What if you could turn a simple app idea into a working application worth $10,000 or more, without writing much (or any) code? This guide will walk you through exactly that process, leveraging AI-powered tools like Cursor (an AI code editor) and DeepSeek (an AI chat API) alongside handy platforms like Mobbin for design inspiration, Supabase for backend, and Expo for deployment. We’ll go step by step from brainstorming a viral app idea all the way to launching on the App Store and Google Play. Follow along, and you’ll see how modern AI tools can accelerate app development from ideation to deployment (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community).

Throughout this guide, we include clear headers for each step, bullet points for key details, code snippets for commands, and screenshots from the tutorial video to illustrate important milestones. Whether you’re a coding beginner or an experienced developer looking to speed up your workflow, this Notion-friendly tutorial will be easy to follow. Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Finding a Viral App Idea

Every successful app starts with a great idea. To maximize your chances of building a profitable app, choose an idea that’s not only useful but has the potential to go viral. Here’s how to zero in on a winning concept:

• Identify a Real Problem: Think of everyday frustrations or pain points people face. The best apps solve a common problem or fulfill a strong need (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community). For example, it could be difficulty focusing on tasks, managing finances, learning a skill, etc. The problem should be something many people can relate to.
• Keep It Simple: Make sure you can describe your app’s core functionality in 3 words or less (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community). Simplicity sells – apps that do one thing really well (like “task manager” or “focus timer”) are easier for users to grasp and more likely to be adopted widely.
• Make It Shareable: Ideally, using the app should be so beneficial or fun that users naturally want to tell others about it (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community). Virality often comes from word-of-mouth, so aim for features or results that get people talking.

💡 Example: In the video, the creator chose to build an all-in-one productivity tool to help users manage tasks better. The insight came from noticing how unproductive multitasking can be after long work hours. The app idea was to let users prioritize tasks and focus on one at a time, with the bonus of an AI chat that lets you add new tasks via natural conversatio (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】. This checks all the boxes: it addresses a common productivity problem, it’s a straightforward concept (“focus task manager”), and it’s useful enough that people would share it with friends.

Take some time to brainstorm and refine your idea. Once you have a solid, simple concept that excites you and meets these criteria, you’re ready to move on.

Step 2: Designing the App Using UI Inspirations from Mobbin

Now that you have your idea, it’s time to figure out how the app will look and feel. Instead of designing everything from scratch, you can borrow inspiration from successful apps. We’ll use Mobbin – a huge library of over 300,000 mobile UI/UX designs from top apps (like Duolingo, Spotify, Netflix, and more (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】. Mobbin lets you discover and legally reuse design patterns and flows, which can save you tons of design effort.

Using Mobbin to find a great design:

1. Browse by Category: Go to Mobbin and use the search or category filters to find designs in the same genre as your app. For a productivity app, you might filter by “Productivity” or search for to-do list or planner app (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】.
2. Pick a Popular Design: Look through the screenshots of real app interfaces. Find a design or specific screens that align with your vision for your app. Focus on layouts that would fit your features. In the video, the creator found a to-do list app design that was a perfect match for the concep (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】.
3. Copy the Design Flow: Once you’ve found a suitable design, Mobbin allows you to copy the entire UI flow. Click the “Copy” button on Mobbin, which will prompt you to download a Figma plugin (Mobbin provides a Figma export (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】. After installing the plugin, you can paste the copied design screens into a new Figma file. (image)】 *Using Mobbin to explore and copy design screens for inspiration. Here we see an example of a productivity app UI flow discovered on Mobbin, which we can import into Figma for customization. (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community) (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】

By importing the UI screens into Figma, you now have a starting point for your app’s design. You can customize colors, branding, and tweak the layout to fit your exact needs. This approach jumpstarts your design process by leveraging proven user interface patterns from successful apps, ensuring your app looks professional from the get-go.

Best Practice: While copying design elements is fine (Mobbin’s content is meant for inspiration), make sure to personalize and iterate on the design. Adjust the style to match your app’s identity and ensure the UX flows well for your specific features. This will help your app stand out and avoid feeling like an exact clone of another app.

With your idea defined and a solid design blueprint in hand, it’s time to start building! Next, we’ll set up the project and let AI help us code the app.

Step 3: Structuring the Project with Cursor AI

Now we move into development. Instead of coding everything manually, we’ll use Cursor AI to do the heavy lifting. Cursor is an AI-powered code editor that can generate and modify code based on natural language prompts and context. To make the most of it, we need to properly structure our project and provide Cursor with the right guidance. Think of this as creating the “brain” of your app before letting the AI loose on code generatio (Building a $10,000 App with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide - DEV Community)】.