[HN Gopher] Tell HN: 2 years building a kids audio app as a solo...
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Tell HN: 2 years building a kids audio app as a solo dev - lessons
learned
Hi, I started Muky in April 2024. Classic side project that got
out of hand. We have two kids - the younger one is happy with the
Toniebox, but our older one outgrew it. She started asking for
specific songs, audiobooks that aren't available as figurines, and
"the music from that movie." We had an old iPad Mini lying around
and already pay for Apple Music. Felt dumb to keep buying EUR17/$20
figurines for 30-45 minutes of content when we have 100 million
songs. Now at version 4.0 after ~20 updates. Some lessons: On the
hardware vs app tradeoff: Toniebox and Yoto are brilliant for
little ones - tactile, simple, no screen needed. But they hit a
wall once kids want more. And handing a 5-year-old Apple Music
means infinite scrolling and "Dad, what's this song about?" Muky
sits in between - full library access, but parents control what's
visible. On sharing: Remember lending CDs or cassettes to friends?
Or kids swapping Tonie figurines at a playdate? I wanted that for a
digital app. So I built QR code sharing. Scan, import, done. And
unlike a physical thing - both keep a copy. On onboarding: First
versions: empty app, figure it out yourself. Retention was awful.
Now: 4-step onboarding that actually guides you. Should've done
this from the start. On content discovery: 100 million songs
sounds great until you have to find something. Parents don't want
to search - they want suggestions. Spent a lot of time building a
Browse tab with curated albums and audiobooks for kids. Finally
feels like the app helps you instead of just waiting for input. On
going native: Went with Swift/SwiftUI instead of Flutter or React
Native. No regrets - SwiftUI is a joy to work with and performance
is great. Android users ask for a port regularly. No capacity for
that now, but Swift for Android is progressing
(https://www.swift.org/documentation/articles/swift-sdk-for-a...).
Maybe one day. CarPlay is another one parents keep asking for -
going native should make that easier to add, if Apple grants me the
entitlement. On subscriptions vs one-time: Started with one-time
purchase. Revenue spikes at launch, then nothing. Switched to
subscription - existing one-time buyers kept full access. Harder to
sell, but sustainable. Ask me anything about indie iOS dev or
building for kids. App is at https://muky.app if you're curious.
Author : oliverjanssen
Score : 17 points
Date : 2026-01-21 13:49 UTC (9 hours ago)
| cassiepaper wrote:
| Great niche!
|
| Few questions: - Were you soloing the entire thing? What about
| ops/research/market analysis? What about the design?
|
| - Did you think about it as product-first or technology-first?
| Other words, did you build a solution for scoped audio mgmt, or a
| music player for kids?
|
| - What's your tests status? Full coverage? CI/CD?
|
| - How did you approach the entire legal aspect? Single lawyer?
| Self? Not at all?
| oliverjanssen wrote:
| Thanks!
|
| Solo? Yes, everything. Design, code, marketing, support. No
| team, no outsourcing. Last few months Claude Code has been a
| huge help for brainstorming, copywriting, and rubber-ducking
| code problems.
|
| Product or tech first? Product first, 100%. Started with the
| problem: my kid needs access to more music, but I don't want to
| hand over Apple Music. Tech decisions followed from there.
| SwiftUI because I wanted native performance, Realm for offline,
| etc.
|
| Tests/CI/CD? Honestly, test coverage is thin. I have unit tests
| for critical parts (subscription logic, playback state) but not
| full coverage. No CI/CD - just manual builds and upload to
| TestFlight. Good enough for a solo project.
|
| Legal? Self, mostly. Apple's standard EULA covers the basics.
| The app doesn't collect anything.
| kreyenborgi wrote:
| Can you explain a bit more on how this is better than just using
| Spotify? Is the catalogue restricted somehow?
| oliverjanssen wrote:
| Good question. Same catalog - Muky uses your Apple Music or
| Spotify subscription underneath.
|
| The difference: Muky separates the audio player from the admin
| area. Kids get a locked-down player showing only playlists you
| created - big artwork, tap to play, nothing else. Parents
| manage everything in a separate admin area - create playlists,
| add content, adjust settings.
|
| Spotify means infinite browsing, algorithm recommendations, and
| "Dad, how do I get back to my song?"
|
| Plus with 4.0 there's a Browse tab with curated content for
| kids, so you don't have to search through millions of songs
| yourself.
|
| Think of it as a "view" on top of your existing subscription.
| Parents curate in the admin area, kids see only what you want
| them to see.
| mrashes wrote:
| Unsure if you're able to but can you speak to how many users you
| have? Have you done advertising? What rate do people sign up for
| it now that your on a subscription.
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(page generated 2026-01-21 23:00 UTC)