HACKER Q&A
📣 mindvirus

Personal liability releasing an app as a solo dev


Hi,

I've been working on an app to help studying math (sort of like a flashcard app), and I'm close to done a v1. I wanted to release it on the various app stores, with free and paid versions. The goal isn't to make a ton of money, just to make _some_ money from software I wrote.

The app itself is nothing controversial, but I wanted to know what I should do to protect myself before launching it, if someone sues me for failing their class or if an NPE claims to have a patent on "calculus on a mobile device."

I'm probably being overly paranoid here (USA based), but as solo a app developer what should I be thinking about before releasing?


  👤 icedchai Accepted Answer ✓
I've done this before. I did nothing. One company complained due to a potential trademark violation and I had to remove my app from one of the app stores.

Practically speaking, worst case is getting an email or a lawyer's letter about something and you have to take it down. I wouldn't let it keep me up at night.


👤 divbzero
Depending on which state you are in it takes a few hundred dollars to form an LLC that could limit your liability if you want to err on the side of caution.