How apps actually grow in 2026 when anyone can build one | Roi Mulia

Roi Mulia breaks down how apps actually grow in 2026 based on 10 years of building iOS apps and buying other founders' apps to rebuild and scale them. He explains how AI removed the tech barrier, why that made distribution the real moat, and how both product and marketing need to change when anyone can ship an app in a weekend. The conversation covers why organic growth stalls, the simple loop he uses to decide whether to fix the product or the creatives, and how he'd split a small budget between people, product and marketing. Roi also explains why AI apps now earn most of their revenue from credit top-ups, whether the App Store is really saturated, and how faster copy cycles and new hardware could reshape the market. Timestamps 0:00 — Roi's background and buying apps to scale them 3:30 — Why he bought 50% of an app built with a few prompts 7:34 — What AI changed for anyone building an app 10:37 — Why organic growth hits a ceiling 14:00 — Splitting a small budget between people, product and marketing 16:53 — Are apps shifting to one-time purchases? 19:05 — Is the App Store saturated for newcomers? 20:46 — What's next Grow your app revenue with paywalls, A/B tests and analytics: https://adapty.io Follow Roi Mulia:   / roimulia