Just over one year ago, I launched a new app on the Mac App Store. This was an MVP iteration of a product that I’d wanted for a long time. The app was a way to get back into coding after a long break and also an attempt to make a positive difference on the web in general.
I’ve always been a strong believer in individual’s privacy and security and was becoming increasingly dismayed with how this was being disregarded and abused by some of the internet’s largest companies. I’d become frustrated by the continuing dominance of two of the web’s gatekeepers – Google and Facebook – and how it was inevitable, due to their advertising based business model, that further erosion of previous privacy norms would continue to take place.
So I decided to build an adblocker app and after doing a quick survey of the options available decided that – by sticking to some strong product fundamentals – it was an app area that could be improved upon; including ensuring it was made freely available to a large base of users.
After a lot of time, effort and mis-steps, version 1.0 of Magic Lasso Adblock was released onto the Mac App Store in July 2017. The app was very much an MVP: it didn’t have a lot of features, was only available on a single platform and I was aware, more than anyone else, of the long list of improvements that could be made. Despite this I pulled the trigger, released the app and thought if one hundred users (other than myself) found it valuable that it would be a success.
In not too long, the app exceeded this benchmark 5x and had 500 downloads via the Mac App Store and was receiving positive feedback and reviews. This positive feedback encouraged me to continue working on the app; improving on the adblocking rules, continually releasing new updates and features and finally, a month later, creating a version for the iOS App Store that brought the same adblocking efficiency and performance to the iPhone and iPad which I’d initially created for the Mac.
Now 12 months later and inspired by the learnings and openness of other companies doing the same, here is the 2018 Magic Lasso Adblock Year in Review. I’ve learnt a lot, worked a lot and earned not a lot during this period. Despite the lack of earnings, I’ve considered the app to be a success and am driven more than ever to continue to deliver a great product for our users.
So with that in mind, we’re proud to present the Magic Lasso Adblock 2018 year in numbers…
We hope this provides a great insight for other people thinking of doing something different and taking a bit of a risk. If you have any feedback, we’re happy to take any questions via twitter or our feedback email.
Over the next 12 months we’re going to continue driving forward on our goal to create the most user-friendly, privacy aware and platform-native adblocker for the iPhone, iPad and Mac – please give it a try and let us know your thoughts.
