Sub Club by RevenueCat

On the podcast, I talk with Charlie about why Liquid Glass represents a big opportunity for new and existing apps, Apple’s new on-device AI models and their practical limitations, and why the improved App Store Analytics complement rather than replace third-party tools like Appfigures and RevenueCat. Top Takeaways: 🫧 A style refresh is a growth hack A major UI overhaul—like Apple’s new “liquid glass” design—creates a once-in-cycle chance to stand out. Apps that ship the new look on day one dominate screenshots, roundup articles, and “App of the Day” slots. It’s free reach: adopt the guidelines early, respect the new hierarchy (avoid stacking glass on glass), and you can siphon users from slower rivals without a bigger ad budget. 🎯 Keywords deserve their own landing pages You can now pin specific search terms to specific custom product pages. A running-focused page for “5k training,” a cycling page for “bike tracker,” each with its own screenshots and messaging. App Store Connect then breaks analytics down by page, turning guesswork into clear attribution. The result: higher paid-per-download and a shortcut to segment-level A/B testing—no SDK required. ⚡ Tiny, local AI = instant delight Apple’s on-device foundation models aren’t GPT-4, and that’s fine. Their super-fast, private inference (with a 496-token context window) shines at micro-tasks: sentiment tags, quick text rewrites, lightweight image badges, feature-name suggestions. Treat them as edge helpers, not flagship features. For deep research or long context, hand off to a cloud model. Paired wisely, the mix keeps experiences snappy without sacrificing quality. 🪟 Build like screens will fold iPadOS 26 finally lets apps run true windows, offload background work, and juggle tasks like a desktop. That’s great for tablets today and a rehearsal for rumored foldables tomorrow. Audit your layouts: do panes resize gracefully? Can a process finish if the user drags your window aside? Investing in this responsiveness now means you’re launch-ready when new form factors arrive. 🔑 Promotions should be measurable Offer codes used to be subscription-only; now they work for consumables and one-time purchases too. You get up to ten trackable code groups (each with up to a million codes) plus UTM-style links and the expanded App Store analytics to see which podcast promo, TikTok ad, or partner giveaway actually drove revenue. You can finally run seasonal sales or affiliate deals without duct-tape spreadsheets and double down on what moves the needle. About Charlie Chapman:  👟 Senior Developer Advocate at RevenueCat and indie app creator behind a suite of iOS and macOS tools. 🎯 Charlie blends indie instincts with platform insight, translating Apple’s latest changes into real opportunities for developers. 💡 “Don’t build a chatbot around this (on-device models). But if you’re looking for a fast, free way to make your app better in small, thoughtful ways, the new on-device models are really interesting.” 👋  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliemchapman/] Follow us on X:  * David Barnard - @drbarnard [https://twitter.com/drbarnard] * Jacob Eiting - @jeiting [https://twitter.com/jeiting] * RevenueCat - @RevenueCat [https://twitter.com/RevenueCat] * SubClub - @SubClubHQ [https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ]

On the podcast we talk with Charlie about why React Native has become the default for VC-funded apps, how AI is accelerating development cycles, and why speed of iteration matters more than programming language. Top Takeaways: ⚡ Instant iteration cycles unlock agility  React Native and Expo supercharge development by collapsing long build times into mere seconds. With tools like Expo Go enabling live updates, teams can experiment, test, and improve their apps in real time. This instant feedback loop fuels innovation, cuts dev time, and helps startups move faster than ever. 🧱 React Native unifies teams and code  By choosing a cross-platform stack like React Native, companies can maintain a single codebase for iOS, Android, and web. This unified approach reduces silos, simplifies hiring, and streamlines development. The result is faster feature delivery, consistent UX, and the agility that startups need to scale. 📈 Iteration speed drives growth  Shipping faster beats obsessing over tech stacks. Companies that iterate quickly can test ideas, learn from real users, and ship improvements faster than competitors. This leads to better products, higher retention, and stronger monetization, giving them a competitive edge in crowded markets. 🔍 Consistency across platforms builds trust  Users expect apps to work seamlessly, whether they’re on iOS, Android, or the web. React Native helps deliver that uniform experience, aligning with modern product expectations. Consistency reduces friction, boosts trust, and enhances user satisfaction—key drivers of long-term growth. 