I have an insider thread about mobile app execution, but I wanted to post on the wider forum so people can see what I'm doing/I can have more feedback from folks. Mainly was motivated to make this thread because of what @SheyBuilds and @kbauder have been doing.
App Summary
Website
App Store Link
ScrollScholar is an app blocker that makes you study. Upload your notes in PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or take a photo, answer AI questions generated from your material, and earn screen time for blocked apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Right now, the app is for ages 13+. Depending on how it fares, I plan on making it available for younger.
Background
I originally released it as requiring completion of language lessons to earn screen time. I got downloads through that, but the problem I ran into is that creating the curriculum for language learning is incredibly difficult. There are many nuances to languages that AI isn't quite there with yet, so it would've required me to work with translators. I'm not totally opposed to this angle, but I spun up a waitlist for the study angle and ran ads; people signed up. The other benefit of this is I spoke with teachers who mentioned how big of an issue screen time is in the classroom. I think that there may be an angle here to get this introduced in schools, or at least make parents aware of it. Overall, I think it's just a better angle than language learning at the moment, but we shall see.
Overview
As we all know, building the actual product at this point really isn't super difficult, so I think the majority of this thread will be more so about marketing and distribution. Currently, what I'm thinking about doing is primarily organic posting on Instagram and TikTok, as well as testing out Facebook ads. I also plan on reaching out to local news stations, parents, and teachers.
Organic Content - In Action as of 07/27/2026
I have two TikTok accounts, two Instagram accounts, and a YouTube channel that I plan on posting on. The one TikTok and Instagram account will primarily be content that has me in it: founder-led content, but also UGC content that is just me as the actor in the video.
Here's an example
Then I also have a separate TikTok/IG account that I use UGC I purchased, which I'll adopt to my app/for the hook. This is a post for the old version of the app.
I'm still pretty new to the whole social media sphere. I've only really been posting for ~7 months now. I wasn't very active before pursuing entrepreneurship.
So far, though, I've posted ~ 15-20 posts for the new version of the application.
Facebook Ads - In Action as of 07/27/2026
I'm slowly testing some of my posts as Facebook ads. I did speak to one of my friends who is a social media director, and he mentioned not to run Facebook ads directly from existing posts. You should create them separately, even if it's exactly the same, as it interferes with the organic post itself. He did mention that if it's a person on the creator team, then they run the ad through their account as a partnership ad.
I asked him this after I made the first four ads, which I'm testing directly from the organic post. So I'm gonna see how the performance is, but what he said makes sense to me. I have a solid 1,500 set aside for running these and just kind of experimenting.
POV Tutor - N/A yet
This is one idea I had for organic content that I think I'm going to also try: POV tutor. Right now, what's really big on social media platforms is POV content, so it can be like somebody going into a restaurant, somebody approaching somebody, somebody cooking, shopping, things of that nature. So what I've been thinking about doing is providing valuable content in the form of tutoring. What I'll do is reference the questions directly from my app, and then I'll break down how to solve that problem. This kind of aligns also with my background. I have a computer science degree, scored in the 95th percentile for the GMAT, and in college I spent a lot of time tutoring friends and other classmates.
This would be an entirely separate channel.
Local News/Forums - N/A yet
Pretty self-explanatory, but I plan on reaching out to local news networks and things of that nature. To be honest, never thought about doing this until reading @SheyBuilds and @kbauders' threads. Obviously gives you more reach, but also credibility and can build backlinks to your site.
Website - Done
I went through my site and optimized it for GEO/AEO, basically SEO for the LLMs, because I want it to rank when people search long-term keywords such as "app blocker that makes you study" or apps are blocked until you study," things of that nature.
ASO - Done (for now)
Right now I'm trying to rank for "App Blocker, AI study, and screen time control", and you can also see the screenshots that I created using AI, by the way, at this link -> App Store Link/ASO/Screenshots
Infographics/Carousels - Restarting this | In Action as of 08/28/2026
I probably will also start posting infographics like top 5 study tips, things of that nature, on social media, as those carousel posts tend to do pretty well. I know that @123mass had success with them. I already have the agent built and set up for that. It does the research for me on trending topics on TikTok and Instagram. Then it draws up a skeleton of what the post will look like. Once I okay that, it uses Nano Banana to actually generate the proper image, which you can see at this link TikTok - Make Your Day
Resources I've Used
- AppTweak - ASO & Keyword optimization
- Claude - Claude for code, screenshots, and creating clips, research etc
- Cursor - Coding environment (IDE)
- Supabase/Futter - For actually developing the app
- Trigger.dev - Responsible for actually running the jobs and calling the LLM
- OpenAI - The llm I use for processing the notes and turning them into questions
- Revenuecat - Paywall/payment processing
- Revenuecat State of Subscription Apps - https://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps/ (really good breakdown of apps in 2026)
- Superwall YT Channel - Really good channel that interviews founders. Please note, I'm not sure they verify the revenue numbers that founders state on this channel, but I have found some good interviews on there of people's experiences building mobile apps.
