Shadowing Practice: Why React Native apps make all the money - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Oh yeah, great.
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Can I get a show of hands how many of you have used React Native?
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Put your left foot up if you also use RevenueCat.
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Yeah, it doesn't matter.
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But for those people who mostly are, I guess, web developers here in the audience, I'm guessing at least, be not afraid.
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This talk will start mobile first, but then it will take a sudden twist to also be about web.
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But yeah, let's get into it.
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Why React Native apps make all the money?
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So before we get into all of that, I'm Perttu.
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I'm a developer advocate at RevenueCat, where I help people, developers, mostly make money with their apps.
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You can find me on X with that handle
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and you can also find all that and the materials actually for the slides from my website, which is just myfirstname .dev.
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So, React Native apps make all the money.
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And what that means, earlier this year, RevenueCat, we analyzed all the apps that we have on our platform, so we do app monetization,
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And that ended up being like 75 ,000 apps making over $10 billion in revenue.
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And we compared the different, like, because you can use RevenueCAD on different technologies, so native apps, Swift and Android,
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React Native, Flutter, and then all the other, for example, Cordova and whatnot.
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And we compared those apps, like, which one of those apps, like, make a lot of money,
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which make less money, which monetize better, which monetize the best.
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And it turns out that
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React Native actually wins in almost all of these categories,
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which is a might be surprising and certainly something that gets all the native developers very angry.
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So first, if we take the download to page,
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so how many apps when they're downloaded from the app actually end up being paid for by the customers, React Native wins in that,
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like clearly, as you can see.
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It not only wins over Flutter and other, but also the native apps.
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Same goes when you're comparing how much money per install of the app makes.
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React Native still wins.
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Then also if we look at the lifetime value per customer of using the app, that too, React Native wins.
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So it wins in all of these three categories.
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And the only time it loses is when you start to look at the year one retention.
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Now you could speculate a lot of reasons why this happens mostly it could be for example
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that after users
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when they download the app they pay for it they get all the value
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they needed it inside of a year
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and that's why they don't see value income
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and using it after a year but
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if there's something to improve this could be the category
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that make react native apps monetize also a year after being downloaded and purchased
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but then the real question is of course like why does this happen why does react native performs
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so much better and there's an interesting article in the pragmatic engineer newsletter about multi platform development
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or cross -platform development which basically says that companies are choosing technologies for
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which it is easy to hire like really good developers
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and turns out
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that in most cases that's actually react native it is way harder to hire good developers in same amount of quality,
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for example, to Flutter and Swift.
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So there must be also a reason, like, why is React Native then the technology chosen for this?
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Well, it's all about, like, it being basically a tool set for speed.
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So great apps are about delivering value fast to the market because being the time on market beats timing the market.
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And in order to also, like, deliver value fast, you need to learn fast.
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With React Native, that means you have, for example, cross -platform reach.
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So you get iOS, Android, web, whatever you're building for.
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Basically supporting everything that you need to have apps in.
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And also the native feel.
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So apps built in React Native for iOS actually feel like iOS apps.
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Same goes for Android.
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They feel like Android apps.
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And if you're building for web with React Native, that feels like an actual web app and not just some bundled together hack of a mess,
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like, for example, Flutter for Web tends to be.
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And then this then leads to faster development and time to market.
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And of course, there's then the last point, the single code base, which allows you to get feature parity.
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You don't end up spending a lot of time developing individual features for different platforms in separate teams.
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but you can actually have one single team building multiple different platforms.
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Which then brings like monetization priority.
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So when you have all the features being same on all the platforms, you can way easier monetize that app,
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put subscriptions on it, put ads on it, whatever is your monetization strategy.
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So it unlocks like a whole new level that would have not been previously possible if you had been building apps
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with different technologies for different platforms.
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But how do you then make it so that your apps makes money.
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Simple as that is like use RevenueCat.
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So we provide everything when it comes to subscriptions and in -app purchases as a service, so back in a box.
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We started out with in -app purchases for iOS and Android, but you can now use us in web as well.
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So that means that under the hood, we use either
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Stripe or Battle to handle the payments, and then you just get the subscription management.
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We have SDK for all the major platforms.
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We handle the store quirks and validation of receipts.
