RipFeed — Strategy Reference

Infrastructure

Tech stack

Layer	Choice	Reason
Mobile	React Native (Expo) free	Single codebase for iOS + Android
Backend / DB	Supabase free tier	Auth, Postgres, Realtime, Edge Functions — generous free tier
File storage	Cloudflare R2 ~$0/egress	Zero egress fees — the critical cost saver for audio streaming
Audio processing	FFmpeg on Fly.io pay/use	Transcode to AAC + generate waveform PNG on upload
Web player	Cloudflare Pages free	Public `/clip/[id]` player — no app needed. Powers the viral sharing loop.
Ads	Google AdMob free SDK	Native feed ads, interstitials, rewarded video — React Native SDK
Subscriptions	RevenueCat free tier	Creator Pro + coin packs, handles App Store / Play Store billing
Push	Expo Push free	Reactions, follows, new clips — switch to OneSignal at scale

Viral loop

Web player + shareable links

How it works

Every clip gets a permanent public URL: [domain].com/clip/{clipId}. This is the engine of organic growth — a fart clip is one of the most naturally shareable things on the internet, but only if the recipient can hear it without installing the app first.

1

User taps share in app

App constructs [domain].com/clip/{clipId} and calls Share.share(). One line of code.

2

Link unfurls in iMessage / Twitter / WhatsApp

Open Graph meta tags render the waveform PNG as the preview image. Immediately recognisable as audio content.

3a

Recipient has the app → Universal Link

iOS Universal Links / Android App Links intercept the tap and open directly to clip/[id].tsx in the app. No browser, no friction.

3b

Recipient doesn't have the app → web player

Cloudflare Pages serves the clip page. They hear the clip. A "Get the app" banner at the bottom drives installs. This is the acquisition moment.

Web player stack

Minimal Next.js site deployed to Cloudflare Pages. Reads clip metadata from Supabase's public API (anon key, no auth). Streams audio directly from R2 CDN. No new backend infrastructure.

What it renders

Waveform PNG, play/pause, username, title, tags, play count. Plus "Get the app" CTA.

Audio playback

Plain HTML5 <audio> element pointing at the R2 CDN URL. No library needed.

Cost

Cloudflare Pages is free. Audio egress from R2 is zero. Total addition: $0.

Open Graph tags (per clip)

<!-- These power link previews in every messaging app -->
<meta property="og:title" content="@username on RipFeed" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Clip title + tags" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://cdn.[domain].com/waveforms/{clipId}.png" />
<meta property="og:audio" content="https://cdn.[domain].com/clips/{clipId}.aac" />
<meta property="twitter:card" content="player" />

The waveform PNG generated by FFmpeg doubles as the OG image — visually distinctive, immediately communicates "audio clip," no extra work.

Distribution

App Store strategy

Locked

App name: RipFeed

"Rip" covers ripping audio, ripping farts, and ripping through a feed. Passes App Store review and AdMob brand safety without friction. Domain: ripfeed.io.

ripfeed.ioReady for submission

Locked

Age rating: 12+

Self-declared during App Store submission. "Infrequent/Mild" crude humor. Don't attempt 4+ — reviewers will reject. 12+ does not meaningfully reduce the addressable audience for this content type.

Crude humor12+

Ships in Phase 1

UGC compliance

Apple guideline 1.2 requires: content filtering/reporting mechanism, ability to flag content, ability to block users, and contact info for reporting. These must be present at first submission. A "report" button + block flag in the DB is enough for v1.

Report clipBlock userContent policy

Risk

AdMob CPMs

Some premium advertisers block humor/audio apps for brand safety reasons. Fill rates and CPMs may be below benchmarks. Have a backup network in mind: Meta Audience Network or ironSource. Monitor after launch and switch if needed.

Brand safety riskMonitor post-launch

Advantage

Android first

Google Play is more permissive on this content category. Consider a soft Android launch to build audience and iron out bugs while navigating iOS App Store review in parallel.

Lower review riskParallel track

Note

Screenshots + description

Lead with the product concept ("short-form audio social") not the content in your App Store description. Show clean UI in screenshots — waveform feed, recording screen, profile. Don't wave a flag at reviewers.

Lead with productClean screenshots

Copyright + DMCA

Users will attempt to upload fart sounds from movies, TV, and YouTube. A DMCA takedown process is legally required before launch. More importantly, "original recordings only" as a community value keeps the social dynamics interesting — you want performers, not a clip repository. Enforce this in community guidelines from day one.

