achieved so far:

✅ Onboarding Framework – Ready for integration across all apps
✅ Analytics Framework – Fully built, implementation in progress
✅ Auth Server – Set up for improved user relationships and marketing

Each app is at a different stage in this transition:

JournAI is now fully standardized in terms of onboarding and analytics, while Mental Math (New) is halfway there. Smart Money is still in the early stages, and Streamer Stats will see major changes in the next phase.

Infrastructure: Transitioning to Cost-Effective Solutions

🔄 Migration to new infrastructure: 75% complete

• Most of the backend has been transitioned from AWS to Hetzner, reducing dependency on expensive cloud services.
• Full cost benefits will kick in once the reworked Streamer Stats app goes live (more on this in the next section).

Growth Strategies: Still a Work in Progress

While the technical optimizations are moving forward, growth-focused efforts like ASO and user acquisition haven’t progressed significantly this month. With the foundational work on infrastructure and standardization nearing completion, the next focus will be improving visibility, engagement, and revenue generation across the portfolio.

With a strong technical base now in place, the next step is the full rework of Streamer Stats, which will be the biggest shift in my app lineup. More on that in the next section. 🚀

2. New Initiatives: Live Coding Streams & Dev Blog Videos

As I continue optimizing my app portfolio, I’m making a major shift in how I share my development process:

✅ Live-streaming the rework of Streamer Stats on Twitch

✅ Launching a YouTube dev blog series

✅ First Twitch live stream completed!

✅ First YouTube video uploaded: How to Set Up Sign in with Apple

Building in public not only helps me stay accountable but also provides an opportunity to engage with the developer community, share insights, and get real-time feedback.

Live Streaming: Reworking the Streamer Stats App in Public

The current version of Streamer Stats has two major issues:

1. High infrastructure costs – The AWS-based backend is too expensive, cutting into profits.
2. Technical debt – The codebase needs a major overhaul to align with my new standardized architecture.

First Live Stream Recap

I recently hosted my first live coding session on Twitch, where I started refactoring Streamer Stats and setting up the new infrastructure. It was an exciting experience, and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect going in.

The stream peaked at 5 viewers, which I think is a great start for a first session. More importantly, there was real engagement—two people joined the chat, and I had an in-depth conversation with one of them, discussing various iOS development concepts like The Composable Architecture (TCA), backend optimizations, and analytics tracking. It felt great to explain these topics live and get immediate feedback.

Streaming live coding is definitely something I want to continue. It’s not just about building in public—it’s also a chance to connect with other devs, share knowledge, and get fresh perspectives on my approach. Excited for the next session!

What I’ll Be Doing on Stream

• Migrating Streamer Stats to Hetzner for 75% lower infrastructure costs
• Refactoring the backend with TimeScaleDB for better performance
• Rewriting the app in Swift + The Composable Architecture (TCA)
• Standardizing onboarding and analytics implementation

Where & When to Watch

📍 Twitch Channel: Coffee Bytes Twitch
🕒 Streaming Schedule: Every Saturday morning

YouTube Dev Blog Series: Documenting the IndieDev Journey

Alongside live streaming, I’ve also launched a YouTube dev blog series, where I’ll share insights into app development, monetization, and indie dev life.

First Video Uploaded: How to Set Up Sign in with Apple

I kicked off the series with a technical deep dive into how to set up Sign in with Apple, covering both WorkOS and Auth0 implementations.

📄 Read the blog post here: Sign in with Apple Blog
📺 Watch the video here

Upcoming YouTube Content: IndieDev Founder Diaries

Moving forward, my YouTube channel will mainly focus on IndieDev Founder Diaries, where I’ll document my progress, challenges, and insights as I build my app business.

📆 Goal: Upload a new video once a week covering:

• Monetization strategies – What’s working (and what’s not)
• App scaling insights – Lessons from reworking Streamer Stats
• Building in public – The highs and lows of the indie dev journey

Why This Matters

By live streaming and creating dev blogs, I’m turning my indie dev journey into a transparent, interactive experience. Whether you’re a developer, an indie hacker, or just curious about the process, you’ll get an inside look at what it takes to build and scale an app portfolio—including the successes, failures, and everything in between.

🚀 Join me on Twitch and YouTube as I build, optimize, and grow in real time!

Conclusion: Building in Public & Staying Accountable

Over the past month, I’ve made solid progress in standardizing my app portfolio, reducing infrastructure costs, and improving development efficiency. While there’s still work to do—especially on the growth side—having a clear roadmap and measurable progress has been a huge motivator.

But beyond technical improvements, sharing my journey through live streams and dev blogs has been a game changer. My first Twitch stream showed me the value of real-time interaction, and launching my YouTube channel feels like the right step toward documenting this process in a structured way.

Moving forward, I’ll be:
✅ Continuing live coding streams to build the new version of Streamer Stats
✅ Uploading weekly IndieDev Founder Diary videos on YouTube
✅ Doubling down on ASO and growth strategies to push underperforming apps

This journey isn’t just about boosting revenue—it’s about building smarter, working more efficiently, and staying accountable by sharing everything along the way.

🚀 Thanks for following along! If you’re interested in app development, growth strategies, or just want to see the process unfold in real time, join me on Twitch and YouTube!