From Rejection to ¥1: My Second App Development Journey [8 Months After Failure]

After the first rejection, I lost all motivation.

I couldn't even bring myself to open my Mac. Time just passed by.

Yet, something kept lingering in the back of my mind. Something wouldn't let me give up.

"I got all the way to review..." "What was wrong with it?" "Is there something else I could make?"

These thoughts kept circulating in my head.

January 2019. About 8 months after the rejection.

I was casually sitting on the couch watching TV when an idea for a game suddenly popped into my head.

(I'll keep the details private, but it's a puzzle-style app)

It felt like lightning struck.

Just like with the first app, that feeling of excitement came rushing back.

The rough architecture started forming in my mind. I could figure out the details later. For now, I'd launch with minimal features.

This time, I'll definitely pass the review—I'm determined!

With that determination, I opened my Mac again.

On weekdays, I'd come home from work and immediately open my Mac to code.

And on weekends. From morning to evening, I became a regular at Komeda Coffee.

My criteria for choosing a café was simple: Does it have seats with power outlets? If it was full, I'd have to find another café. So I started going early in the morning, right when they opened.

Almost every day for 2-3 months.

Around me, customers were happily spending time with friends and family. I sat alone, silently writing code.

My wife let me go without saying a word. But I still can't forget the lonely look on her face, staying home alone on weekends.

Still, I continued developing. If I gave up now, I'd just repeat the same failure.

It started taking shape. Alright, time to submit for review.

But reality wasn't so kind. I got rejected multiple times.

The first rejection: "Crash rate too high." It worked fine in testing, but crashed in the review environment.

Fixed it and resubmitted. Next: "Ad placement violates guidelines."

Fixed again. Submitted again. And again...

But this time, there was no "no value" type of rejection.

These were technical issues. Issues I could fix.

"I can fix these issues," I kept telling myself as I made fix after fix.

And finally, it passed review.

The joy of passing review was short-lived. Reality was waiting.

Even after launch, downloads didn't increase at all.

Of course they didn't. Nobody knew who I was. There are millions of apps in the store. The chance of my app being discovered was basically zero.

But I couldn't give up.

Every day I'd launch the app to check for bugs, check for user feedback and reviews—I checked the store over and over.

Whenever I thought of a new feature, I'd implement it immediately and release an update. If I stopped, it would be over. I had to keep moving.

Every day I'd open the Google AdSense dashboard, and it always showed the same number: ¥0.

But I kept updating without getting discouraged, believing "someday, definitely."

Then, several months after launch, one day, I opened the dashboard as usual and saw an unfamiliar number.

¥1

Just one yen. Not even enough to buy gum at a convenience store, but I looked at my phone screen over and over again.

What That Single Yen Taught Me

This wasn't just one yen.

From nothing, I had created ¥1 with my own power.

Someone used my app, watched the ad, and revenue was generated.

Even someone like me could provide value to someone.

Thinking that made my chest feel warm.

A few days later, there was a day when revenue hit ¥5. I immediately told my wife.

"Hey, I earned ¥5 today!"

She said with a smile:

"Wow! Even ¥5 is amazing!"

Those words made me happier than anything.

My wife, who had watched me leave alone for cafés on weekends with a lonely expression—that same wife was celebrating even this small achievement with me. In that moment, I truly felt "it was worth continuing."

2019 Monthly Revenue

Month	Revenue
2019/05	¥1
2019/06	¥66
2019/07	¥494
2019/08	¥250
2019/09	¥369
2019/10	¥635
2019/11	¥3,310
2019/12	¥5,309

Revenue fluctuated. It went up and down. But it was steadily trending upward.

In December, it exceeded ¥5,000 per month. About ¥100 per day.

Maybe not even enough for a cup of coffee. But for me, it was a big step forward.

Google AdSense has a constraint: you can't withdraw earnings until you exceed ¥8,000.

In other words, no matter how much you earn, you can't receive a single yen until you reach ¥8,000.

And then, the moment when cumulative revenue finally broke through ¥8,000:

The "Treasure" That Arrived by Mail

Around January 2020. An envelope from Google arrived in my mailbox.

When I opened it, I found a document with my personal identification number inside.

A treasure I still carefully keep 7 years later

This personal identification number is sent by mail for identity verification. Once you receive it and enter it into Google's system, you can finally withdraw money to your bank account.

At this moment, for the first time, I could withdraw earnings to my bank account.

At that moment, I thought:

This is the app developer version of YouTube's gold or silver play button.

The lonely development at Komeda Coffee. The multiple rejections. The days of ¥0. And my wife's support.

It felt like everything had been rewarded.

This feeling will never fade, for the rest of my life.

This was the story of my app launch in 2019.

A year that started with failure and ended with small success.

What I Gained This Year

Technical skills are important. But I gained something even more valuable.

• The spirit to never give up - The strength to overcome rejection
• The habit of persistence - Taught to me through daily visits to Komeda Coffee
• Family support - I couldn't have come this far without my wife's encouragement
• Accumulation of small successes - Revenue starting from ¥1
• Fellow travelers - Other indie developers walking the same path
• And the confidence that I can create value with my own hands

These became priceless treasures that money can't buy.

What happened to this second app after that?

• Expanding to Android and new challenges
• Complete rewrite with Flutter
• The journey to further monetization

In the next post, I'd like to share the next chapter of my app development journey.