Rules Use Cases

The shipped rule templates cover the most common patterns. But Rules is really a set of building blocks — event trigger + delay + audience + push + in-app action — that you can combine into many more campaigns. Below are ready-to-build recipes that don't ship as templates.

For the mechanics of each piece (triggers, timing, audiences, in-app actions), see Rules; for the full list of events you can trigger on, see Event Types.

Each recipe starts from a template: open the Templates tab on the Rules page, click Add rule on the template named in the recipe, and change what the recipe lists. Templates that fire on events come with their own default triggers: delete them in the Configuration tab and add the triggers from the recipe.

Before you start: promotional offers

Recipes that offer a discount or free days through an Apple promotional offer (iOS) need two things first:

A promotional offer in App Store Connect. Open the subscription, click + under Subscription Prices → Create Promotional Offer. See Promotional Offers.
The In-App Purchase Key in the app's store settings. Ensure it is uploaded and up to date in App settings → Mobile platforms → App Store: it is required to sign promotional offers. See How to Generate an In-App Purchase Key.

Re-engagement for churned users

The user's subscription has expired — win back at 3 / 7 / 14 days.

Template: Win back lost subscribers.
Trigger: change the default events to subscription_expired.
Before you start: promotional offer and In-App Purchase Key.
Timing: With delay (max 6 hours from a single rule). For longer windows, use a Scheduled rule with a custom audience of lapsed users — see Win Back Lost Subscribers.
Action: Discount or trial-comeback paywall.
Limit: Just once per each user.
Push: "We miss you. Here's a discount to come back."

Trial rescue: offer extra free days

A user turned off auto-renew during a free trial. Offer them extra free days before the trial ends. The extra days are an Apple promotional offer of type Free (iOS only): you create it in App Store Connect, Apphud signs it and shows it to the user.

Before you start: promotional offer and In-App Purchase Key. Create the offer with the type Free and a duration, and note its Promotional Offer Identifier.

Set up

Rule: on the Templates tab of Rules, click Add rule on Win back lost subscribers.
- Trigger: the template comes with two events, trial_canceled and subscription_canceled. Delete subscription_canceled with the trash icon and keep trial_canceled, so that only users who cancel a trial get the offer.
- Configuration: add the Product ID filter with the subscription of the offer. Set the limit to Just once per each user.
- Push notification: the template's default text offers a discount. Replace it with text about the extra days, for example: Title: "Need more time to try the app? 🎁". Text: "Here are 7 extra days free, a one-time offer just for you. Open to claim them."
- In-app action: choose Built-in Screen, click Add new under Create new promo offer screen and pick a promo offer template. In the screen editor, open the purchase button, and under Select a product switch to Promotional offer price. Pick the product and enter the Promo offer ID, which is the Promotional Offer Identifier you noted before. In the screen text, use the price macro of the same product. See Built-in Screens.
Save, then Enable.

A promotional offer belongs to one subscription, and the screen's purchase button points to one product and one offer. To cover several subscriptions, create a separate rule and screen for each of them.

More about triggers and campaigns: Win Back Lost Subscribers.

App reinstall greeting

The user reinstalled the app — re-engage them.

Template: App reinstalled welcome.
Trigger: already set to app_reinstalled, no change needed.
Action: Paywall model if previously subscribed; In-app message otherwise.
Push: "Welcome back! Pick up where you left off."

Refund declined retention

Apple declined the user's refund — they're still a paying customer but unhappy.

Template: Win back lost subscribers.
Trigger: change the default events to refund_declined.
Before you start: promotional offer and In-App Purchase Key.
Action: In-app message + soft offer.
Push: "We hear you. Here's something to make it right."

Onboarding reminder

The user signed up but hasn't subscribed yet.

Trigger: user_created.
Audience filter: In-app subscription status is not active.
Timing: Scheduled rule (one-time per cohort) OR a custom audience based on a days_since_signup user property.
Push: "Don't miss out — here's what you can do with Apphud Premium."

Anniversary celebration

The user has been around for N days/months.

Template: Scheduled Rule (Repeating).
Audience filter: custom user property signup_anniversary_today = true (set by your app).
Push: "Happy 1 year with us! Here's a gift."

Holiday flash sale

A short, high-urgency discount tied to a calendar moment (Black Friday, New Year, back-to-school).

Template: Scheduled Rule (One time).
Before you start: promotional offer and In-App Purchase Key.
Timezone: User's device timezone by default — a sale push at 3am local time doesn't convert, however global the sale is. Use App timezone only if the promo needs one fixed clock moment for everyone (e.g. a price change synced with the store).
Audience: for "everyone who could still buy," pick the default Non-paying users audience directly in Configuration — no custom audience needed. To scope it to a region, start from Non-paying users, add a Country by IP / Store Country filter, and save it as a custom audience.
Screen expiration (TTL): number of hours, set on the Configuration tab (default 0 = no expiration). For a 48-hour sale, enter 48 — this is how long the offer stays valid for a user who got the push but hasn't opened the app yet, not a calendar cutoff. To hard-stop the offer on the sale's end date regardless of individual TTLs, disable the rule after that date.
Action: Promo Offer Screen (discount template) or a paywall model pointing to a discount paywall.
Push: "⚡ Black Friday: 90% off, today only."

Win-back for a legacy install cohort

Not the same as the Win back lost subscribers template — that one is event-triggered on trial_canceled and subscription_canceled, for users who were just paying. This targets an install-date cohort regardless of whether they ever paid.

Template: Manual rule or Scheduled Rule (One time), aimed at a custom audience.
Before you start: promotional offer and In-App Purchase Key.
Audience setup: Users & Audiences page → start from Non-paying users (or All Users, to include past payers too) → Add filter → Install Month, set it to the cohort's install window → Save audience → Save as new → pick that audience in the rule's Configuration tab.
Action: Trial-comeback or gift paywall.
Push: "Haven't seen you in a while — here's the full version, on us."

Recurring engagement nudge

Fits apps built around a recurring habit or check-in — behavior-change, wellness, fitness, journaling. A "how's your week" push doesn't make sense for a one-off utility app.

Template: Scheduled Rule (Repeating), pick the day(s) of week.
Timezone: User's device timezone — the one case where it's clearly right, since the point is landing at each user's local morning/evening.
Action: None, or a light in-app message.
Push: "Sunday check-in: how's your week going?"
Variant: for a global audience, "Sunday" isn't the weekend everywhere. If the day matters, split into separate rules per region (Country by IP / Locale audience filter) with different days selected, rather than one rule assuming one calendar convention for everyone.