Journal
From the studio
Notes on shipping app and web products — App Store review, platform choice, scoping, monetization, compliance, and everything else we think about before, during, and after a launch.
App Store
App Store Review Guidelines: The Rejection Reasons That Catch Founders Off Guard
Apple rejects a meaningful share of first-time submissions, and it's rarely the exotic reasons founders worry about. Here's what actually trips people up, and how to submit clean.
Launch
Planning a Product Launch on the App Store: A Realistic Timeline
Launch day is the easy part. The work that determines whether it goes well happens weeks earlier — here's the sequence we actually follow.
Engineering
React Native vs. Native Swift/Kotlin: How We Choose for a New App
Cross-platform frameworks have closed most of the historical gap with native — but not all of it. Here's the actual decision framework, not a philosophy war.
Strategy
MVP Scoping for First-Time Founders: What to Build First (and What to Cut)
Most first-time founders overscope their MVP by two or three features. Here's how to find the smallest version that actually tests your idea.
Marketing
App Store Optimization Basics: Getting Found on the App Store and Google Play
ASO is the closest thing app stores have to SEO — and Apple and Google's algorithms work differently enough that the same listing strategy doesn't work on both.
Monetization
Subscription Pricing and Paywall Design Patterns That Convert
The mechanics of trials, tiers, and entitlement checks matter as much as the pricing numbers themselves. Here's how the pieces actually fit together.
Privacy & Compliance
Privacy Manifests and App Tracking Transparency: A Compliance Primer
Two related but distinct Apple requirements trip up almost every app that uses ads or a handful of common third-party SDKs. Here's what each one actually requires.
Product Design
Onboarding Flow Design: Principles That Actually Reduce Drop-off
The first ninety seconds decide whether someone becomes a user. Here's what separates onboarding that works from onboarding that just looks polished.
Engineering
Choosing a Backend Stack for a Small Team
For a one-to-three-person team, the right backend choice is rarely the most technically impressive one — it's the one that gets you to real users fastest without boxing you in.
Planning
Custom App Development: Realistic Cost and Timeline Expectations
"How much will this cost" and "how long will this take" are the first two questions every founder asks — and the honest answer is always a range driven by a specific set of variables, not a fixed number.
Growth
Post-Launch: Setting Up Analytics and Iterating on Real Usage
Launch is when the guessing should stop. Here's the minimum analytics setup that turns real usage into an actual product roadmap.
Engineering
iOS App Permissions Explained: What to Ask For, and When
Every permission prompt is a small negotiation with the user. Understanding what each one actually unlocks — and what happens after a decline — changes how you should ask.