Install size was working against growth in the markets this children's platform was expanding into. The build came down from 162MB to 79MB with its embedded Unity games and offline downloads intact.
Start your projectThe build
PlayKids+ is a subscription platform for children roughly two to six years old, combining video streaming with a games library.
Parents manage the account and subscription; children use the content. Aipxperts built the mobile platform as a React Native application for iOS and Android, with native modules handling video playback, embedded Unity games and Rive animations. It started in Brazil and Latin America and now ships globally.
The problem
The product had to do several demanding things at once. Stream video reliably. Run an entire games library, some of it built in Unity, inside the same application. Convert a parent onto a subscription. Work across multiple markets and languages from one codebase. And unlock content fast enough that a three-year-old does not lose interest. Underneath all of that sat a distribution problem that does not show up in a feature list. The application was 162MB. That number matters more in Latin America than a specification sheet suggests:
On entry-level Android devices with limited storage, a 162MB install is a decision rather than a tap, and a meaningful share of parents will not make it.
On metered mobile data, a download that size is a cost the parent notices.
Install abandonment rises with size, so the app was losing users before they ever saw the product.
For a subscription business whose growth depends on getting families through the front door, app size was a commercial constraint wearing an engineering costume.
What we built
We built the platform in React Native with TypeScript, and dropped to native modules only where the platform genuinely required it.
Curated collections plus a distinct full-feature viewing mode, with continue-watching tracking that has to be accurate or a small child restarts a film they already finished.
Native, HTML5 and Unity-powered titles running inside the same application, which is the technically hardest part of the product.
Trial-aware pricing and messaging driven by server configuration, so commercial terms can change per market without an app release.
Apple App Store, Google Play and the Samsung Galaxy Store, each with its own billing rules and receipt validation.
Content stored on device through SQLite and async storage, because a car journey is exactly when a parent needs this app to work.
Language handling that degrades to a sensible default rather than showing a child an empty screen.
Email, magic link, one-time passcode and Apple Sign-In, so a parent setting up an account at bedtime has a route that works.
OneSignal for messaging, with Firebase, Mixpanel and Singular covering analytics, crash reporting, remote configuration and install attribution.
CI/CD producing nightly and release builds, which is what makes a shared codebase across two platforms and three storefronts manageable.
The outcome
That is the rare optimisation result where the engineering number is also the commercial one. Every megabyte removed lowers the barrier between a parent tapping install and a child opening the app.
React Native
TypeScript
Unity
Rive
SQLite
Firebase
Mixpanel
Apple, Google and Samsung in-app purchasesIf your install size is quietly costing you users, the fix is usually architectural rather than cosmetic.
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