Podcast Summary: The Startup Ideas Podcast

Episode: Build Mobile Apps that Stand Out (Here's the Playbook)

Published: November 24, 2025
Host: Greg Isenberg
Guest: Chris Roque

Episode Overview

In this high-value episode, Greg Isenberg sits down with Chris Roque—a prolific solo developer with a portfolio of successful, cash-flowing mobile apps. The episode serves as a free masterclass on how to make mobile apps that stand out in today’s increasingly crowded landscape. Chris shares his practical “playbook” for standing out: leveraging animations, polished interactions, playful illustrations, thoughtful iconography, engaging widgets, and using AI to accelerate and level up the process.

Listeners will come away with actionable tips, industry tricks, and examples to inspire their own standout app projects.

Key Discussion Points

1. Why Standing Out Matters

• [00:00-02:00]
  • Greg: "There are a bunch of mobile apps making 10k a month, 50k a month, 100k a month...something in common with all of them. They stand out."
  • Chris: "It's never been easier to make an app...hundreds of apps coming out every single day. I want to teach people how to make something that stands out from the competition."
  • Insight: With AI lowering development barriers, competition is intense. Polished design and unique experiences are now critical differentiators.

2. Chris’s Background & App Success Stories

• [02:01-06:04]
  • Chris introduces himself, mentioning popular apps Ellie (daily planning) and Amy (calorie tracking) as examples of solo-developed, high-retention apps.
  • He credits AI for enabling a single person to handle design, development, and scaling tasks that once required a team.
  • Chris: "There is no physical way that a single person can develop and launch these and maintain them...without the help of AI."

3. Animations & Interactions: The Scroll-Stopping Secret

• [06:04-14:50]
  • Why They Matter: Most “vibe coded” apps (quick, AI-assembled) are instantly recognizable as generic; what sets high-performing apps apart is dynamic, thoughtful interfaces.
  • Chris’s Example: Amy (calorie app) demo—one version with simple, static feedback, and another with details like subtle gradient animations. The latter tweet went viral; the former fizzled.
    • Chris: “The difference between these two screens was about...six hours. But that is the difference between a tweet that went viral...versus one that didn’t.” [07:20]
  • Practical Tip: Tiny details—even ones users aren’t consciously aware of—add up for “feel.” He also recommends using AI tools like Claude Code to dictate natural language instructions for smooth transitions, haptics, and visual feedback.
  • Additional Example: Luna (budget app)—subtle page transitions, custom animations, and haptics create a superior UX.
    • Chris: "All I did to do this was tell Claude Code: can you make a black background come from the microphone icon and can you rotate the send button into the check mark? I think this one was actually done completely in one shot." [13:50]

4. UI/UX Pattern Innovations

• [14:50-17:00]
  • Greg notes how Chris’s apps incorporate:
    • Mascots for personality (a trending element in AI-first apps)
    • Voice-first interactions (an underutilized differentiator)
    • Contextual UI chips (buttons) to overcome blank-screen paralysis—modeled after apps like ChatGPT.
  • Quote: “There’s a reason why Google has the I’m Feeling Lucky button...users don’t know what to do.” [15:50]

5. Illustrations & Mascots: Giving Your App Character

• [17:04-32:30]
  • Why Mascots Work: Custom illustrations and mascots humanize the product, create delight, and foster brand affinity. Chris details using both AI and hand-drawn art (from his fiancée) to create memorable onboarding and habit-building experiences.
  • Chris: “Gamification exists in Duolingo, even in Snapchat…a very powerful way to build habits and increase retention. I decided to add a streaks feature here, and for fun, a little badge you can unlock…all hand drawn by my fiance. But I’ll also show you how to make mascots like this using AI…” [18:00]
  • How-To:
    • Use ChatGPT 5.1 or similar models for generative mascots, but combine original art as inspiration for truly unique assets.
    • Pro-tip: “If you want to make mascots…bring on or hire an actual artist to generate the first version…feed it into ChatGPT…use as reference for infinite variations.” [21:55]
  • Live Prompting Demo: Chris and Greg riff on combining the Snapchat ghost with a hand-drawn dog illustration to get unique mascot outputs in ChatGPT.
    • Chris: “We got something way more unique when we mash these two together. So that’s my recommendation…try to come up with a unique style that fits the app.” [29:37]
  • Animation Hack: Use Midjourney to animate mascots—even turning static logos into dynamic splash screens.