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And then on top of that, we provide stuff like paywalls to monetize better.
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We have analytics.
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We allow you to target different customer groups and experiment.
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And we bring all that together, allow you to optimize, build things that, well, developers might not appreciate as much,
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but definitely the people in business appreciate being able to do all kinds of experimentation with the pricing.
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And it's all displayed in a very nice looking UI, where you can see how your revenue goes to the moon.
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With Expo, if we want to look at what this means in practice with Expo,
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the value promise could be said that you can build three platforms with a single code base.
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Well, with RevenueCat, you can now monetize three platforms in a single code base.
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And it's actually pretty simple.
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So you take, for example, an existing Expo app, Expo React Native app, and you just do NBX Expo install
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React Native purchases, which is our React Native purchases SDK.
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In code, the setup is, I would call, annoyingly simple, because there's not actually much to show.
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You initialize the SDK, you connect the platforms you're going to use, so iOS or App Store Connect and Google Play Console
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and Stripe, for example and we give you a specific platform API key for those, which you then initialize in the client SDK.
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Then you purchase a subscription, either using our paywall or with this purchase package method that we provide.
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And then you check that the user entitlements.
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So after users have purchased something, we keep track what they're entitled to based on that purchase.
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And we call those in revenue cash as entitlements, which basically just tells us that,
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okay, the user is eligible for example pro access encode is pretty simple
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so you call use effect for example at the root of
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your application with the specific uh platform keys for different platforms
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you can use for example the platform os to check that you're which platform you're using the key for
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and that's all that's required at
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that point we will start running the native code required for ios
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and android and also the web code required for example stripe stripe billing and then when When you make a purchase,
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you can either call the purchase package and show those packages or products that you have in your app by yourself,
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check that user successfully purchased that and show the UI based on it.
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Or you can call the RevenueCat UI library with the present paywall,
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which will show this nice -looking paywall that you can actually customize in our dashboard.
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It has over 30 example paywalls and you can also build a custom paywall completely in the web UI,
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and it's rendered natively.
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And once you've purchased or the customer has purchased something, you could just call purchases get customer info to get what this specific customer purchased.
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And we keep track of all the customers, so we have the data for that,
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to tell that, okay, this user on this device is actually the same user that is also using the web application.
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So then if you have a user using your app, your product, on web, iOS,
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and Android, just giving us the user ID that you use, for example, that user will allow RevenueCAD to tell you what the user has purchased.
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And in simplicity, that's it.
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You can find an example project and a tutorial on how to do
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that at revenuecat .com and all the other information also from that QR code.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why React Native apps make all the money”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: app, native, react, platform, example. This video has 117 sentences and 1556 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:14. The speaker talks at a natural 169 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| react verb | /ɹiːˈækt/ | To act in response. |
| android noun | /ˈænˌdɹɔɪd/ | A robot that is designed to look and act like a human being (not necessarily a male one). |
| developer noun | /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/ | A person or entity engaged in the creation or improvement of certain classes of products. |
| subscription noun | /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/ | Access to a resource for a period of time, generally for payment. |
| stripe noun | /stɹaɪp/ | A long region of a single colour in a repeating pattern of similar regions. |
| package noun | /ˈpæk.ɪd͡ʒ/ | Something which is packed, a parcel, a box, an envelope. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| hire verb | /ˈhaɪɹ/ | To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| install verb | /ɪnˈstɔl/ | To connect, set up or prepare something for use |
| entitlement noun | /ənˈtaɪtəlmənt/ | The right to have something. |
| successfully adverb | /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/ | In a successful manner; with success; without failing. |
| custom noun | /ˈkʌstəm/ | Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
| sudden adjective | /ˈsʌd.ən/ | Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
| make over verb | To renovate or to convert to a different use, particularly houses, offices, or rooms within them. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have purchased · you've purchased · has purchased |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being paid · being downloaded · could be said |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who mostly · website, which is · purchases, which is |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might be · might not appreciate |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, retention /ɹɪˈtɛnʃən/, validation /ˌvæl.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, monetization /ˌmɒnətaɪˈzeɪʃən/, initialize /ɪˈnɪʃəlaɪz/
- Long words — get the stress right: developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, entitlement /ənˈtaɪtəlmənt/, successfully /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like react, android, developer.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.