This is the first post in a series where I’ll be sharing my experience trying to turn an app I made into a real business.
I recently entered this app into the Google Gemini API Developer Competition, and now I’m working on taking it to the next level.
What The App Does
‘Letter Creator’ is an app that makes it easy to write letters on your smartphone. Once you’re happy with your letter, the app will automatically print it and send it for you via US Postal Mail.
It’s a simple way to handle important letters from pretty much anywhere.
What happened
I submitted ‘Letter Creator’ to the Google Gemini API Developer Competition on August 12th, 2024. The app uses the Gemini multimodal API, the Android API, Jetpack Compose, CameraX, Speech-to-Text, and the Text-to-Speech libraries.
Here is the target persona and segmentation that I’m aiming for.
My Plan
My goal is to improve this app, make it more usable and more accessible to everyone, add in-app payments, and eventually turn it into a real business. At first, I’ll be printing and mailing the letters myself, but as more people start using the app, I hope to partner with small businesses that can help me with these tasks.
What’s Next?
Soon, I’ll add better instructions and pre-made templated prompts. I’ll add features to make sure all the addresses are double-checked and triple-checked. And I’ll user-test various workflows to add/correct missing information to each letter.
I also think the app needs to send a copy of the letter to the original sender (either by PDF in an email and/or by actual US Postal Mail). Plus, I’ll be exploring the issues with registered letters with tracking numbers and return-receipts.
Right now, the app is focused on formal letters, but I think it can eventually be used for personal letters, custom greeting cards, and custom postcards as the technology improves.
I’m also planning to make an iPhone version, but first, I need to prove that the app can be successful on Android.
Follow along as I share what it’s like to try and turn this app into something bigger. I’ll be talking about the challenges, successes, and everything in between as I work to make my app a real business.
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