September rolls on—Apple’s big reveal is behind us, and the tech world is still catching its breath. With the unveiling of the iPhone Air, Apple has once again raised the bar in mobile innovation.

But while hardware dominates headlines, we’re zooming in on a quieter, yet equally game-changing shift: the migration of payments from app stores to the web.

This week’s episode of The Business of Apps Podcast features another App Talk special—conducted by David Murphy with Andrey Shakhtin, Founder & CEO of FunnelFox. The topic? The future of web-to-app funnels for app growth.

Andrey brings a wealth of insight from helping leading apps optimize their revenue stacks. He explains why the move to web payments isn’t just about saving fees—it introduces new friction points in refunds, compliance, and orchestration that many teams overlook. You’ll also hear how performance, UX, and product-led strategies are becoming central to making the transition stick.

If your team is exploring app-to-web monetization—or already deep in the trenches—this episode is your playbook for avoiding costly missteps. Let’s dive in: here’s Andrey Shakhtin, CEO at FunnelFox

• More app developers are shifting payments from in-app to web to gain control and increase revenue, but the shift comes with serious operational complexity.
• Web-to-app transitions often neglect the payment flow, leading to revenue leakage and conversion drop-offs due to poor infrastructure or oversight.
• Optimizing the payment stack is now critical, and requires orchestration tools and performance visibility similar to what’s used in user funnels.
• Many apps make the mistake of treating payments as an afterthought, ignoring failure handling, tax compliance, and retry logic.
• The future lies in hybrid web–app monetization models, giving developers more flexibility and users more choice.
• Speed, clarity, and trust in the payment flow are essential, especially as users become less tolerant of friction or confusion at checkout.

• • Andrey Shakhtin on LinkedIn
  • FunnelFox website
  • Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

“Web-to-app funnels unlock attribution, reduce payment commissions, and give developers the flexibility to design user journeys that simply aren’t possible inside the app stores.”

“The main mistake I see is teams trying to build everything in-house. It slows down experimentation, drains resources, and pulls focus away from the product itself.”

“The future of app growth will belong to the teams that experiment fast, diversify acquisition channels, and master web-based monetization.”

Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

September is in full swing - Apple is about to host its highly anticipated event - fingers crossed the new iPhone will be awesome! “Back to School” theme is everywhere you look; one of the things that kids need to learn about is obviously finance. OK, not for kids but for app brands and developers, we want to share yet another App Talk interviewconducted by Peggy Anne Salz with Andrew Davies, Chief Innovation Officer at Paddle.

Yes - you will hear about innovation in the app pricing and payment; Andrew is a brilliant speaker and really knows the space. He explains how Paddle simplifies back-office complexity, enables web-to-app monetization, shares best practices in pricing and retention, highlights data-driven strategies to reduce churn, and outlines a future shaped by AI, no-code tools, and democratized monetization.

• Paddle’s role in solving back-office complexity: simplifying global payments, taxes, fraud prevention, and subscription management so founders can focus on product and growth.
• The rise of web-to-app monetization: why app developers are diversifying beyond app stores and the opportunities this creates for both scaled and early-stage apps.
• Customer insights and best practices: pricing experimentation, retention tactics like downgrade/pause offers, and the importance of true localization.
• Retention strategies: macro trends like growth via reactivation, reducing involuntary churn, and Paddle’s case studies on churn prevention.
• Future vision: preparing for the shift of volume out of app stores, the impact of AI and no-code on app creation, and Paddle’s mission to democratize monetization.

• • Andrew Davies on LinkedIn
  • Paddle website
  • Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

“We often say second time founders choose Paddle because first time round you don’t really know what the problems are that are going to come tomorrow. But second time around you think, okay, I’ll put something in place at the beginning that means I’m not building up debt for the future.”

“If you are changing your price every quarter, you’ll outperform someone who isn’t by about 103% on ARPU. It’s not that every pricing change is good—it’s that you’re building a muscle for testing.”

“This is not just about making business work or removing complexity. You’re actually democratizing it for everyone who’s going to be a maker—to make and to sell. Because what’s the fun of making if you can’t monetize it?”

Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Yet another summer is wizzed by with a jet speed. With a few days left, we want to signify this moment by sharing with you yet another App Talk interview from App Promotion Summit London 2025, this time with Rui Mateus, CTO of Mobrand.

At the interview, Rui brilliantly laid out the state of programmatic advertising for mobile apps. He touched on the need for control and transparency in programmatic, the performance-based model, scaling and rebranding, ad fraud challenges, the role of AI in programmatic, and more.

• Control and transparency in programmatic: why marketers now demand visibility into KPIs, performance, and audience targeting rather than just raw results.
• Performance-based model: Mobrand’s approach of charging advertisers only when quality users take meaningful in-app actions.
• Technology as core DNA: Mobrand building its own bidder, using open RTB, and positioning itself as a tech company in the ad tech ecosystem.
• Scaling and rebranding: maintaining momentum, keeping a lean but skilled team, and presenting Mobrand as a premium partner for app developers.
• Ad fraud challenges: the scale of invalid traffic, detecting fraud through behavioural analysis, and the constant “arms race” with fraudsters.
• Role of AI in programmatic: lowering entry barriers, enabling better audience modelling, and driving higher quality performance for advertisers.
• Expansion of programmatic channels: growth in connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home, and cross-channel strategies.
• Client focus: subscription apps, gambling, and finance apps with long conversion funnels where performance and quality users are critical.
• Future vision: becoming a one-stop shop for app developers, simplifying promotion, and delivering seamless growth without unnecessary complexity.

• • Rui Mateus on LinkedIn
  • Mobrand website
  • Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

“I consider that Mobrand is not necessarily a marketing company. It’s a tech company. We have a very big technological background, and when you have the technology, you have the control — and then you can give that to the companies you’re working with.”

“Our biggest challenge with programmatic at the moment is the amount of invalid traffic that exists on the bidstream. You think you are bidding on real users and you are not. There is a lot of bots making the whole flow as if they were users”

“Our objective is to be an alternative for app developers and to provide real value. We want to cut a little bit of the complexity of this market and build a platform where everything is as seamless as possible.”

Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012