How Pavlos grew his Bluesky app to 10,000 downloads

Meet Pavlos Tzegiannakis.

Pavlos is a solo software engineer based in Greece, currently working as an Android engineer.

He always had an interest in applications that help people in their day-to-day needs in an easy and usable way. He thinks that it’s a common problem nowadays in apps that have a beautiful UI, but with a bad user experience. Therefore his main goal has always been to have an as optimized as possible user experience.

This is also what Pavlos thrives for with his most current side project, Tracker - Manager for Bluesky

The story told by Pavlos Tzegiannakis

What’s the product?

I built a network management app for Bluesky.

The app lets users track in real-time followers and followings, identify who doesn’t follow them back or who has blocked them, and bulk manage their connections. Recently I have integrated new features such as posts and likes tracking.

Think of it like a "Tracker + Manager" combo - simple, focused, and efficient.

The app is available on Android and iOS.

When did I start?

I started building the app in December 2024.

At the time, Bluesky was still gaining momentum. I signed-up for it but I noticed a gap. People had no easy way to keep track of their network, especially as it grew quickly and there was no native way to see "who unfollowed me" or "who I don’t follow back.".

There wasn’t any mobile tracker at that time.

I had no previous experience creating an iOS app so I thought that would be a good time for me to learn something new, and build something valuable.

The first version went live in late December 2024, just a few weeks after I began development.

Reaching the first 100 users

It took me about 3-4 days after launch to reach 100 users.

Most of them came directly from a few Bluesky posts (examples below) I shared under my own account and soon it became word of mouth.

Bluesky's algorithm is still relatively open, and if something gets engagement, it can spread fast.

I also made some posts on Reddit and X (examples below), which brought in a small wave of traffic.

• Bluesky Unfollowers - A new mobile app for tracking your Bluesky connections (Reddit)

• Bluesky Unfollowers Tracker - iOS version is now LIVE (Reddit)

• Tracker - Manager for Bluesky: Major rebrand and exciting new features! (Reddit)

No paid ads, no influencer marketing - just word of mouth and showing up where my users hang out.

Marketing struggles

Finding my audience

One of the hardest things was figuring out where my potential users actually were.

Bluesky doesn’t have an ad network or many third-party analytics options. So I was “blindly” promoting it here and there hoping for the best.

Building trust

Another challenge was avoiding the “spammy tool” trap.

Some people are skeptical about any tool that touches their social graph, or think that it’s “toxic” to learn who unfollowed you. So I had to build trust and explain things clearly.

My app is a lot more than an “unfollowers tracker”.

Repurposing posts

Trying to repurpose X and Reddit posts didn’t lead to much traction. Although, especially on Reddit, I had tens of thousands of views on my posts, there weren’t any spikes in downloads.

Those communities weren’t as aligned with Bluesky users. Examples of “failed” posts below.

• My first ever iOS app is now LIVE on App Store (post on X)

• Bluesky Unfollowers - A new mobile app for tracking your Bluesky connections (launch post on Reddit)

• Bluesky Unfollowers Tracker - iOS version is now LIVE (iOS release post on Reddit)

• Tracker - Manager for Bluesky: Major Rebrand & Exciting New Features! (rebrand post on Reddit)

Stats today

As of May 2025, the app has:

• Over 10,000 downloads

• ~4,000 monthly active users

• Around 60% are Android users, and 40% are iOS ones.

• Steady growth purely from organic reach

The business model

Right now, the app is completely free.

My goal from day one was to build something genuinely useful for the Bluesky community and get it into as many hands as possible without any barriers.

I’m currently exploring a monetization model that doesn’t interfere with the user experience. Most likely, I’ll introduce lightweight in-app ads to support ongoing development and offer a small one-time payment for users who prefer an ad-free experience.

I’m intentionally avoiding subscriptions for now because I want to keep things simple and accessible, especially while Bluesky is still a growing ecosystem.

My focus is on building trust and utility first - revenue can come later once the foundation is solid. But most if not all of the features will always be free in order for everyone to be able to use them.

Screenshot from Tracker - Manager for Bluesky

How to get in contact with Pavlos Tzegiannakis:

• Personal profile on Bluesky

• App profile on Bluesky

• Email