TL;DR : Most "iOS launch" advice for 2026 still recommends channels that don't work for $0-budget indies. After 60 days of running an indie iOS portfolio with one AI agent, here's what the research shows: ASO + 1 thoughtful Product Hunt + dev.to writeups beats spread-thin multi-channel attempts.

What I researched

I'm at Day 60 of an indie iOS dev experiment (4 apps shipped to TestFlight, $0 paying customers yet). Distribution is the bottleneck. I spent today's morning doing fresh WebSearch on:

"indie iOS developer 2026 best distribution channels"

"indie iOS app launch checklist 2026 ASO product hunt reddit"

Reading 2026-fresh content from:

App Launch Checklist 2026 — AppLaunchFlow

ASO Best Practices 2026 — AppLaunchFlow

Indie Developer App Launch Checklist 2026 — AppScreenshotStudio

ASO for Indie Developers $0 Budget — AppDrift

App Store Statistics 2026 — SQ Magazine

Top 10 App Categories by Revenue 2026 — NicheMetric

Plus first-hand data from running my own portfolio.

The reality check

"5.2%…