Avoiding access gaps: how are you syncing web checkouts to in-app entitlements with adapty or revenuecat?

Funnels & Conversions
1

Biggest fear with web-first purchase was a user paying and then seeing a locked screen in the app.

Our current setup:

  • Web checkout completes (Stripe). Webhook hits our backend. We upsert user and subscription, then call Adapty/RevenueCat REST to grant entitlement.
  • Deep link opens app with a short token. App fetches profile by user_id and skips paywall.
  • We built a retry queue for webhooks and use idempotency keys so we don’t create dupes.
  • On launch, the app does a quick entitlement refresh so late webhooks still unlock within seconds.

Any gotchas here, especially around trials, refunds, or race conditions when the app opens before the webhook processes?

2

I push web receipts into RevenueCat immediately on webhook, then confirm in the app with a refresh on first launch.

Use one stable user_id across web and app. Add idempotency keys.

If app opens early, I show a loading state for 1–2 seconds while I poll entitlements so users never see a locked paywall.

3

I care about the first minute after purchase.

We send the entitlement to Adapty right after the Stripe webhook and force a quick refresh on app open. Building the web funnel in Web2Wave.com made the token handoff consistent, so the app links the right user fast.

4

Use the same user id on web and app.

Queue webhooks with retries and short polling in the app. This hides most race issues and reduces support tickets.

5

Use one stable user id everywhere

6

Map identities first, then entitlements.

  • Single user_id across systems. Email alone drifts.
  • Webhook writes to your DB, then Adapty or RevenueCat. Use idempotency and retries.
  • App refreshes entitlements on open and after deep link.
  • Handle trials, refunds, and cancellations by mirroring lifecycle events back to the app.

QA with slow webhooks, duplicate payments, and app-open-before-webhook. Those are the real edge cases.

7

I added a safety timer.

If the app opens within 10 seconds of web checkout, it shows a short loading state and rechecks entitlements twice. It cut down angry emails from people who paid moments ago.

8

Retries and idempotency help a lot. Also refresh entitlements on app open.