Amber Neely
A designer has shared his story of how selling icons for iOS 14 managed to net him a profit of more than $100,000 in under a week.
As it turns out, customizing the iOS 14 Home Screen can be a lucrative endeavor if you've got an eye for design. On September 20, Twitter user and designer Traf tweeted out a set of icons he'd designed for his iOS 14 home screen. The tweet gained instant attention.
Current iOS 14 home screen setup. pic.twitter.com/gtFjRnMkq7
— Traf (@traf) September 20, 2020
After noticing the hype, Traf quickly designed a set of icons in his style, packaged them, and then uploaded them for sale. Through a combination of luck and skill, the icons caught on — 3,626 individual sales worked out to a profit of $101,528 in just six days.
Of course, the success was the culmination of cultivating skills over nearly a decade. Traf tells the story of how in 2013, when jailbreaking was considered trendy, he made $17 selling iOS icons online. Through this process, he learned the value of creating something with obvious effort put into it, and selling it at a reasonable price.
The story is a good read, especially if you're interested in digital content creation. If you'd like to score Traf's icons, they're available at his icon page for $28.
In the event that you'd like to try your hand at designing your own icons, we have a guide that shows you how to customize your Home Screen in iOS 14. If you're not planning on selling the icons, we've got some great resources for customizing your Home Screen using ready-made graphics.
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18 Comments
Absolutely great story! I love reading how the iOS ecosystem gives people like @traf the ability to generate income that he otherwise would never have had the opportunity with other systems. Cue the haters and whiners about how Apple is "oppressing" them.
It's the power of instant gratification and near zero latency business transactions combined with an addressable market, worldwide, in the hundreds of millions of potential customers. You'll get a few people who will get flash money. It can also dry up to zero in a flash too.
Wonder how much the Widgetsmith dude is making.
3,626 individual sales worked out to a profit of $101,528 in just six days. IT IS ONLY A PROFIT AFTER EXPENSES! Apple takes 30% remember? maybe you haven't heard the news lately. SO, AFTER Apple gets its cut, (a little over $31,000) and other expenses are deducted, that is the PROFIT. I hope this helps
And that 30% is worth every cent. As an app developer , I do not begrudge Apple their 30% in any way, shape or form. The infrastructure, reporting, 'distribution' etc are worth every penny multiple times over.