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Indie Support Weeks in the Apple Developer Community
Indie Support Weeks is an open two-week effort aimed at helping indie developers within the Apple Developer Community who have been financially impacted by the current global COVID-19 pandemic.
As people are self-isolating around the world, businesses are closing, and many of our normal day-to-day activities are put on hold, many indie developers have seen their sales numbers take a big hit. For some developers, who rely on the income from their apps as the main way to support themselves and their families, this loss of revenue can lead to tricky and difficult situations, to say the least.
So for two weeks — between the 30th of March and 12th of April, 2020 — multiple websites, podcasts, newsletters and YouTube channels are joining efforts in order to help support indie developers shipping apps on Apple’s platforms. If you want to support this effort, you’ve come to the right place. This repository contains information on how you can help out, a list of indie apps whose developers have asked for support, and answers to common questions.
Participating partners
These websites/channels are joining Indie Support Weeks, and will promote certain indie apps for free on their channels during the two-week period:
Anyone is more than welcome to join this effort, and doing so is simple. You don’t actually have to do anything in particular — the simplest way to help out is to just pick an indie app that you like from the below list, and promote it! You’re completely free to participate however you’d like.
However, if you’d like to more “formally” join this effort, then here’s how you can do that:
Pick a few apps that you’d like to promote, and mark them by filling in your website/channel’s name within the “Promoted by” column in the table below.
Anytime during the 30th of March and the 12th of April, promote your selected apps on your website/channel, in any way you’d like. You could, for example, replace any ads that you’re normally running with links to your selected indie apps, post reviews of them, or just talk about them in a podcast or video. It’s all up to you!
If the platform of your choice includes tagging, please use the #IndieSupportWeeks tag to increase discoverability and reach.
You do not need to credit John, Swift by Sundell, or any other person/entity while taking part in this effort. Simply mentioning that you’re participating in Indie Support Weeks and linking to this repo is more than enough, and even that is not required.
Apps
The following list of apps was gathered by John Sundell based on Direct Messages from indie developers, prompted by this tweet, as well as Pull Requests submitted by the community. Note that this list is just based on raw data, and is presented as-is — no quality checks have been made, and it is possible that the list contains incorrect information.
If you’re participating in Indie Support Weeks and want to help promote some of these apps, it’s recommended that you first:
Reach out to the developer (each app entry has a Twitter account associated with it), to make sure that you get the right information about the app, and up-to-date assets, such as logos and screenshots.
Mark the name of your website/channel in the “Promoted by” column, by submitting a Pull Request. While the same app can of course be promoted by multiple people, we’ll maximize the spread of apps that we’re able to promote by making sure that everyone won’t promote the exact same set of apps.
Between the 30th of March and the 12th of April, 2020.
Who’s behind this effort?
This effort was started by John Sundell of Swift by Sundell. It has since grown to include multiple websites, YouTube channels, newsletters and other creators who are planning to help support various indie developers during the two-week period.
Indie Support Weeks is a community-driven effort and is not affiliated with Apple.
I’m running a website or other channel, and want to help out. How do I join?
Can I participate in this effort outside of the main two weeks?
Of course, participate however you’d like. The more we can help the indies within our community, the better. It’s just that this coordinated effort will happen during those two weeks.
I’m not running a website or anything like that, but would still like to help out. How can I do that?
Here are a few ways to help out:
Download/purchase some of the apps listed above.
Share this effort on Twitter or another social network.
Share any of the above apps on Twitter or another social network.
Why is this effort focused on indie developers in particular?
While there are countless people around the world facing hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, every effort needs to focus on some form of target group. There are many people who need help right now, and no-one can do everything, but everyone can do something. This effort is a few creators/website hosts within the Apple Developer community doing something.
Is it guaranteed that the developers of the above apps are struggling financially?
No, not at all. The above list was simply compiled from Twitter messages from developers themselves, as well as from Pull Requests submitted by the community, and hasn’t been filtered. The original tweet prompting developers to submit their apps explicitly mentioned “indie devs [that] are suffering from lower sales/income because of the current situation”, but at the end of the day, we have to take people at their word.
I’m an indie developer who could use some support, how do I add my app?
Submit a Pull Request that adds your app to the list. Please keep the list in alphabetic order.
My app is on the above list, but I no longer wish to be included in this effort. How do I remove my app?
Submit a Pull Request that removes your app from the list.
Can I submit a product other than an iOS/macOS/watchOS/tvOS app to be included in the above list?
No, sorry. This effort is focused on indie developers shipping apps on Apple’s platforms.
I want to start a similar effort, but within another community, is that OK?
Of course! The more we can help people who are in need of support during these difficult times, the better.
I have another question, where can I ask it?
Submit a Pull Request adding your question to this document, and someone from the team will try to answer it as soon as possible.