You ever get so fed up with a problem that you decide, “You know what? I’m gonna solve this myself, right now, today”? That’s exactly what happened to me. I made an app in one day. Yup. One. Single. Glorious. Day.

And no, it’s not my first time building an app in one day—but this time, something magical happened: it actually looked good. Like, “I would voluntarily show this to other humans” good. It was usable, functional, and didn’t make me want to throw my laptop into the nearest fjord. Progress!

Why Build an App Without Market Research?

Now, all the startup books, YouTube gurus, and LinkedIn influencers will tell you, “You must identify a problem. Validate the market. Study your user persona. Conduct at least 17 customer interviews before you write a single line of code.”

Yeah, that’s cute. I just built the thing.

Why? Because I’m a hobby developer, not a business guru. I’m shy. I don’t want to talk to strangers about their receipt habits. I want to code. That’s the fun part. Research is like flossing—you know it’s good for you, but… meh.

This might explain why I’ve built about 17 apps and made money with approximately zero of them. But hey—each project teaches me something new, including this latest creation: Kvitteringsvenn (Receipt Friend, for the non-Norwegian crowd).

Meet Kvitteringsvenn: The App Born From My Laziness

Kvitteringsvenn was born out of a very personal crisis: I lose receipts. Constantly. And since my business is MVA-registered (that’s VAT for the international folks), every lost receipt is literally me throwing money into a black hole.

I tried everything:

• Taking pictures of receipts. (Then forgetting which album they’re in.)
• Creating a special folder called “Kvittering.” (Used it twice, forgot about it forever.)
• Weekly reminders to organize receipts. (Ignored them like unread terms & conditions.)

Eventually, I realized: the only part of this process I consistently do is take a photo. So I thought, “What if the rest of the process… just happened automatically?”

Boom. App idea.

From Idea to App Store – The 24-Hour Adventure (That Took 3 Weeks)

Ok, technically, I built the core of the app in one day. But publishing it? That’s where the real work began. If you’ve ever tried submitting an app to the Apple Store, you know what I mean.

First obstacle: In-app purchases. I added them. Great. Then my products didn’t show up in the app. After trying everything, even sweet-talking ChatGPT (sorry buddy, you tried), I discovered the issue: I hadn’t accepted all the contracts in App Store Connect.

Yes, I could’ve read the instructions. Yes, I chose not to. Yes, I learned my lesson the hard way. Moving on.

Next, Apple rejected my app. Twice. Why? Missing privacy policy link. Missing EULA link. At first, I didn’t even understand what the review message meant. (Apparently reading is important—again.) Eventually, I fixed all the issues… except I only updated the Norwegian version of the app description, not the English one.

🤦🏽‍♂️

Rejected again. But finally, after fixing all the languages, Kvitteringsvenn was approved. 🎉

Then came the bug that showed a mysterious grey line in the middle of the screen on production (but not in TestFlight). Why? Who knows. But I fixed it. And I kept going.

Then Came the Cloud

Originally, Kvitteringsvenn was fully local. No servers. No cloud. No funny business.

But then I realized: people want to share their receipts. Especially in companies, where blaming others for lost receipts is a time-honored tradition.

So, I added Google Drive integration. The app creates a folder and stores receipts there so your accountant, boss, or unlucky coworker can see them too. Teamwork!

Is This a Real Business?

Honestly, I don’t know yet. I built Kvitteringsvenn because I needed it. And if I need it, maybe others do too. Maybe 10 people. Maybe 1,000. Maybe 1 million. (Ok let’s calm down.)

But here’s what I believe: even a small problem, solved well, can grow into something big—if you put in enough time, love, and late-night debugging sessions.

This time, I didn’t overthink. I didn’t try to build the next big fintech unicorn. I just solved my problem in the simplest way possible. And now, maybe it can help solve yours too.

What’s Next?

Well, I’m working on making the app even easier to use. We’re exploring features like:

• AI-powered tips to help you manage expenses
• Smarter suggestions on how to spend (and save)
• Fully automated syncing to your accounting system, so receipts just… show up. No effort needed.

My dream? Walk into a shop, buy something, and the receipt magically ends up in your accounting software—without you lifting a finger.

So… Did It Really Only Take One Day?

Depends who you ask.

The first version? Yes. One day.
The polish, publishing, debugging, and late-night cursing? That’s another story.

But I did something. I built it. I launched it. And even if it doesn’t make me rich, at least now I finally know where my receipts are.

And hey, that’s worth something too.

https://kvitteringsvenn.no