# Brazil's semaglutide patent expires, a hedgehog-themed app for logging weight-loss shots picks up one or two hundred users a day · Mobile app

> Source: https://stringers.io/en/apps/play_br.com.glpprogress.app.html (Stringers / 什么值得做, generated 2026-11-08)
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> After the patent expired, more people in Brazil started getting injections and needed to log doses and side effects every week. They search the store for 'GLP'. Its name includes GLP and its rating is 4.9, so it steadily caught part of that search traffic.

[Mobile App](https://stringers.io/en/apps/index.md) · Android · written 11-6

GLProgress · GLProgress

# Brazil's semaglutide patent expires, a hedgehog-themed app for logging weight-loss shots picks up one or two hundred users a day

**What it is** A tracking app for Brazilians taking GLP-1 weight-loss shots: log the day, the dose, weight and side effects, get reminders on schedule, with a hedgehog mascot in two personalities (laid-back and grumpy). Monetized by subscription.

**Why it's taking off** After the patent expired, many more Brazilians started taking the shots. Each weekly injection needs a dose and side-effect log, and people searched the stores for "GLP". The app name contains GLP and it has a rating of 4.9, so it steadily caught part of that search traffic.

**C** **How you could follow it** Don't build a sixth one in Brazil. Copy the playbook instead: watch for medication events such as a generic launch or insurance reimbursement in a country, and within three months ship a local-language tracker built around "injections/medication". Acquire users through store search, early rating prompts and referral rewards, and make money by pushing a weekly-reminder subscription.

Grade C: Brazil already has at least five local competitors. The leader has cracked the top 10 on the charts and is expanding into Latin America. OzemPro is live in 15 countries, and Shotsy plus a big paid-acquisition player dominate the English market. GLProgress is a small player living off leftover category demand. Worth studying the playbook, but copying it isn't worth it. Few people know about it yet.

Data (updated daily) · first launch 2026-07-13 · 11-07 installs 14,740

Android · Total installs worldwide

Data 2026-10-29 → 2026-11-07 (10 days, 7 observations). Google's detail page only refreshes install counts every other day, so a flat day doesn't mean nobody installed.

In Mar 2026 20, the patent on semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic) expired in Brazil. Local drugmakers launched their own 'weight-loss shots,' and suddenly many more people were injecting. A small team in Curitiba built GLProgress, which only reached Google Play in July. It does the basics: logs when you injected, how much, your weight and side effects, plus a hedgehog that nudges you to take your shot. Four months in, it has about 15k installs and sits in the 60s on Brazil's Health & Fitness Top Paid chart. It isn't a hit. It's a follower riding a category wave. Below: where its installs come from, where the money comes from, who's ahead of it, and whether you can still get in.

### "I just started tirzepatide"

In Aug 2026 23, a Brazilian user left a five-star review on GLProgress's Google Play page with one line: "estou começando com a tizepatida" (I'm starting tirzepatide, aka Mounjaro). Scrolling through, the app has 22 written reviews, and almost all sound like this: "estou começando agora vamos ver" (I'm just starting, let's see), "Baixei o app hoje!" (Downloaded the app today!), "bora testar" (let's give it a try).

These people weren't won over by a viral video. They just got a pen, their doctor said one shot a week, and the dose goes up every month. They need somewhere to remember when they last injected, whether it was 2.5 or 5 mg, and whether they've been nauseous this week. So they searched 'GLP' in the store and tapped on a 4.9-star app.

### What it is

GLProgress's homepage says "Make your GLP-1 routine clearer." Opening the app, the first thing you see is "What to do today":

- Next shot: "Wednesday · 20 o'clock," with the line "Don't rely on memory";

- Current plan: dose, interval, and cycle in one place;

- "Estimated drug in body ~3.1 mg," calculated from your recent injection log;

- Weight trend. The site's own words: "Watch the trend, don't judge yourself by one day";

- Symptom, diet, and exercise logs.

What really sets it apart from the competition is the hedgehog. It has two personalities: "Tranquilo" (chill), whose line is "Okay, I'll remind you gently and celebrate every step"; and "Pistola" (hothead), whose line is "Picked hothead mode? If you're late on a shot, I won't let you off." The hedgehog shows up for reminders, celebrations, and restarting after a break. One of the four selling points of the premium version is "choose your mascot's personality." The whole app keeps a "sem julgamento" (no judgment) tone, aimed at the thing weight-loss users dread most: being lectured.

