Launching the World's Most Popular Baseball Training App

The Challenge

Any fan can tell you: baseball is more than just pitching and hitting. Startup Thinking Baseball wanted an app to teach the mental side of the game that was more than just rote instruction. They wanted an engaging and informative experience that would captivate players, appeal to fans of all ages, and stay cost-effective for a new business to run. To pull it off, they needed secure payment options; a low-cost, high-performance backend; and a mobile app that worked on both iOS and Android. They turned to Apsis Labs to bring their vision to life.

The Solution

1. Building a Fast, Efficient Server with Easy Payment Processing Our first task at Apsis was setting up a backend that could handle thousands of users at once without breaking the bank. We chose Ruby on Rails to build a backend that’s both efficient and powerful, easily serving thousands of users from a single node. This setup lets the app handle big spikes in traffic, keeping it smooth and reliable during peak times.

For payments, we wanted to keep our integrations secure and easy to use. Because of on-platform restrictions from Apple, our payment strategy involves a Stripe integration for users who sign up by web, and an in-app purchase flow that integrates with both Android and Apple in-app purchases. This versatility in payment options has helped Thinking Baseball grow its user base. Using known, trusted payment tooling reduces headaches for our client, and guarantees a secure, trusted payment process for their users.

2. Building the Mobile App with Cross-Platform Development in Mind To keep the app affordable to build and easy to update, we used React Native. This approach allowed us to write the code once and know it would perform on both iOS and Android, saving time and money. By choosing cross-platform development from the beginning, we made sure the app could keep up with its users, roll out new features faster, and reach more people.

3. Creating an Engaging Quiz Experience The Thinking Baseball app is designed to feel less like a game, and more like the radio call of your favorite team. Its quiz experience challenges users to make stop and think, to visualize baseball scenarios, and deepen their understanding before making decisions. Our background in game design let us create an engaging, clear UI, giving users a fun and visually interesting way to improve their skills.

The quizzes feature real-time animations and thousands of unique audio combinations that offer variety and novelty on every play. This unique approach helps Thinking Baseball stand out from other sports training apps, and keeps users coming back for more.

The Results

Thanks to Apsis Labs, Thinking Baseball is now used by tens of thousands of baseball fans and players to improve their game. The app’s efficient backend means it can handle traffic without a performance (or financial) hitch, and our Stripe, Apple, and Android integrations give users familiar, reliable ways to access premium content.

Choosing React Native for the mobile app has kept costs down and ensured that both iOS and Android users continue to get the same high-quality experience. The game-like quizzes keep users engaged, making an educational app they can’t wait to return to.