🤝 AI is the co-pilot, humans set the course  AI tools like Claude and Copilot are transforming app development, making it faster to scaffold code and build features. But the real breakthroughs come from human oversight—making smart UX decisions, handling platform quirks, and bringing creative problem-solving. Pairing AI speed with human insight unlocks the best of both worlds. About Charlie Cheever: 🚀 Co-Founder and CEO of Expo [https://expo.dev/], a platform that simplifies the development of native apps using React Native, empowering developers to build apps for iOS, Android, and the web with ease. 📱 Charlie is dedicated to empowering developers to create seamless, cross-platform apps with less friction. He’s focused on improving the developer experience by reducing complexity and enabling rapid iteration. 💡 “One of the biggest advantages of Expo and React Native is the ability to move fast and iterate quickly without worrying about maintaining separate codebases for each platform. 👋  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccheever/] Resources:  * State of Subscription Apps 2025 — RevenueCat Report [https://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps-2025/] Follow us on X:  * David Barnard - @drbarnard [https://twitter.com/drbarnard] * Jacob Eiting - @jeiting [https://twitter.com/jeiting] * RevenueCat - @RevenueCat [https://twitter.com/RevenueCat] * SubClub - @SubClubHQ [https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ] Episode Highlights:  [1:12] Chain reaction: What React [https://react.dev/] is and how Expo [https://expo.dev/] enables developers to use it. [6:30] Positive feedback loop: How Expo dramatically shortens the product development and iteration cycle. [12:08] React vs. native: Why React [https://react.dev/] has become the default development framework for modern apps and websites — enabling seamless product iteration across platforms with fewer engineering resources. [23:13] 1+3+4: How Bluesky [https://bsky.app/] was built for three platforms by one developer in just four months. [28:07] All-in: Why it’s better to build with React from the start instead of developing a native app first and implementing React later. [35:20] Cause/effect: Do React Native subscription apps monetize better than native apps? [39:37] Coding smarter: How AI is speeding up development times and pushing developers towards rapid-iteration tools like Expo. [58:52] Mobile shift: More and more people are consuming software on mobile devices instead of PCs… shouldn’t the app development process align with that shift?

On the podcast I talk with Tim about the importance of trust in web2app funnels, replacing free trials with money-back guarantees, and how they’ve found success with contractors after struggling with in-house marketing hires. Top Takeaways:  🔁 Replace trials with trust to attract high-intent users A 30-day money-back guarantee can outperform traditional free trials—especially in web funnels. Paying upfront sends a stronger signal to ad platforms, helping them optimize for the right users. And when refunds are rare, overall LTV improves. It’s a bet on product confidence and customer intent. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Learning apps work better when parents are part of the experience Apps that require co-use between a parent and child show far better educational outcomes and retention. Research shows kids learn up to 19x more effectively with adult involvement. It’s a smaller market—but a deeper one—if you design for it. 🏗️ Rigid methods can stifle product innovation Strict adherence to frameworks like Scrum can turn creative engineers into ticket-takers. Giving teams room to rethink and revise—even late in development—yields stronger products. Empower developers as collaborators, not executors. 🌐 Trusted domains outperform in web-to-app conversion When onboarding flows are moved to the web, conversion often drops—unless users recognize and trust the brand. Memorable, credible domains help users feel confident making purchases off-platform. Trust is the friction reducer. 🧰 Specialized contractors deliver more with less overhead Instead of building an in-house team of marketing generalists, using seasoned channel experts—paid media, lifecycle, SEO—can deliver faster results with less management. It’s a scalable model for lean teams aiming to punch above their weight. About Tim Dikun: 🧑‍🏫COO of Teaching.com [http://teaching.com], a suite of educational apps for children that’s been helping kids learn to read and type for nearly 30 years. 📖 Tim is passionate about building world-class educational tools that leverage both the power of AI and the parent-child connection. 💡“There's a lot of tooling out there for mobile apps that we just can't use because Apple won't let us — because it's a kids’ app. And I get it, it makes sense. It just means we have to get a little creative and find ways to get the information that we're looking for.” 