6. Iconography & Typography: Tiny Touches, Big Impact

• [33:53-37:28]
  • Chris: “Iconography is a huge tell for Vibe coded apps…if you choose bad icons…from different sets, it really does decrease the quality of the app.” [34:00]
  • Shows examples of lined vs. filled icons and stresses consistency.
  • Top Icon Resources: Heroic Icons, FontAwesome, Nucleo.
  • Greg: “Typography…small but big impact. The sizing of titles, headers, the font you choose—all those little things add up.”
  • Chris: “People are going to be looking at your app thousands of times a month...it will actually impact their experience.”

7. Widgets: The Retention “Cheat Code”

• [37:29-43:03]
  • Chris explains widgets (lock screen, home screen, Apple Watch) as a powerful way to elevate app status and usage.
  • Chris: “Having a widget and taking up this much real estate on a user’s device is literally a cheat code. If you can get [a lock screen position], they’re going to see your widget at least 150 times a day.” [40:45]
  • Provides examples from Amy, Luna, and Ellie—where adding widgets more than doubled retention rates.
  • AI tools make building widgets vastly easier and less time-intensive.

8. Inspiration: Level Up by Consuming Great Design

• [43:04-46:29]
  • Chris’s Top Design Resources:
    • Mobbin (mobbin.com): Massive mobile UI library
    • 60FPS (60fps.tv): Interaction and animation inspiration
    • Spotted in Prod: Animations and interactions from top apps
    • Screenshot First Company (Twitter): App Store screenshot curation
  • Chris: “The last piece of advice…level up your App Store screenshots. It’s literally the equivalent of if you have a bad title thumbnail, no one is going to watch your video.” [45:45]
  • Greg: “Startup idea—someone go build that [showcase for App Store screenshots]!”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why details matter:
  Chris: “These details—even ones users aren’t consciously aware of—add up for ‘feel.’ …Do this across 100 different things in your app, it will add up. People will remember these things. They’ll remember the feeling of using your app.” [13:20]

• On AI & rapid prototyping:
  Chris: “Anyone can code now. These details DO matter.” [10:00]

• On widgets for retention:
  Chris: “If you can get [a lock screen widget], they’re gonna see your widget 150 times a day. Every time they look at their lock screen.” [40:50]

• Mascot riffing:
  Greg, reacting to a novelty AI-generated banana mascot:
  “You were speechless when that banana came out.” [30:11]
  Chris: “Yeah, that was something... If anyone wants to use this as their logo, please feel free. You have my blessing.” [30:17]

• App Store screenshots as first impression:
  Chris: “If you don’t have a good first impression [with your screenshots], there’s no point in increasing retention if they’re not going to download it.” [45:30]

Practical Takeaways & Chris’s Playbook

1. Leverage Animations & Interactions: Polish “beyond default”—custom motion, haptics, and subtle feedback set you apart.
2. Add Illustrations & Mascots: Use AI plus original art for unique, playful, and memorable branding.
3. Maintain Consistent Iconography & Typography: Small shifts (icon fills, readable fonts) can elevate an app’s feel.
4. Embed Widgets: Home screen, lock screen, and watch widgets are a massive retention lever and signal a premium experience.
5. Steal Like an Artist (Get Inspired): Regularly browse best-in-class app design resources and screenshot galleries.
6. Obsess Over App Store Assets: Screenshot polish = downloads.
7. Don’t Overthink Technical Skills: Most of these techniques can be achieved with AI, even if you can’t code (yet).

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00] Why apps stand out & episode overview
• [02:00] Chris’s background and ethos
• [06:04] Animations and interactions case study
• [14:51] UI innovations: mascots, voice, contextual UI
• [17:04] Mascot creation with AI and pro tips
• [33:53] Iconography and typography
• [37:30] Widgets as a retention boost
• [43:06] Design inspiration and resources
• [46:31] Wrap-up and next steps

Episode in one sentence:
If you want your app to succeed in 2026, you must go beyond “vibe coded”—inject animation, personality, polish, and thoughtful design, all of which you can now accomplish faster and more creatively thanks to AI.