Core product

Upload flow + feed design

Upload flow

1

Record on device

Max 15s enforced client-side via expo-av. User can also pick from library.

2

Request presigned R2 URL

Client calls a Supabase Edge Function which returns a time-limited upload URL. Backend never touches audio bytes.

3

Upload direct to R2

Client PUT to the presigned URL. Audio goes straight to Cloudflare — no server relay.

4

Trigger FFmpeg worker

Edge Function calls the Fly.io worker with the R2 object key.

5

FFmpeg single pass → two outputs

Transcode to AAC 128k (hard-capped at 15s) + render waveform PNG (300×64px, transparent bg, purple bars).

6

Store URLs in Supabase

Worker uploads both files to R2 and writes audio_url + waveform_url to the clips table.

FFmpeg command

# Single pass — two outputs — transparent waveform background
ffmpeg -i input \
  -c:a aac -b:a 128k -t 15 output.aac \
  -filter_complex "aformat=channel_layouts=mono,compand,showwavespic=s=300x64:colors=#7F77DD|0x00000000" \
  -frames:v 1 waveform.png

# Filter chain:
#   aformat=channel_layouts=mono  — collapse stereo → unified waveform shape
#   compand                       — dynamic range compression, every clip looks interesting
#   showwavespic=s=300x64         — render static waveform image
#   colors=#7F77DD|0x00000000     — purple bars, transparent background

Feed design

Implemented as a FlatList. Each item is a clip card with: avatar, username, timestamp, clip title/tags, waveform PNG, play button, play/reaction counts. Ad cards are injected every 8–10 organic cards, styled to match but labeled "Sponsored."

Native feed ads

Every 8–10 cards. Looks like a clip card. Labeled "Sponsored." Highest fill rate, least disruptive.

Interstitial

Full-screen on app open or after 5 clips played. Highest CPM. Capped at 1 per session.

Rewarded

Opt-in 15s video. Earns coins. Highest eCPM of all formats. Zero user resentment.

Revenue

monetization

Phase 1 — launch

Creator Pro subscription

$2.99–4.99/mo via RevenueCat. Unlocks: no ads, analytics, extended 30s clips, custom profile theme, priority in recommendations.

RecurringLow frictionStart here

Phase 1 — launch

Native feed ads

AdMob native ads every 8–10 cards. Styled to match clip cards. Works from day one, no audience minimum needed.

CPM passiveLow disruption

Phase 2 — growth

Interstitial banners

Full-screen AdMob interstitials on app open or after 5 clips. High CPM. Capped at 1 per session — no exceptions.

High CPMUse sparingly

Phase 2 — growth

Rewarded ads

15s opt-in video via AdMob. Earns coins. Highest eCPM of all formats. Fully voluntary — zero resentment.

Highest eCPMOpt-in only

Phase 2 — growth

Listener tipping

Coin packs via RevenueCat IAP. Users tip creators. Platform takes 15–20%. Coins also earnable via rewarded ads.

Network effectSocial feel

Phase 3 — scale

Branded challenges

Brands sponsor audio challenges. Direct sales, high margin. Native feed slot + challenge banner. Sell direct to small brands first.

High marginCommunity

Access model

User tiers

Tier

Free

15s clip uploads

Sees native feed ads

Sees interstitial ads (1/session)

Can earn coins via rewarded ads

Can tip creators

Standard feed ranking

Tier

Creator Pro — $2.99–4.99/mo

No ads. Ever.

Analytics dashboard

Custom profile theme

Priority in recommendations

Pro badge on profile

30s uploads — deferred. 15s is sufficient for this content type. Revisit in Phase 3 alongside duet/remix features.

Enforced via usePro() hook — every ad component checks isPro before rendering. If true, skip entirely — no placeholder rendered.

Implementation

Key rules — never break these

Pro users never see ads. Check usePro() before rendering any ad component. If isPro === true, skip entirely — don't render a placeholder.

15s cap is server-side. FFmpeg -t 15 is non-negotiable. Never trust the client duration. Pro users get 30s via a separate FFmpeg flag.

Audio never passes through the backend. Always use presigned R2 URLs for upload and Cloudflare CDN URLs for playback.

