Elite Hoops launch teardown: how a solo iOS app reached 100 subscribers with pre-orders, email and ads (2026)

This Elite Hoops launch teardown follows how solo developer Jordan Morgan took a basketball-coaching app from an Xcode project to a paying subscriber base. It is based entirely on what Morgan published on his blog, Swiftjective-C. The App Guy had no involvement with the app. The launch pattern was simple: a pre-launch email list, App Store pre-orders, a launch-day chart bump, and then small paid ad budgets. The steps that follow turn that into a plan for your own niche app, with the Apple rules each step depends on.

What is Elite Hoops and how was it built?

Elite Hoops is an iOS app for basketball coaches. It lets them record and share plays, move player avatars around a court, and add audio commentary. Jordan Morgan built it alone in SwiftUI over about a year of nights and weekends.

In his September 15, 2023 announcement, Morgan called it "a modern, technology-first whiteboard" and said work started in a new Xcode project on September 12, 2022. It was his first SwiftUI app, and he wrote that "there is no way I could move this fast in UIKit." He deliberately shipped a small first version. Platform features like App Intents, widgets and quick actions were held back: "I'm launching a to-the-point M.V.P., knowing those platform features will make it in. Just not at launch." He also framed it differently from his earlier app, Spend Stack: "With Elite Hoops, I am trying to make a business."

How did Elite Hoops launch on the App Store?

Elite Hoops launched to an audience that was already waiting. Morgan built an email list on a website, opened App Store pre-orders after approval, and promoted features to that list until launch day.

In The First 100 Subscribers for Elite Hoops (November 7, 2023), Morgan described his launch sequence:

1. Put up a website with email capture.
2. Send as many potential customers there as possible to sign up.
3. Get App Store approval and open pre-orders.
4. Promote the app's features to the mailing list before launch.
5. Launch.

He wrote that the app peaked around #85 in the Sports category on launch day and regularly ranked around 80–120 on iPad afterwards. He credited that to not launching "to an empty room." His one comment on review before launch was "Here's hoping app review treats me well". Neither post reports a rejection.

How did Elite Hoops price and grow its subscription?

Elite Hoops launched at $40 a year, with a $150 one-time purchase option. Morgan reported 100 active subscribers about a month after launch, and by October 2024 he reported 860 paying customers and $3,000 MRR.

Here are the figures as each of Morgan's posts reported them:

In November 2023, Morgan said $40 a year was probably too low, and "definitely too low for colleges". He planned pricing experiments. He set a target of 5,000 paying users, or $200,000 ARR, and noted that at his pace then it would take about three and a half years. The 2026 post says it will be his last public revenue update. For a comparison of pricing models, see how to monetize an app.

What did Elite Hoops spend on Apple Search Ads and Meta ads?

In November 2023, Morgan reported spending about $16 a day on Apple Search Ads, with a conversion rate "over 65%" that held for three weeks. In October 2024, he reported spending $30 a day on Meta ads, after about three months of testing to find a creative and audience that worked.

In the year-one post, Morgan disagreed with indies who call paid acquisition "lighting money on fire" and wrote that "you can get meaningful results with a little money." He doesn't use Meta's SDK, so his attribution is approximate, but he said he has "enough data to have a good idea of what I get from it." He made his ad creatives in Sketch. He also measured the email funnel: in 2023 "Nearly 60% of new users join" the list during onboarding, and in 2024 just over 30% opted in.

Apple Search Ads is now called Apple Ads. As of November 2026, Apple's comparison of Apple Ads solutions describes two tiers:

How do you copy the Elite Hoops launch plan for your own app?

To copy the plan, collect emails before you submit, then publish your approved app as a pre-order with a release date 2 to 180 days out. Email the list on launch day, and only then add a small daily ad budget.

1. Put up a one-page site with an email signup that describes the problem your app solves for one specific audience. Morgan's audience was youth basketball coaches.
2. Finish your store setup and submit the release build. The App Store submission checklist covers metadata, privacy and the review notes.
3. Configure your subscriptions in App Store Connect while the pre-order is live. Apple's pre-order help says In-App Purchases "aren't eligible for pre-order", but you can set them up "before and during the pre-order period so that everything is ready once your app is released."
4. In App Store Connect, open Pricing and Availability, click Set Up Availability, choose Publish as Pre-Order and pick a release date. For a first-time release, Apple's rule is: "Set your app's release date to fall between two and 180 days in the future."
5. After approval, click Release This Version to publish the pre-order. Apple notes it "may take up to 24 hours to appear to all users," so send the email with the pre-order link the next day.
6. Ask new users for their email during onboarding, and send a welcome email that explains how to get started. Morgan did both.
7. From launch week, test a small daily Apple Ads budget, and track conversions before you scale. Add analytics that tells you who your users are. Morgan used Mixpanel to segment coaches by type.

If you'd rather hand off the store side, our App Store submission service sets up App Store Connect and Play Console and prepares the review for $599 for both stores (developer account fees are separate).

What does a pre-order launch timeline look like?

A workable pre-order timeline gives you a few weeks of list-building, a submission early enough to absorb a rejection, and a pre-order window of at least two days before release. The example below is a hypothetical niche coaching app, not Elite Hoops' actual dates.

After launch, plan updates the way Morgan did: features held back from version 1.0 ship in later releases. A phased release limits the risk of each update to your early subscribers.

What should other indie developers take from Elite Hoops?

The main lesson from Elite Hoops is that a niche subscription app can launch well with an existing audience and keep growing through steady product work and modest, measured ad spend.

• Pick one audience you can reach directly. In 2024, Morgan's Mixpanel data showed about half his users were youth basketball coaches.
• Treat marketing as scheduled work. Morgan wrote that "Indies don't market enough" and set aside a full day each week for it.
• Try a free companion tool. Morgan's free Youth Basketball Practice Planner web app sends coaches to the paid app.
• Ship a small first version and add platform features later, rather than delaying the launch.