Design and development shop IconFactory sells several apps – and AI is partially responsible

At some point, an app called Twitterrific It was one of the most popular iPhone apps for browsing Twitter. These days, the company behind that app and many of the apps have struggled. And AI may be partially responsible.

On Wednesday, the company known as IconFactory admitted it was at an intersection and sold several apps due to lack of resources. on the other hand announcement This issue was placed as a situation where IconFactory’s app catalog grew to include too many apps to catch up and not have enough time to do so. The reality is that today’s business has no choice but to focus on apps that offer better return on investment.

As IconFactory co-founder Ged Maheux says, side products can no longer be sustained, even if “there are many happy and loyal customers.”

The company says it will continue to work with apps like it continues Tapestry, Linear Sketch, pairand Inand that new project is involved Retro Pixel Portraitbut they accept “serious offers” to other apps. These sales include intellectual property and source code.

What’s particularly interesting is that it points out that the company has a major impact on the business as a reason.

“ChatGpt and other AI services are basically killing @IconFactory. I’m not exaggerating, and I’m not exaggerating,” says Sean Heber, developer of IconFactory. I said it on Mastodon Please post earlier this month.

The question isn’t that people use AI instead of mobile apps, but how vibe coding affects the need for app design companies like them. In addition to building your own apps, IconFactory generated revenue by offering apps Design Servicesicon design (and therefore the name), app design, marketing assets creation, branding and consulting services, and more.

These services have helped to promote businesses that are currently being disrupted by AI. “What I say is that I won’t let anyone take it to stop using ChatGPT and generate new app icons in five minutes for an app that wrote ChatGPT in just a few hours, but I don’t know what to do about the rest of us making enough money.”

Another issue with IconFactory’s longtime app maker was the shutdown of its most popular app, Twitterrific. Officially banned all third party clients. Movement is placed Twitterrific, TweetBotand other apps almost immediately go out of business and lead iconfactory Begging users to refuse app store refunds To help them float.

That too has an impact on IconFactory’s future, Heber admitted in his post.

“First Twitter/Elon designed the revenues of the main apps that were kept lights on around here, and generative AI exploded and took a final blow,” he wrote. “I think it’s because I have the impression that someone with a very good design is pretty good, someone with a pretty good design, sitting here in some huge powers with money and stuff. No.

After shutting down Twitterrific, IconFactory turned to the open social web as a way to generate new revenue streams. that I launched an app called TapestryThis allows users to track sources on the open web, including RSS feeds, YouTube, Bluesky, podcasts, Mastodon, Reddit, Tumblr, Micro.Blog, and more. App We provide a variety of clever tools Organize sources, create feed, mute and hide content you don’t want to see, and more. It also provided a way for third-party developers to extend their tapestry using an add-on called connectors, allowing users to add more open feeds.

The app will continue to be part of the company’s efforts for now – the Mac app is working – but even in its future it could be uncertain. For one thing, open social media platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky are still war-held by the tech giants. In other words, consumer demand like Tapestry is quite niche.

Like heber Sharethe app Kickstarter was like “Hail Mary” on the company’s side, but people don’t subscribe to it because there are enough numbers to compensate for the revenue Twitterrific once brought in.

If AI continues to continue its app creation business, IconFactory doesn’t just suffer from consequences. However, not only is there a lack of human input, but what consumers need is not necessarily what they need. LAX Security Some of these apps are available.

Reaching for the comment, Maheux agreed that AI “definitely placed the damper on the design side of the service,” but has not yet “killed” the company.

“Many indie developers employ AI for cheap or free solutions for graphical work like app icons. This is a central part of the services we offer. Of course, the frequency of developers that come to us for these services has dropped significantly over the last few years,” he told TechCrunch via email.

He also cited other factors that affect the business, such as SF Symbol, an Apple graphical system that developers can use instead. Consumers are tired of all subscriptions. He further notes that while all costs have increased over the years, there is no cost for the app, making it difficult to make a living as a small business developer.

“We had to expand our offering to other areas such as UX consulting, coding consulting, side revenue services, and more, in order to compensate for the revenue from this lost design work. Apple’s introduction of Liquid Glass offers new opportunities for design work and consultation, and has worked with a handful of companies on this.

Updated after publication in company comments.