TP Young
Founder of App Masters, an app marketing agency
Where to hear and read about TP Young1 episode or test
TP Young is the founder of App Masters, an app marketing agency, and he breaks down apps like Routinery to show what drives conversion. The lesson most worth taking from him is that in subscription apps, monetizing early drives engagement, so push for payment instead of waiting for usage to build.
Make your users look good. They're more likely to share.
This Morning Routine App Makes Almost $1 Million a Year!
TP Young: the story and the lessons
1How TP Young reads Routinery's onboarding
Young uses Routinery to show how an organic app reaches nearly $1M a year. Routinery ranks number one for "morning routine" and earns close to $1M a year with no paid ads. Sensor Tower puts it at over $60,000 a month, down from close to $80,000 a few months earlier.
Young cautions that the Sensor Tower data may fluctuate or be slightly off.
He favors onboarding that asks small, low-risk questions first. Routinery makes sign-up optional, uses a nickname instead of a real name, and asks only for an age range and wake time. Users commit before they ever see a paywall.
A "design with behavioral science" screen also puts social proof up front.
Young asks "What's most difficult?" to surface user objections. The answer tells the app which objections it has to overcome, and the same answers personalize the routine.
His reason: "so that you can start to overcome your objections that your users may have."
He says to own users through email but let them skip. Routinery offers social sign-up and also lets people start without an account. Sign-up gives you the email, and the skip option avoids losing users who don't want to register.
"You want to own your users and you do that through email."
Young explains why reminders help at the moment he asks for them. Routinery says why reminders improve routine success and shows the permission pop-up on the same screen. A reason given in context makes the request feel useful.
2TP Young's view on paywalls
Young says long scrolling paywalls with testimonials have been performing well. Routinery's paywall scrolls up to testimonials before the call to action. Young would only change the odd "redeem 7 days free" button wording.
He says he has "been talking about long pay walls performing pretty well."
He suggests testing a short Cal AI style paywall with a 7-day trial step. The trial step would promise reminders and keep the long paywall as the last screen. A video is optional and may matter less for a routine app.
One App Masters client used only the first Cal AI style screen instead of three paywall screens and saw an improvement.
Young would test where the push notification ask goes. One option is the trial screen with "we'll remind you", the other is the second screen, where users already want to try the app. He ties the ask to a benefit, such as routines feeling simpler with reminders.
Testing decides which placement wins.
3Why Young says to monetize users early
Young argues that in subscription apps, monetization drives engagement. In games engagement drives revenue, but in subscription apps it runs the other way. Paying users pay attention and use the product more, so he pushes conversion early.
"People who pay pay attention."
He likes dropping users straight into a ready-made first routine. After the paywall, Routinery lands users on a prefilled routine they start with one tap, so the first action is the core product behavior. Some users drop off there.
Young accepts that loss: "engagement is the hardest metric."
Young likes letting non-payers watch an ad to unlock premium features. Routinery unlocks the analytics summary for 24 hours after one ad. People who never plan to pay still earn some revenue, and some see what was hidden and buy later.
He likes that the unlock lasts only 24 hours.
He wants a 24-hour discount shown right after the ad preview. Once a user has seen the unlocked summary, the offer appears immediately. First-session revenue matters most because most users never open the app a second time.
"Most users do not come back for that second open."
4TP Young's tactics for ratings, sharing and growth
Young asks for the rating right after a user's win. Routinery asks "How was your routine?" and prompts for a rating just after a routine is completed. One client saw a dramatic rise in Google Play ratings after moving the prompt to follow a win.
He builds share prompts around making the user look good. Finishing a routine shows a congratulations screen with a seed reward and a share button. Sharing a win doubles as free viral reach.
Young tells developers to localize for South Korea and Japan, not just the US. Routinery's top countries are the US, South Korea and Japan, and the app was published in South Korea. He says these Asian markets have money and most developers focus only on the US.
His line: "don't sleep on localization."
