Before releasing HabitKit he researched keywords, picked "habit tracker" as the one keyword to go all-in on, put it directly in the app name ("Habit Tracker - HabitKit") and put the next two keywords in the subtitle ("Streaks & Accountability").

“I picked the most important keyword for my niche ("habit tracker") and decided to go all in on it.”

Concentrating on one keyword rather than spreading across several gave HabitKit a fast, measurable ranking result within the first month.

“After just a month on the App Store, I reached the top 10 in the UK and this continued to generate a lot of organic installs and therefore revenue.”

He kept asking happy users for App Store reviews (a native review prompt after a user's first habit completion, plus a review ask appended to support-email replies), which he treats as a ranking input, alongside continuing to post about the app on X to generate organic mentions and backlinks.

“I show the native review dialog after the user created his first completion for a habit.”

Breaking into the top of the US App Store search results for the core keyword is, in his own words, the single change that mattered most to his revenue in 2025.

“This is THE market that matters, and ranking there changed everything.”

Ran a small always-on Apple Search Ads campaign after reading unverified claims online that Search Ads spend can indirectly help App Store ranking.

“I run a campaign for HabitKit with a budget of $100 per month.”

By his own admission the cost per install was poor and he could not attribute any ranking or revenue benefit to the spend.

“Writing this out made me realize that this is pretty dumb and I should probably cut it.”

He posted regularly about his HabitKit numbers and journey on X, treating it as a personal-brand and community-building channel rather than a direct sales channel.

“I shared my journey on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter).”

He credits this activity with generating organic mentions and backlinks that he believes helped App Store authority and, by extension, search ranking, rather than driving installs directly.

“I strongly believe that this often led to organic mentions and links, which indirectly boosted the app's authority in the App Store's eyes.”

Won a contest run by his subscription-infrastructure vendor, RevenueCat, which put HabitKit's branding on a billboard in New York's Times Square in June 2024.

“In June, I won the RevenueCat New York Times Square contest and my app HabitKit was featured in the New York Times Square.”

He is explicit that the PR moment did not translate into a download or revenue bump, unlike the later MKBHD feature.

“Sadly, in terms of downloads and revenue, this wasn't a huge success but all-in-all a very cool marketing event.”

Unsolicited: he never pitched MKBHD's team. HabitKit was featured in a December 2024 video on "The Studio", MKBHD's second channel, which he believes came from the editor finding him on Threads.

“I didn't reach out to them before the video, I think Adam (the awesome editor who talks about HabitKit in the video) found me on Threads.”

The feature produced an immediate, large, directly attributed jump in downloads and revenue in a normally slow month.

“HabitKit was featured in an MKBHD video (on the "The Studio" channel) which led to a huge spike in downloads and revenue.”

Appeared as a guest on Pat Walls' Starter Story show in 2025. This entry cites only Sebastian's own account of the appearance and its effect, not Starter Story's produced interview content.

“I had the honor of being a guest on Pat Walls' Starter Story show.”

He connects the appearance to a download bump that fed back into App Store ranking, rather than to direct revenue.

“After the video was released, HabitKit saw a nice boost in downloads, which improved my rankings even more.”