👋 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdikun/] Follow us on X:  * David Barnard - @drbarnard [https://twitter.com/drbarnard] * Jacob Eiting - @jeiting [https://twitter.com/jeiting] * RevenueCat - @RevenueCat [https://twitter.com/RevenueCat] * SubClub - @SubClubHQ [https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ] Episode Highlights:  [0:37] Storied history: How Teaching.com found product-market fit in the early days of subscription apps. [4:41] (A)syncing up: Why Teaching.com disables Slack and Basecamp notifications in their team communications. [8:12] Ch-ch-ch-changes: Teaching.com’s approach to product development encourages ideation and late-stage changes, rather than sticking to an arbitrary design. [11:48] Intelligence (artificial and otherwise): Finding the right balance between AI and the human touch in an educational product. [15:40] Testing the waters: Experimenting with higher prices, money-back guarantees, and annual plans to increase LTV. [23:03] Context switching: Teaching.com’s experiments with web-to-app resulted in a 50% increase in trial starts and a 30% increase in paid conversions. [28:35] Upselling: Increasing LTV with downloadable in-app purchases and physical products on Amazon. [33:02] Land and expand: Increasing the size and LTV of your user base by serving additional customer needs. [35:34] Kid-friendly: The unique challenges of developing subscription apps for children. [38:36] Expert advice: Why Teaching.com contracts with marketing channel experts instead of building an in-house marketing team.

On the podcast we talk with Chris about how to do freemium the right way, drafting a customer “Bill of Rights” to guide product decisions, and why blindly following A/B test results can lead to short-term gains but undermine your business long-term. Top Takeaways: 🧮 Data has limits Short-term data can lie. When every experiment looks like a win in isolation, it’s easy to miss the slow erosion of trust happening in the background. Real harm often builds quietly and cumulatively — too subtle for A/B tests to detect, and too long-term for analytics dashboards to surface. 🧊 Freemium is a strategy, not a stepping stone Free users aren’t just a growth channel — they’re often the foundation of retention, virality, and brand. The key is not just giving something away, but building genuine value into the free tier while monetizing a clear, meaningful upgrade. Trying to monetize too early or too aggressively risks killing long-term compounding benefits. 🚪 Fake doors, real insights Not every test needs statistical significance. Especially in the early stages of validation, it’s better to move fast, fake the backend, and just see what people click. When the goal is to gauge interest, not measure retention, scrappy beats precise. 🛑 Dark patterns don’t scale Stacking minor friction points, misleading CTAs, or unclear pricing might bump conversions — but it quietly breaks trust. Even if the data looks fine, something more critical is breaking: your brand. When users stop recommending you, you’ll realize those small wins were expensive. 📐 Principles over process When companies scale, the instinct is to build more process. But sometimes the best way to maintain speed and quality is through shared principles. A clear set of product values — what won’t be touched, how users are treated — provides clarity, autonomy, and momentum across teams. About Chris Hulls: 👪 Founder and CEO of Life360 [http://www.life360.com], the family safety platform used by over 80 million active users worldwide. 🔒 Chris is passionate about building products that offer real daily utility while protecting user trust, focusing on long-term value instead of short-term growth hacks. 💡 “The core has to give real value to our customers, not kind of fake value. Like real, real value forever for free, period.” 👋  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishulls/] Follow us on X:  * David Barnard - @drbarnard [https://twitter.com/drbarnard] * Jacob Eiting - @jeiting [https://twitter.com/jeiting] * RevenueCat - @RevenueCat [https://twitter.com/RevenueCat] * SubClub - @SubClubHQ [https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ] Episode Highlights:  [1:33] A niche market: How the Life360 team found success by building an app in an under-served vertical. [7:55] Free vs. paid: Striking the right balance of free versus paid features in a freemium app. [11:37] A strong constitution: Why Chris and the Life360 team wrote a customer “Bill of Rights.” [15:59] Data-driven: Why you may not always need to run tests on a large percentage of your users to get helpful results. [22:17] Value ad(d): Creating helpful — not annoying — user experiences in ads and brand deals. [29:12] Moving target: User privacy and the ethics of selling users’ raw versus de-identified versus aggregated data. [38:31] The long haul: How to stay energized and excited working on the same product for multiple years. [44:28] Unbreakable: Exercising caution with mission-critical features to maintain user trust. [53:35] Future-proof: How Life360 is growing and expanding in 2025 and beyond.

