Insider Tips for Building Better, More Profitable Android Apps — Sarah Karam, Google

The paywall shows a single price with a button to see all plans. A/B test via RevenueCat: default shown plan $4/month vs $40/year. Tracked the cohorts beyond conversion to projected LTV before deciding.

Moved the app fully to tipping. The ask is framed as 'help us create this content' for users who love the app.

Don't copy an iOS subscription-only strategy to Android, where many users are on $200 phones (the US is one of the largest mid/entry-level Android markets). Start small: test prices and tiers, weekly subscriptions (successful in some regions but rarely used by US developers), prepaid plans, and a 7-day starter pack; a music or audio app might sell a few podcasts as a consumable, then fold what sells into the premium plan. Add a virtual currency or consumables only at a more mature stage. Korean and Japanese webtoon/web-novel apps moved from subscriptions to hybrid subscriptions + virtual currency and sell extra IP to high-value users; dating apps give subscribers access to certain consumables.

Offer tipping through a coin economy or as IAPs at various price points. Strongest in live streaming and social/creator apps; now spreading to other categories, e.g. Chinese short-drama apps with game-like IAP. Google raised the Play price limit to about $999.99 because some users want to tip creators large amounts.

Define the app by the user problem, not the format ('meditation app', 'live streaming app'). Add natural extensions that solve the same problem another way or for another trigger, e.g. Calm adding sleep stories to meditation, and offer the content in several forms (audio only, video, transcript). Keep the core proposition and onboarding clear.