Role
Sole designer
More reasons to come back than a streak counter.
App Store Connect. January–July install cohorts, 2024 vs 2026. Users who opted into analytics sharing.
A friend built Sober to help himself drink less. Around 23,000 people used it each month as of August 2026. Over two years, I worked with him as the sole designer to improve the app.
I redesigned the home screen, added a community journal and daily commitments, and worked on onboarding and the paywall.
A counter wasn’t enough
The streak counter was the main reason to open the app. But it offered little support on difficult days or after a relapse.
I wanted to give people more ways to see their progress and find support.
Keep the counter. Show the bigger picture.
I kept the counter at the centre of the home screen and brought other signs of progress around it: achievements, money saved, and recovery milestones.
The idea was simple: help people see more than the number of days.
A place to share without using your name
I designed an anonymous community journal where people could write about their recovery and respond to each other.
Anonymity mattered here. People needed a place to talk about difficult moments without putting their name next to them.
Small commitments. Daily check-ins.
I added 7-, 30-, and 90-day goals with a daily check-in.
If someone relapsed, the flow offered support rather than blame. The aim was to help them start again.
Onboarding and the paywall
I added a paywall during onboarding, after looking at how other apps introduced subscriptions.
It also appeared when someone tried to use a paid feature.
More new users came back
Day-7 retention rose from 13.1% in 2024 to 16.5% in 2026. Day-30 retention increased from 5.1% to 6.4% over the same comparison.
We made several product changes during this period. The impact of each feature wasn’t measured separately.
| Retention | 2024 | 2026Change vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 33.5% | 38.8% +5.3 pts |
| Day 7 | 13.1% | 16.5% +3.4 pts |
| Day 30 | 5.1% | 6.4% +1.3 pts |
Jan 26–Feb 1, 2026 · Subscription apps
Annual revenue
App Store Connect · USD after Apple’s commission
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