My app got featured in 2 German publications and crossed $1K in sales

Name: My app got featured in 2 German publications and crossed $1K in sales
Availability: InStock
Author: hieu_dinh

by hieu_dinh·Feb 27, 2026·3 points·0 comments

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AI Analysis

●MidEye Candy

Polished fitness app hit $1K sales via organic press, but pedometer market is saturated.

Strengths

•Organic media pickup (German publications) suggests real product-market fit in niche
•Yearly Insights/Passport feature is thoughtful UX for motivating retention
•HealthKit integration, 23+ workouts, app lock accountability feature

Weaknesses

•Fitness trackers are crowded: Strava, Nike Run Club, Apple Fitness+, Garmin all own segments
•No technical differentiation—feature parity with mature competitors, success is marketing-driven not product-driven

Post Description

Hey HN, I'm a solo developer and I built Steps: Workout & Pedometer, an iOS pedometer and workout tracker.

Last week, two German iOS publications wrote about the app. I didn't pitch them. I didn't send a press release. I didn't even know it was happening.

I woke up to a spike in downloads, checked the analytics, and traced it back to their articles. That coverage pushed the app past $1,000 in sales.

I still have no idea how they found the app. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience getting featured in publications, whether organically or through outreach. What worked for you? Any tips for a solo dev trying to get more press coverage?

Here are the links to the articles: - https://www.iphoneblog.de/2026/02/21/steps-visualisiert-das-... - https://www.iphone-ticker.de/schrittzaehler-mit-mehrwert-com...