How I Ship 4 Apps in Two Weeks
Two weeks ago, I decided to built AI Wrapper apps.
Today, I have four.
With the help of Claude Code
The Reason: Learning from AI Wrapper Success
Like many developers, I've been watching the explosion of AI wrapper apps with a mix of fascination and FOMO. Simple apps that cleverly package AI capabilities are generating real revenue, and I wanted in on the action.
But I made the classic developer mistake first. I spent months perfecting a single app, obsessing over every feature, refactoring the code endlessly, and essentially building a cathedral when a simple chapel would have done.
The app never shipped. Sound familiar?
That's when I decided to flip the script entirely. What if, instead of spending months on one perfect app, I could ship multiple apps quickly and let the market decide what works?
The Journey: From One App to Four
Starting with Flora Friend
I started with a plant identifier app called Flora Friend. The concept was simple and like other identifier app exists in the App Store today: users take a photo of a plant, and AI identifies it. Nothing groundbreaking, but solving a real problem people have.
Using Claude Code, I built the core functionality in just two days. The AI handled the heavy lifting – setting up the camera integration, implementing the image recognition pipeline, and creating a clean UI. I focused on what Claude couldn't do: choosing the right monetization strategy, designing the user experience flow, and handling the App Store requirements.
Within a week, Flora Friend was approved and live in the App Store.
The Repurposing
Here's where things got interesting. Once Flora Friend was approved, I had a working template. I asked Claude Code a simple question: "How can we repurpose this plant identifier app for other use cases?"
The AI immediately understood the assignment. We identified that the core pattern – take photo, identify object, show results – could work for countless scenarios. More importantly, Claude Code could handle 90% of the modifications needed.
For each new app, I only needed to:
- Set up App Store Connect with new bundle IDs
- Configure Revenue Cat for monetization
- Create unique app icons and branding
- Design App Store screenshots
- Write app descriptions
The actual code changes is handled by Claude Code. In hours, not days.
Shipping at Speed
Within the next week, I shipped:
- Fish Identifier: Finni: An app for identifying fish species
- Snake Identifier: SerpentID: A snake identification app
- Coloring Page Maker: Colorio: Well, this is not identifier app but I repurpose my old app too.
The Reality Check: What I Learned
AI as a Force Multiplier
Claude Code didn't just write code, it understood patterns and could apply them intelligently. When I said "make this work for fish instead of plants," it didn't just find-and-replace. It understood that fish identification might need different UI considerations (underwater photos are different from plant photos) and adjusted the model accordingly.
The real magic was in the speed of iteration. Instead of spending hours debugging why an image wasn't uploading correctly, I could describe the problem to Claude and get a working solution in minutes.
Distribution Is Still King
Here's the sobering truth: shipping apps is the easy part now. Getting people to discover and download them? That's where the real challenge lies.
All four apps are live, but their success varies wildly. Flora Friend, being first and having more time in the market, performs not so well.
The others are still finding their audience through Apple's initial dasy boost. No amount of AI can solve the distribution problem, that still requires good old-fashioned marketing, ASO optimization, and sometimes, luck.
The X-Factors Matter More Than Ever
What determines success in the AI wrapper app world isn't necessarily the best code or the most features. It's often about:
- Timing: Launching when people are searching for your solution
- Naming: A clever, searchable name can make or break discoverability
- Pricing: Finding the sweet spot between free users and revenue
- Reviews: Those first few reviews can create momentum or kill it
- Market fit: Some ideas just resonate more than others
The New Reality of App Development
We're living in an unprecedented time for indie developers. The barrier to building and shipping apps has never been lower. With Claude Code, I build and ship four apps in two weeks something that would have taken months just a few years ago.
But this democratization of development means competition is fiercer than ever. When anyone can build an app in days, success comes down to execution, marketing, and finding genuine problems to solve.
My advice? Stop overthinking and start shipping. Use AI tools like Claude Code to move fast, but remember that shipping is just the beginning. The real work starts when your app hits the store.
Will all four of my apps succeed? Probably not. But by shipping four apps in the time it used to take to build one, I've quadrupled my chances of finding something that resonates. In the world of AI wrapper apps, that might just be the winning strategy.
Have you used AI tools to accelerate your development? What's been your experience with shipping quickly versus perfecting slowly? I'd love to hear your thoughts.