“In certain categories like weather there are tons of people who actively check two or three different weather apps. Part of my decision making in leaving those out was that people are still going to probably check other weather apps — but if I can create one thing that's so delightful that they're willing to pay for my app, they're still going to come back.”

Must-haves vs delighters: sometimes shipping the delighter first builds enough trust to fill the musts later

Paloni and host David Barnard discuss the strategic choice to ship delighters before fulfilling all category must-haves. Barnard's weather app launched without features users expected but with an extraordinarily delightful interactive widget that no other weather app had. The delight generated enough paying subscribers and word of mouth to fund filling in the musts. Paloni's framework: must-haves keep users from leaving, but delighters bring them in and create advocates. In crowded categories with multi-app behavior, one outrageous delight can justify the subscription even alongside competitor apps.