Dark Noise
darknoise.app
Fast, animated white noise and ambient sound app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac, with a free tier and subscription; rated 4.8 on the App Store.
diff ~/p/charlie-chapman ~/p/marco-arment
Charlie Chapman vs Marco Arment
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
St. Louis iOS dev behind Dark Noise, host of Launched, developer advocate at RevenueCat
@_chuckyc United States
Indie iOS developer of Overcast and Unforgetful, previously Instapaper and Tumblr
@marcoarment United States
Charlie Chapman vs Marco Arment at a glance
Both Charlie Chapman and Marco Arment are bootstrapped solo founders. They overlap in Mobile App Makers and Creators & Writers. Charlie is based in St. Louis, United States, Marco in New York, United States. Charlie started in 2019 and Marco in 2008. Charlie Chapman has 2 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Marco Arment's 5. Marco has sold 2 products. They share 1 tool in their stacks: Swift. On X, Charlie has about 12K followers and Marco about 105K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Charlie Chapman: St. Louis, United States
- Marco Arment: New York, United States
- Started
- Charlie Chapman: 2019 (7 yrs indie)
- Marco Arment: 2008 (18 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Charlie Chapman: Not public
- Marco Arment: Not public
- Products listed
- Charlie Chapman: 2
- Marco Arment: 5
- Product status
- Charlie Chapman: 2 active
- Marco Arment: 3 active · 2 acquired
- X followers
- Charlie Chapman: 12K
- Marco Arment: 105K
- Categories
- Charlie Chapman: Mobile App MakersCreators & Writers
- Marco Arment: Mobile App MakersCreators & Writers
- Style
- Charlie Chapman: solobootstrapped
- Marco Arment: solobootstrappedexited
- Courses & resources
- Charlie Chapman: 2
- Marco Arment: 2
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Overviewer
apps.apple.com
Free iOS app for teachers that turns an iPhone into a document camera for Zoom and other video calls.
Overcast
overcast.fm
Popular indie podcast player for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with Smart Speed and Voice Boost.
U
Unforgetful
unforgetful.app
Reminders app built on Apple Reminders that keeps reminding you until tasks are done, made for forgetful people and ADHD; iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Read-later service for saving articles; Arment sold a controlling interest to Betaworks in 2013.
FI Driving
apps.apple.com
Community app for sharing driving-condition reports on Fire Island, made for local residents.
Tech stack
1 shared tool, marked with ★: Swift. See the indie maker tech stack.
Swift (shared)SwiftUIRevenueCatTelemetryDeck
Swift (shared)Objective-CPHPMySQL
How they build
- Launching is a skill worth studying; learn from other makers' launch stories.
- Design polish and animation can set a simple utility apart.
- Support automation so power users can make the app their own.
- Keep shipping: a paid app that stops getting updates stops selling.
- Share real numbers so other indies can learn from them.
- Build the app you want to use yourself, and polish details others ignore.
- Respect user privacy and avoid invasive tracking.
- Keep the business small enough that one person can run it sustainably.
Learn from Charlie and Marco
- [podcast] Launched by RevenueCat · Free
- [youtube] Launched on YouTube · Free
- [podcast] Accidental Tech Podcast
- [podcast] Under the Radar
Charlie Chapman vs Marco Arment FAQ
Who makes more money, Charlie Chapman or Marco Arment?
Neither Charlie Chapman nor Marco Arment has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Charlie Chapman or Marco Arment?
Charlie Chapman has 2 products listed (Dark Noise and Overviewer); Marco Arment has 5 products listed (including Overcast, Unforgetful and Instapaper).
What tech stack do Charlie Chapman and Marco Arment use?
Charlie Chapman uses Swift, SwiftUI, RevenueCat and TelemetryDeck. Marco Arment uses Swift, Objective-C, PHP and MySQL. Tools they have in common: Swift.
Where are Charlie Chapman and Marco Arment based?
Charlie Chapman: St. Louis, United States. Marco Arment: New York, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Charlie Chapman or Marco Arment?
Charlie Chapman started in 2019 (7 years indie); Marco Arment started in 2008 (18 years indie).
Are Charlie Chapman and Marco Arment bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Charlie Chapman's profile and Marco Arment's profile.
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