Hey, Ivan here!

Today I'm breaking down Life Reset – a habit app that made $1.3M in 2025, then lost 95% of its revenue.

Let's dig into why.

From $0 to $1.5M

Life Reset was built by Desmond (@desmondhth) and his brother Peter – two indie hackers from Hong Kong.

Desmond started building apps in 2022. He launched 4 products before Rise – all failed to get any traction. Then he hit rock bottom personally and used a 66-day reset program to get his life together. That's when the idea clicked: turn the program into an app.

The timeline:

  • Mar 2024: Launch as "Rise" on App Store

  • Jun 2024: $1K/month, 5K downloads

  • Aug 2024: $11K/month – starting to work

  • Nov 2024: Renamed to "Life Reset" (trademark lawsuit from a VC-backed app called Rise)

  • Aug 2025: Peak at ~$300K/month

  • Today: ~$19K/month, rebuilding

The Revenue Problem

Here's what iOS revenue looks like:

Peak was in August 2025 at nearly $90K/week. Since then – a steady decline. Current revenue over the last 30 days: ~$7K.

And here's Android:

Android used to have zero paid acquisition. Now, judging by the number of creatives, it's becoming their main platform (and 12K for the last 30 days).

What Happened?

I looked at their ad activity in Meta Ads Library. Here's the creative launch timeline:

  • March 2026: 51 new creatives

  • February 2026: 0

  • January 2026: 6

  • December 2025: 6

  • November 2025: 51

  • October 2025: 73

Total creatives in Meta Library: 800+
Currently active: 120 (was 40-60 just a week ago)

The team experienced a drop in profitability and a drastic reduction in creative tests. Possibly, they also crossed the $1M threshold – Apple's commission jumps
from 15% to 30%, which could have wiped out their unit economics.

This still doesn’t explain why there was no marketing relaunch in January. The beginning of the year is the peak season for the entire health & fitness industry. New Year’s resolutions drive a surge in demand, and missing that window means losing a substantial share of annual revenue.

Insight #1: Creative Volume = Revenue

The more creatives you test, the better your chances of finding winners. Life Reset proves it both ways:

  • High creative output → high revenue

  • Zero creative output → revenue collapse

The Creative Strategy

Life Reset runs only Meta Ads.

Most of the ads are targeted the US:

Video Creatives

My AI agent downloaded and analyzed their video ads. Here are the hooks they use:

1. UGC/Personal Story
"Falling in love with turning my life into a game" – guy running, lifestyle content.

2. Founder Hook
"I made an app that turns your life into Solo Leveling" – developer at a computer, anime reference.

3. Negative List
"If you want failure: P*rn, Drugs, Fast-food, Procrastination, Social media, Loneliness..." – guilt-trip with dramatic visuals.

4. POV Meme
"POV: that bro with p*rn addiction coming at me 66 days later" – epic anime visuals, humor.

5. Challenge Documentation
"I turned my life into an RPG game for the next 66 days" – sticky notes on the door, journey format.

6. Objection Handling
"You can't just pretend your life is a video game and level up like a game character" – starts with criticism, then disproves it.

The main creative format is UGC. I’d strongly recommend mixing in some animated creatives similar to what BetterMe uses.

Back when I was working on a fitness app, this type of creative improved key metrics by 2x.

You can check out their creatives in the Meta Ads Library.

Banner Creatives (for quiz funnel)

In March, they started testing a web funnel: lifereset.com/quiz/generic

Interesting: banners go to web funnel quiz, videos go to direct iOS/Android.

Banner hooks:

1. Challenge Launch
"SUNDAY, MARCH 22ND we start the LIFE RESET CHALLENGE" – specific date creates urgency.

2. Comparison
"Duolingo, but for self-improvement" – classic.

3. Niche Targeting
"WE'RE LOOKING FOR MEN who haven't exercised in years."

4. Segment-Specific
"The Better-Dad Game" – for dads
"DON'T LET ADHD CONTROLS YOU" – for ADHD audience (with cute dinosaur mascot)

5. Meme Format
"She might leave. But your XP stays forever." – shareable humor.

Insight #2: web-to-app is the next big thing

Web funnels (with payment on the web, not in-app) are the main channel for health & fitness apps. Many products survive only because of web-to-app. Here's why:

  1. Better attribution – Meta Ads can find the right audience more easily

  2. Higher LTV – from both higher average check and better retention

  3. No Apple commission – you keep the full 100%

  4. No strict paywall rules – you can use aggressive mechanics that boost conversion

  5. Harder to cancel – web subscriptions have more friction

The decision to go web-to-app is correct. I'd even say – it's the only right move at this point. Looks like profitability challenges with apps pushed them in this direction.

If they nail the quiz funnel, they can absolutely recover revenue.

Signs of Recovery

Good news: they're back. In March alone, they launched 51 new creatives – matching their October/November pace. Active ads jumped from 40 to 120 in one week.

It’s still too early to talk about first results, but there's already revenue growth, installs are going up, and the web funnel and Android tests have started.

Key Takeaways

  1. Creative volume matters. For Meta Ads, you need to constantly test new creatives. No new tests = revenue stops. Life Reset proves it both ways.

  2. Web-to-app funnel is essential for health & fitness apps. Better attribution, no Apple commission, higher LTV. Should be part of every marketing mix.

  3. Channel diversification. Relying 100% on Meta is risky. One algorithm change or policy update can tank your business. Explore Apple Search Ads, TikTok, and influencers.

  4. Niche aesthetics can limit scale. The RPG/anime vibe resonates with young men, but narrows the total addressable market. At some point, it might become harder to scale profitably.

  5. Increasing the commission from 15% to 30% can kill profitability if margins are thin

  6. Not having weekly subscriptions can kill the business in a day: no traffic – no new revenue. Although annual subscriptions are exactly what allow you to grow so fast at the start

Final thought

Desmond and his brother have done incredible work, and even though marketing was unprofitable for a time, I have no doubt they’ll ultimately find a way to return to peak performance.

Worth checking out

Must Know Subscription App Trends for 2026 – Ariel Michaeli (Appfigures) and David Barnard (RevenueCat) break down the State of Subscription Apps 2026 report – trends in pricing, retention, and growth for subscription apps.

Apple is launching ads in Maps this summer. Part of Apple's ad business expansion after rebranding Search Ads to Apple Ads.

Before you go

Let me know how you liked this breakdown, and which app you’d like me to cover in the next newsletter.