On the podcast, I talk with Daphne about why skipping user interviews is costing you growth, how to bring your product’s ‘aha moment’ forward into your marketing, and why your assumptions about why people use your app might be wrong. Top Takeaways: 🎯 Your app is a means to an end Users don’t care about how many features you have — they care about achieving something in their lives. Apps that focus on the user’s goal, rather than their own functionality, become essential. Instead of selling the tool, sell the transformation: what life looks like after the user succeeds. 🧠 Talking to users beats guessing Surveys are useful, but user interviews and review mining are goldmines for finding the “why” behind behavior. Understanding what users were doing before your app, how they discovered you, and what outcome they hoped for leads to sharper messaging, better onboarding, and stronger products. 💡 Emotions drive retention Functional goals matter, but emotional and social motivations are often what bring people back. Whether it’s the satisfaction of consistency, the joy of social encouragement, or the comfort of belonging to a community, understanding these deeper drivers can differentiate apps and supercharge retention. 🚧 Activation is about showing early progress The faster users feel they’re moving toward success, the more likely they are to stick around. That first “win” doesn’t have to be a full result — even completing onboarding, customizing a plan, or getting a small early insight can be enough to hook users into a habit loop. 📈 Monetization follows real value Users are willing to pay more when they perceive clear, life-improving value. Understanding the different jobs users are hiring your app to do can unlock smarter pricing, better feature tiers, and easier upsells. The closer you align pricing with meaningful outcomes, the more sustainable your growth. About Daphe Tideman: 📈 Freelance growth advisor and consultant helping subscription app businesses navigate various growth challenges. 💼 Daphne helps startups improve their activation, retention, and monetization strategies with the jobs-to-be-done framework. 💡 “So many apps are constantly talking about, ‘we have this feature, that feature…’ — but that's not why people use your app.” 👋  Website [https://daphnetideman.com/] Resources: * Improve your Conversions by Finding Message-Market Fit (Webinar) [https://vwo.com/webinars/improve-conversions-finding-message-market-fit/] Follow us on X:  * David Barnard - @drbarnard [https://twitter.com/drbarnard] * Jacob Eiting - @jeiting [https://twitter.com/jeiting] * RevenueCat - @RevenueCat [https://twitter.com/RevenueCat] * SubClub - @SubClubHQ [https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ] Episode Highlights: [0:48] Job done: How the jobs-to-be-done framework should frame your product development. [3:04] Survey says: Why the most valuable feedback about your app comes from your most engaged users. [7:06] Emotional impact: Why appealing to users’ emotional and social needs is a better driver of conversions and retention than describing app features. [11:07] Good communication: How the jobs-to-be-done framework can (and should) influence your app messaging strategy. [16:16] Personal touch: Developing user personas, creating individualized onboarding experiences, and testing ad copy in Meta. [35:56] Removing blockers: Why the up-front cost and time commitment of user interviews can save you money in the long term. [43:25] Active users: How understanding your users’ jobs to be done can influence your activation, re-activation, and retention strategies. [54:55] Show me the money: Identifying the jobs-to-be-done of high-paying users can help you improve user LTV and develop appropriate pricing packages.