MyFitnessPal · B2C · calorie tracking app
Show a closable paywall each time a returning user opens the app
Host resubscribed at times; no numbers
Unknownpaywall
What they did
MyFitnessPal shows a paywall when the app is launched, with an immediate close button (no delay seen). It reminds free users that a paid version exists.
What happened
David, a free user, has subscribed on and off for the advanced features; no data on the paywall's effect.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · App Store Ethics, Dark Patterns, and Rule-Breakers — Steve P. Young, App Masters“I launched the app, I get a paywall, and for me, I hit the little X button, and they don't delay the X, at least in the paywalls I saw.”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from MyFitnessPal
All 5 MyFitnessPal tactics- Sell the app again after its growth has already slowedResold for over $100M less than the $475M paid five years earlier
- After each day's log, show where the user will be in 5 weeks if every day is like todayGuest, a 3-year user, credits it for a brilliant retention strategy; no numbers
- Show lapsed subscribers pop-ups that point to features they've never used
- Buy a viral food-scanning app for its knack for pulling in new users
More from this episode
- Pay for searches-then-installs on one quiet keyword until the app ranks #1#1 for both keyword spellings and stuck there; ~$5K/month mostly organic
- App Masters: Buy App Store reviews that mention your target keywordsOne or two keyword reviews moved rankings; stopped because stores punish it
- App Masters: Have friends mark your best 5-star review as helpful so it shows first
- Show the paywall's close button only after 5 secondsIncreases revenue, per the agency founder; no numbers
- Launch a simple one-feature app with a paywall that has no close buttonGrew $1K to $10K/month; 35% trial-to-paid; fell to $5K when Apple forced a close button
- Test a hard paywall against giving away one free puzzleHard paywall raised revenue; follow-up test vs more locked content, result not given
- Ask for a rating during onboarding or right after the paywall, not after 10 usesSeen to work really well across apps; no numbers
- Rootd: Show the paywall during onboarding, with a close buttonRevenue doubled
- Weather Up: Pull Google AdSense ads and move to a hard paywall with a 7-day trialAds caused bad reviews and complaints; app lost money for ~a year without them
- Launch Center Pro: Ship a big release that rides the home screen customization trend~$20K that month, then lost the lead by not iterating
- Ask web users to pay $1-$8.75 toward the trial's cost, then charge the saved cardHost was charged ~$70 by accident and did a chargeback
- Earning under $1K a month? Try a hard paywall to see if people want the appTrial-to-paid under 10% suggests no fit; 10-20% means people find value
- Change one icon on a freemium app's main screen to get more paywall views+57% paywall views
- App Masters: Pick app ideas from overlooked keywords in categories where people pay