Looking forward to hearing others' thoughts. If anyone wants the agents I built to create the app store screenshots/infographics, let me know and I can probably send them to you.
App Summary
Website
App Store Link
ScrollScholar is an app blocker that makes you study. Upload your notes in PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or take a photo, answer AI questions generated from your material, and earn screen time for blocked apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Right now, the app is for ages 13+. Depending on how it fares, I plan on making it available for younger.
Background
I originally released it as requiring completion of language lessons to earn screen time. I got downloads through that, but the problem I ran into is that creating the curriculum for language learning is incredibly difficult. There are many nuances to languages that AI isn't quite there with yet, so it would've required me to work with translators. I'm not totally opposed to this angle, but I spun up a waitlist for the study angle and ran ads; people signed up. The other benefit of this is I spoke with teachers who mentioned how big of an issue screen time is in the classroom. I think that there may be an angle here to get this introduced in schools, or at least make parents aware of it. Overall, I think it's just a better angle than language learning at the moment, but we shall see.
Overview
As we all know, building the actual product at this point really isn't super difficult, so I think the majority of this thread will be more so about marketing and distribution. Currently, what I'm thinking about doing is primarily organic posting on Instagram and TikTok, as well as testing out Facebook ads. I also plan on reaching out to local news stations, parents, and teachers.
Organic Content - In Action as of 07/27/2026
I have two TikTok accounts, two Instagram accounts, and a YouTube channel that I plan on posting on. The one TikTok and Instagram account will primarily be content that has me in it: founder-led content, but also UGC content that is just me as the actor in the video.
Here's an example
Then I also have a separate TikTok/IG account that I use UGC I purchased, which I'll adopt to my app/for the hook. This is a post for the old version of the app.
I'm still pretty new to the whole social media sphere. I've only really been posting for ~7 months now. I wasn't very active before pursuing entrepreneurship.
So far, though, I've posted ~ 15-20 posts for the new version of the application.
Facebook Ads - In Action as of 07/27/2026
I'm slowly testing some of my posts as Facebook ads. I did speak to one of my friends who is a social media director, and he mentioned not to run Facebook ads directly from existing posts. You should create them separately, even if it's exactly the same, as it interferes with the organic post itself. He did mention that if it's a person on the creator team, then they run the ad through their account as a partnership ad.
I asked him this after I made the first four ads, which I'm testing directly from the organic post. So I'm gonna see how the performance is, but what he said makes sense to me. I have a solid 1,500 set aside for running these and just kind of experimenting.
POV Tutor - N/A yet
This is one idea I had for organic content that I think I'm going to also try: POV tutor. Right now, what's really big on social media platforms is POV content, so it can be like somebody going into a restaurant, somebody approaching somebody, somebody cooking, shopping, things of that nature. So what I've been thinking about doing is providing valuable content in the form of tutoring. What I'll do is reference the questions directly from my app, and then I'll break down how to solve that problem. This kind of aligns also with my background. I have a computer science degree, scored in the 95th percentile for the GMAT, and in college I spent a lot of time tutoring friends and other classmates.
This would be an entirely separate channel.
Local News/Forums - N/A yet
Pretty self-explanatory, but I plan on reaching out to local news networks and things of that nature. To be honest, never thought about doing this until reading @SheyBuilds and @kbauders' threads. Obviously gives you more reach, but also credibility and can build backlinks to your site.
Website - Done
I went through my site and optimized it for GEO/AEO, basically SEO for the LLMs, because I want it to rank when people search long-term keywords such as "app blocker that makes you study" or apps are blocked until you study," things of that nature.
ASO - Done (for now)
Right now I'm trying to rank for "App Blocker, AI study, and screen time control", and you can also see the screenshots that I created using AI, by the way, at this link -> App Store Link/ASO/Screenshots
Infographics/Carousels - Restarting this | In Action as of 08/28/2026
I probably will also start posting infographics like top 5 study tips, things of that nature, on social media, as those carousel posts tend to do pretty well. I know that @123mass had success with them. I already have the agent built and set up for that. It does the research for me on trending topics on TikTok and Instagram. Then it draws up a skeleton of what the post will look like. Once I okay that, it uses Nano Banana to actually generate the proper image, which you can see at this link TikTok - Make Your Day
Resources I've Used
- AppTweak - ASO & Keyword optimization
- Claude - Claude for code, screenshots, and creating clips, research etc
- Cursor - Coding environment (IDE)
- Supabase/Futter - For actually developing the app
- Trigger.dev - Responsible for actually running the jobs and calling the LLM
- OpenAI - The llm I use for processing the notes and turning them into questions
- Revenuecat - Paywall/payment processing
- Revenuecat State of Subscription Apps - https://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps/ (really good breakdown of apps in 2026)
- Superwall YT Channel - Really good channel that interviews founders. Please note, I'm not sure they verify the revenue numbers that founders state on this channel, but I have found some good interviews on there of people's experiences building mobile apps.
Looking forward to hearing others' thoughts. If anyone wants the agents I built to create the app store screenshots/infographics, let me know and I can probably send them to you.
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