Waveform PNGs have transparent backgrounds. The 0x00000000 second color in the FFmpeg filter is mandatory. Required for correct rendering on light and dark card backgrounds.

Interstitials capped at 1 per session. Tracked in a module-level variable in admob.ts. Never show an interstitial if one has already been shown this session.

Coin balance is authoritative in the DB. Never trust client-side coin counts for tip transactions. Always read from profiles.coin_balance and decrement server-side in a Supabase Edge Function.

Report + block must ship at launch. Apple requires UGC moderation mechanisms at App Store submission. Not optional. A report button that logs to Supabase and emails you is sufficient for v1.

Original recordings only. Don't build features that facilitate uploading third-party audio. DMCA takedown process required before launch. "Original recordings" is both a legal requirement and a community value.

Web player reads public data only. The Cloudflare Pages site uses Supabase's anon key against public clip data. No authenticated routes, no sensitive data exposed on the web player.

Build plan

MVP roadmap (revised)

Phase 1 — Core + compliance + viral loop (weeks 1–6)

Ship first

Weeks 1–3 — Infrastructure

Supabase setup + migrations Expo scaffold + Expo Router Auth screens R2 bucket + CDN config FFmpeg worker on Fly.io

Week 4 — Upload + feed

Audio recording (15s cap) Upload flow → R2 → FFmpeg Scrollable feed (chronological) Tap to play (CDN streaming)

Week 5 — Web player + sharing

Cloudflare Pages /clip/[id] OG meta tags HTML5 audio player "Get the app" banner Share button in app Universal Links (iOS) App Links (Android)

Week 6 — Compliance + polish

Report clip Block user Written content policy Age rating: 12+ Basic profile page App Store assets TestFlight beta

Phase 2 — Social + first revenue (weeks 7–10)

Monetize early

Follow / unfollow Emoji reactions Push notifications AdMob native feed ads Creator Pro subscription Pro users = no ads Pro badge on profile

Phase 3 — Discovery + tipping (weeks 11–14)

Engagement

Trending / ranked feed Hashtag / category tags AdMob interstitials (capped) Rewarded ads Coin packs + tipping Creator analytics Revisit Pro differentiators

Phase 4 — Scale (weeks 15+)

Growth

Branded challenges Comments Search by user / tag Multi-clip stories / duet Advanced moderation tools

Economics

Estimated costs

1,000 active users / month

Supabase (free tier)$0

Cloudflare R2 — audio + waveform PNGs (~300MB)~$0.01

Fly.io FFmpeg (transcode + waveform render)~$3–5

Cloudflare Pages (web player)$0

AdMob / RevenueCat (free tiers)$0

Expo Push notifications$0

Total≈ $3–6 / mo

100,000 active users / month

Supabase Pro$25

Cloudflare R2 (30GB+ audio + waveforms)~$5–10

Fly.io workers (more concurrency)~$20–40

RevenueCat (scales with revenue)~$0–99

Total~$50–175 / mo

R2's zero egress fees are the primary reason costs stay this low at audio streaming scale. AWS S3 would add ~$0.09/GB in egress alone.

Configuration

Environment variables

Supabase

EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URLyour project URL

EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEYpublic anon key

SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEYserver / worker only — never in client bundle

Cloudflare R2

R2_ACCOUNT_ID

R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID

R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

R2_BUCKET_NAME

EXPO_PUBLIC_R2_PUBLIC_URLCDN base URL for playback

AdMob — use test IDs during development

EXPO_PUBLIC_ADMOB_APP_ID

EXPO_PUBLIC_ADMOB_NATIVE_AD_UNIT_ID

EXPO_PUBLIC_ADMOB_INTERSTITIAL_AD_UNIT_ID

EXPO_PUBLIC_ADMOB_REWARDED_AD_UNIT_ID

RevenueCat

EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_API_KEY_IOS

EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_API_KEY_ANDROID

Fly.io FFmpeg worker

FFMPEG_WORKER_URL

FFMPEG_WORKER_SECRETshared secret for webhook auth

Short-form audio,visual-first feed

Tech stack

Web player + shareable links

How it works

Web player stack

Open Graph tags (per clip)

App Store strategy

Copyright + DMCA

Upload flow + feed design

Upload flow

FFmpeg command

Feed design

monetization

User tiers

Key rules — never break these

MVP roadmap (revised)

Estimated costs

Environment variables

Short-form audio,
visual-first feed