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An iPhone vault that encrypts files on-device earns through affordable subscriptions and lifetime purchases.
~$2K–$3K/day average · 60K downloads overall
A narrow privacy promise and a steady stream of useful search guides took a first iOS app from $66 in month one to 60,000 downloads.
Fewer bars = easier, cheaper, or faster for an AI-assisted solo builder. Editorial judgments based on the case details.
Rasty Turek built Vault Air, an iPhone app for storing photos and files in encrypted vaults on the device. It was his first iOS app, built in roughly three weeks with coding agents, and the first month produced $66. Six months later it made $41,000 in a single month; Rasty says it was averaging $2,000–$3,000 a day and had passed 60,000 total downloads. The app is free to start, with paid weekly, annual, and lifetime options. Rasty says about 60% of purchases were lifetime plans, which accounted for more than 80% of revenue. Its distinguishing promise is that files are encrypted on-device, with no servers or shared keys and no recovery path. Discovery comes largely from a website and search guides: a daily process checks Google Keyword Planner, finds queries where the site appears but ranks poorly, creates a useful guide, and links it internally. Rasty says the site converts around 10% of its traffic, though that conversion denominator is not defined in the conversation.
Vault Air's early discovery engine fits a privacy utility: reach people at the moment they are looking for a safer way to store a specific file or photo. Rasty built a feature-focused marketing site and guides around searches such as how to store photos on an iPhone.
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Data credibility: The founder described App Store analytics and revenue figures during the interview, and the host said the dashboard was shown; the video reports $41,000 in one month, roughly $2,000–$3,000 per day, 60,000 downloads, and conversion data. This supports the hard-data grade under the shown-dashboard standard, but the transcript provides no independent transaction audit. Pricing, lifetime-purchase mix, and web conversion are founder-reported. The web-conversion denominator is unclear. The founder is introduced as Rasty Turek; other speakers pronounce or render his first name as Rasti or Rusty.
Vault Air's first month generated $66 after a few downloads. Rasty had intended to make the app free, then added a low-cost paid layer partly to limit support requests.
The growth loop connects search demand, practical guides, and app downloads. Each morning, Rasty's system reviews Google Keyword Planner for searches where Vault Air is appearing but not earning clicks.
A new file vault can look unpromising at first: Vault Air earned $66 in month one and had only a few downloads. A founder in that position needs a routine that creates useful feedback before revenue becomes a reliable signal.
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