### How many installs, and how it grew

Google Play installs are 11-06 14,740, with 7 new in the last 1,357 days, about 190 a day. It launched on iPhone in Jul 24, with 249 ratings in the Brazil store, adding only 2–6 a day. The main user base is clearly on Android.

The curve is very flat: traffic started in mid-July with 50–250 new installs a day. By early August the total was about 1,600, by early September about 6,300, by early October about 10k, and by early November about 14.5k (third-party estimates). The biggest single day in four months was 10-22 on 627. **No spikes. No sign of influencer videos or a big paid-ad push.**

It's charted only in Brazil. Since Oct 29 it has been ranked #62–#64 on the Health & Fitness Top Paid chart every day (Google Play, 11-06).

### Where users come from

**Store search.** The name contains "GLP," and the first line of the description reads "Track your GLP treatment: doses, diet, and weight." A steady line of a hundred or two hundred a day with little variation looks most like search traffic (inference). Searching "GLProgress" on TikTok, X, or Instagram turns up nothing relevant, and no media outlet has written about it.

**The ratings look very clean.** 1,422 ratings for 14.7k installs, roughly one rating for every 10 installs, where a typical app gets 1–1 per 2. The split is 1 stars and 2 stars at 0 each (the only text review is July saying "boa" (decent) while giving 1 stars), 3 stars 30, 4 stars 70, 5 stars 1,320, average 4.91 (Google Play, 11-06). Only 22 written reviews, almost all from day one. Put together, it most likely prompts for a rating during onboarding and only asks the people who look happy. Inferred. The 4.9-star average then helps it get more clicks in search results.

**Referrals.** Oct 1's 0.1.18 update added "Indique e Ganhe" (Refer and Earn): referrers get a reward when a friend subscribes. From the outside you can't see the effect. Daily installs rose slightly in late October, but there's no way to confirm it came from this.

I found no evidence that it has run Meta or Google ads in Brazil, but that can't be ruled out.

### Where the money comes from

Subscription, with in-app prices of R$29.99 to R$119.90 per tier (Google Play). That's cheap for this audience. A weight-loss shot costs hundreds to thousands of reais in Brazil, so a monthly tracking tool is a small fraction of it. With one shot a week, the reminder itself is a built-in reason to come back each week.

Conversion looks decent. GLP-1 Control, a similar Brazilian app, has about 93k installs, roughly 6 times GLProgress's, yet its chart rank is about the same (#63). That suggests GLProgress earns more from each user (inference). But the absolute scale is small. It sits in the 60s on Brazil's Health & Fitness Top Paid chart, and revenue isn't public. The likely picture: enough to keep a small team going, nowhere near a windfall.

### Who it's competing with

Brazil is one of the most crowded markets for GLP-1 tracking apps, and GLProgress arrived late, ranking around fourth or fifth in scale.

| Competitors | Launched | Scale (11-06) | How GLProgress compares |
|---|---|---|---|
| OzemPro | 2025-10 | 193k Play installs; #10 on Brazil's Health & Fitness Top Paid; charted in 15 countries | Launched 9 months earlier, name borrows from Ozempic |
| Monju: Emagrecer com GLP-1 | 2026-05/06 | 157k Play installs, +7k in 11.8 days; #7 on Brazil's Health & Fitness Top Paid; 22.9k iOS ratings | Launched around the same time, adds AI diet logging, expanded to Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina; 10 times GLProgress's scale |
| GLP-1 Control | 2026-02 | 93k Play installs; #63 on the charts | Big volume, but earns about the same as GLProgress |
| MeuGLP | 2026-02 | 2,484 iOS ratings; #93 on the charts | Made by a Brazilian training company |
| SoPro | 2026-04 | iOS #373 ratings | Focused on dose control, smaller |
| Shotsy, MeAgain | 2024–2025 | Each has 30–40k iOS ratings in the US store | The category leader in English, barely visible in Brazil |
| MyFitnessPal, Lose It, WW | Legacy product | Tens of millions of installs | All added GLP-1 features, but none is built around the injection itself |

The US side is busier: Codeway's Dosely has already run 684 ads on Meta since August (Meta Ad Library, 11-06).

Bottom line: **the features are nearly identical across the board** : doses, reminders, weight, symptoms. GLProgress's extras are the hedgehog, the two personalities, and the non-judgmental tone. Those may help its ratings, retention, and payments, but they aren't why it grew. The growth comes from the patent expiry lifting the whole category, and most of it went to OzemPro and Monju, which got there earlier and bigger.

