How CurlyTales App Became India's Go-To Lifestyle & Travel Companion

A real founder story + the AppLo partnership that fueled its scale

In the crowded world of social apps and content platforms, very few brands make the leap from a personal passion project to a must-have lifestyle companion. CurlyTales did exactly that—and AppLo had the privilege of being part of the journey.

CurlyTales began as a simple blog by Kamiya Jani, who gave up her full-time media career reporting business news on ET NOW, Bloomberg TV and CNBC TV18 to travel the world. Her mission was clear: discover amazing food, travel and lifestyle experiences, and help others fall in love with exploration too.

What started as a personal narrative quickly became a thriving digital community. Years later, CurlyTales emerged as India's No.1 lifestyle and travel content platform, reaching millions with curated guides, city-specific recommendations, experiential stories, and immersive short-form content—all in one place.

"I started CurlyTales with one simple belief—if something made my heart beat faster, it would make others curious too. What I didn't expect was just how deeply people would connect to shared experiences."
— Kamiya Jani, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, CurlyTales

• The Challenge: From Viral Posts to a Fully-Fledged App

Growing a content community is one thing. Turning it into a daily-use app experience is another challenge entirely.

CurlyTales faced several key hurdles before AppLo stepped in:

  • Unstructured content growth: With tens of thousands of posts, there was no unified destination for users to discover what mattered most to them.
  • High engagement but low retention: Users loved individual posts, but lacked a reason to return daily.
  • Scalability concerns: As traffic spiked with every trending article or travel trend, the platform needed a backend that could handle millions of sessions without slowing down.

Kamiya and her team knew the opportunity was huge, but the scale they envisioned required infrastructure, strategy and execution they couldn't build alone.

• AppLo's Role: Real Strategy, Real Growth

From the moment CurlyTales partnered with AppLo, it wasn't just about building an app. We focused on making a scalable digital product that could sustain long-term growth.

Here's what we tackled together—not in theory, but in real tactical execution:

1. Strategic User Flow Design
We mapped content journeys so users could discover trending itineraries, local guides, food reviews and videos without friction. This boosted session duration and repeat engagement.
2. Performance-First Engineering
Instead of just coding features, we built systems that could handle viral peaks—something every social and lifestyle app must solve behind the scenes.
3. Community & Personalization
We created structures that helped CurlyTales present personalized experiences based on user interests—ensuring that a foodie, a weekend traveler, and an experience seeker each saw content that felt made for them.
4. Analytics & Iteration Culture
Every week, we reviewed what content drove retention, drops and engagement. We didn't chase vanity metrics—we chased repeat daily value.

The AppLo and CurlyTales teams ran weekly product standups, sometimes late into the night, rewriting logic and rebuilding features that initially looked good but didn't perform well in real-world usage.

• A Turning Point: From Content Followers to Loyal App Users

With the app launch and platform refinements:

  • CurlyTales converted casual content readers into regular app users.
  • Daily active usage climbed as users found tailored recommendations, city guides, and experiences right at their fingertips.
  • The app became a true travel & lifestyle hub—not just a repository for stories.
"I wanted CurlyTales to feel like a friend showing you the best hidden spots in town—not just another algorithm. AppLo helped us turn that feeling into something real."
— Kamiya Jani, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, CurlyTales

Ready to Scale Your Vision Too?

If you're a startup founder or product leader building a digital experience—whether it's travel, lifestyle, community, or beyond—AppLo partners with you not just to build features, but to build foundational products that last.
Let's turn your next big idea into a real-world success story.