Apple Search Ads, explained straight.
Practical guides for subscription app founders. How Apple Search Ads actually works, how to measure what pays back, and how to run it without living inside the dashboard.
How Apple Search Ads pricing actually works: the cost-per-tap auction, whether there's a minimum budget, and why cost per tap is not your real cost.
Read the guide →What you can safely hand off, what an automation actually needs to make good calls, and where an AI agent beats a rules script or an agency.
Read the guide →Why subscription apps need their own playbook, how to measure ROAS past the install, and the campaign structure that holds up.
Read the guide →Why there is no single magic number, what break-even really means after renewals, and how to read a keyword honestly.
Read the guide →What each option really costs, where each one breaks down, and how to pick based on your spend and your time.
Read the guide →Broad, exact, and Search Match explained, how to discover keywords that convert, and how negative keywords stop wasted spend.
Read the guide →How each channel works, the control you get, what they really cost, and when to run one, the other, or both.
Read the guide →How to tie subscription revenue back to keywords with Adapty, RevenueCat, or Superwall, and the attribution gaps to watch.
Read the guide →Percentage of spend versus retainers, the minimums, the built-in conflict, and how to tell if the fee is worth it.
Read the guide →Where if-then rules break down, what an autonomous agent does differently, and which one fits a subscription app.
Read the guide →A fair look at SearchAds.com and how a done-for-you, revenue-driven agent differs from a self-serve platform.
Read the guide →A fair look at Search Ads Maven and how a fully autonomous agent differs from an automation studio you operate.
Read the guide →FAQ
Questions, answered straight.
The real ones, not the brochure version.
Three things you probably already have: your app live on the App Store, an Apple Search Ads account, and one revenue tool (Adapty, RevenueCat, or Superwall). If you've got those, you're ready.
You grant it access to your Apple Search Ads account through Apple's own secure sign-in, then paste in an API key from your revenue tool. A few minutes, no engineering, no code in your app.
Apple Search Ads on the ad side. On the revenue side, Adapty, RevenueCat, or Superwall. You only need one of the three, whichever you already use.
Those are how it reads your real subscription revenue, which is what makes the whole thing work. If you run something else, get on the waitlist and tell me what you use. I'd rather add the source you actually need than guess.
No. Point it at your account as it is. It reads what's already running, learns what's working, and takes it from there. Nothing to tear down or rebuild.
That's fine. It can start your account from zero: build the campaigns, pick the keywords, set the bids. You don't need to know how any of it works.
You set the budget and the limits, and it never spends past the cap you give it. You can pause it or override any single decision in plain language, anytime. And before you're in, we go through your numbers together to be sure it can run profitably for you.
No. It runs on its own, but it's still your account and your call. Steer it in plain English, set hard limits, pause whenever you want.
It runs the whole account: bids, keywords, budgets. It scales the keywords that bring back real subscription revenue and cuts the ones that just burn money. It's always on, so it reacts without waiting on you.
It sees your Apple Search Ads spend and your subscription revenue numbers, and that's it. It never touches your app's code, your users, or anything inside your product. The revenue connection is read-only.
No. It only runs your paid Search Ads. Your organic listing, your ASO, and your rankings are left alone.
You do, straight to Apple, exactly like now. It stays your Apple Search Ads account with your card on file. Magentic is the software that runs it, it doesn't sit between you and your ad budget.
For running the account: the agent that watches every keyword's true ROAS and acts on it, instead of you doing it by hand or paying an agency a retainer to do it slower.
We're still setting pricing, and it scales with your spend. Get on the waitlist and I'll walk you through it directly, no surprises.
Because I'd rather not take your money if I can't make you money. We look at your numbers first and only bring you on if Magentic can actually be profitable for you.
Same reason: a quick check that this fits your app and your spend. If it isn't a fit, I'll tell you straight and not waste your time or your budget.
Yes. No lock-in and no long contract. If you leave, your campaigns stay yours and keep running.
It's how apps buy the top spot in App Store search. Someone searches a keyword, your app shows up first as an ad, and you pay when they tap. Apple recently renamed it Apple Ads, but it's the same thing.
Yes, and that's the whole point of Magentic. It runs bids, keywords, and budgets for you through Apple's official API, driven by your real revenue data instead of guesswork.
There's no set price. It's a cost-per-tap auction: you set a max bid and what you actually pay depends on your category and competition. You control the daily budget, so spend is whatever you decide.
Good is whatever keeps you profitable after real subscription revenue, not just installs. A keyword that looks cheap per install can still lose money. Magentic measures true ROAS per keyword and spends toward the ones that pay back.
Basic lets Apple run things automatically and you pay per install, with little control. Advanced gives you keywords, bids, and the search-terms data, which is where the real optimization lives. Magentic runs on Advanced.
No. An agency costs a monthly retainer and still can't watch your account every minute. Magentic does the work an agency would, on its own, for the price of software.
The last step
Join the waitlist.
Put your Apple Search Ads on autopilot. We onboard one founder at a time.
We check you can be profitable before you're in.