He sees a few more keywords and paid ads as Routinery's next growth steps. Routinery has grown without paid ads. Young says it needs only "a couple of different keywords" to unlock more growth, and that running ads is the other open opportunity.
This Morning Routine App Makes Almost $1 Million a Year!
A teardown of Routinery, a morning routine app that ranks number one for "morning routine" and, per Sensor Tower, earns roughly $60,000 to $80,000 a month with no paid ads. It shows how onboarding, an ad-unlock paywall, a timed discount and well-placed share and rating prompts drive conversion and engagement.
Young uses Routinery to show how an organic app reaches nearly $1M a year. Routinery ranks number one for "morning routine" and earns close to $1M a year with no paid ads. Sensor Tower puts it at over $60,000 a month, down from close to $80,000 a few months earlier.
Young cautions that the Sensor Tower data may fluctuate or be slightly off.
He favors onboarding that asks small, low-risk questions first. Routinery makes sign-up optional, uses a nickname instead of a real name, and asks only for an age range and wake time. Users commit before they ever see a paywall.
A "design with behavioral science" screen also puts social proof up front.
Young asks "What's most difficult?" to surface user objections. The answer tells the app which objections it has to overcome, and the same answers personalize the routine.
His reason: "so that you can start to overcome your objections that your users may have."
He says to own users through email but let them skip. Routinery offers social sign-up and also lets people start without an account. Sign-up gives you the email, and the skip option avoids losing users who don't want to register.
"You want to own your users and you do that through email."
Young explains why reminders help at the moment he asks for them. Routinery says why reminders improve routine success and shows the permission pop-up on the same screen. A reason given in context makes the request feel useful.
Young says long scrolling paywalls with testimonials have been performing well. Routinery's paywall scrolls up to testimonials before the call to action. Young would only change the odd "redeem 7 days free" button wording.
He says he has "been talking about long pay walls performing pretty well."
He suggests testing a short Cal AI style paywall with a 7-day trial step. The trial step would promise reminders and keep the long paywall as the last screen. A video is optional and may matter less for a routine app.
One App Masters client used only the first Cal AI style screen instead of three paywall screens and saw an improvement.
Young would test where the push notification ask goes. One option is the trial screen with "we'll remind you", the other is the second screen, where users already want to try the app. He ties the ask to a benefit, such as routines feeling simpler with reminders.
Testing decides which placement wins.
Young argues that in subscription apps, monetization drives engagement. In games engagement drives revenue, but in subscription apps it runs the other way. Paying users pay attention and use the product more, so he pushes conversion early.
"People who pay pay attention."
He likes dropping users straight into a ready-made first routine. After the paywall, Routinery lands users on a prefilled routine they start with one tap, so the first action is the core product behavior. Some users drop off there.
Young accepts that loss: "engagement is the hardest metric."
Young likes letting non-payers watch an ad to unlock premium features. Routinery unlocks the analytics summary for 24 hours after one ad. People who never plan to pay still earn some revenue, and some see what was hidden and buy later.
He likes that the unlock lasts only 24 hours.
He wants a 24-hour discount shown right after the ad preview. Once a user has seen the unlocked summary, the offer appears immediately. First-session revenue matters most because most users never open the app a second time.
"Most users do not come back for that second open."
Young asks for the rating right after a user's win. Routinery asks "How was your routine?" and prompts for a rating just after a routine is completed. One client saw a dramatic rise in Google Play ratings after moving the prompt to follow a win.
He builds share prompts around making the user look good. Finishing a routine shows a congratulations screen with a seed reward and a share button. Sharing a win doubles as free viral reach.
Young tells developers to localize for South Korea and Japan, not just the US. Routinery's top countries are the US, South Korea and Japan, and the app was published in South Korea. He says these Asian markets have money and most developers focus only on the US.
His line: "don't sleep on localization."
He sees a few more keywords and paid ads as Routinery's next growth steps. Routinery has grown without paid ads. Young says it needs only "a couple of different keywords" to unlock more growth, and that running ads is the other open opportunity.