### If it were you

**Grade C: worth studying, but not worth copying.** Brazil already has at least five local products, the leaders are in the top 10 on the charts, and they're expanding into Spanish-speaking markets. If you enter as the sixth, the most you can expect is the leftover search demand GLProgress is getting, a hundred or two hundred a day.

**Who it suits:** one or two people who know a language market that isn't yet covered locally and who can do ASO, or a team that already runs a health app and wants to add a subscription product line.

**Who it doesn't suit:** anyone planning to go head to head in Brazil, the US, or Spanish-speaking markets (OzemPro is in 15 countries, Monju is already in Latin America, and the US has Shotsy and big studios buying paid traffic); anyone expecting a mascot alone to drive growth. Here the mascot is a nice extra, not the engine.

**How to do it:** the real lesson is the playbook, not this app. Watch for "drug events": patent expiries, generic approvals, insurance reimbursement starting. The moment the pool of users suddenly grows, build a tracking tool in the local language around the injection itself: when the next one is, how much, side effects, weight. Make a recurring weekly action your subscription hook, price in local currency, and keep the tone non-preachy. Semaglutide patents in other countries have also been expiring over the past few years (inference, not verified country by country). Before committing, check how many generics your target country's drug regulator has approved and how many local-language "GLP-1" apps the store already has. If there are fewer than two, go ahead.

**How to get users:** mostly store search, with the terms locals actually type (drug names, "pen," "weight-loss shot") in your name and subtitle. Early on, ask happy users for ratings during onboarding to build a few hundred high scores, then add a referral reward.

**When to get in:** the first three months after generics hit the local market. GLProgress arrived almost four months after Brazil's patent expired, and all that was left was fifth place.

**Signs you've got it wrong:** (1) GLProgress's daily installs climb to over a thousand in the next two months and it breaks into the top 30 on the charts. That would mean a late entrant that differentiates on emotion can still break through, and Brazil isn't saturated yet. (2) The reverse: Monju or OzemPro launches a local-language version in the country you picked. That gap is already gone.

---

Data and sources: Google Play listing and reviews (11-06); Google Play Brazil Health & Fitness charts (10-29 to 11-06); the install history curve is a third-party estimate; App Store Brazil ratings and charts (10-28 to 11-04); official site glprogress.app (11-06); Meta Ad Library (11-06); Brazil's patent expiry dates per Agência Brasil and Anvisa reporting 2026-03. Anything marked "inference" is an inference.

[Android store page ↗](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.glpprogress.app)

**Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report**

Competitors

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monju: Emagrecer com GLP-1(Meu Guru) | iOS | 2026-05 | Play 157k installs, 7 new daily users 11.8k; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Grossing #7; Brazil iOS 22.9k ratings | Launched around the same time but 10 times the scale; adds AI nutrition; expanded to Spanish-speaking markets; from a multi-product team |
| OzemPro(FITCAL LTDA) | Android | 2025-10 | Play 193k installs; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Paid #10; 18k iOS ratings in Brazil; charted in 15 countries | Launched 9 months earlier, borrows the Ozempic name, already multi-country |
| GLP-1 Control | Android | 2026-02 | Play 93k installs; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Paid #63 | Installs are 6 times GLProgress's, yet chart rank is about the same; GLProgress earns more per user |
| MeuGLP(BI TREINAMENTOS DIGITAIS) | iOS | 2026-02 | 2,484 iOS ratings in Brazil; Health & Fitness Top Paid #93 | Made by a Brazilian training company, similar features |
| SoPro: Controle GLP-1 e Doses | iOS | 2026-04 | Brazil iOS 373 ratings | Focused on dose control, smaller scale |
| Shotsy / MeAgain | iOS | 2024-05 / 2025-04 | US iOS: 34.5k and 40.1k ratings respectively | The English-language category leader, weak localization in Brazil |
| MyFitnessPal / Lose It / WW | Big-company features | Around 2010 | Tens of millions of installs | General weight-loss / calorie tracker, not built around the shots |

Where users come from

- Inferred **Store search / ASO** : name and description include GLP and caneta; installs follow a smooth linear curve, 50–250 per day, no spikes (googleplay.app_day_ext)

- Inferred **In-app rating prompt** : 1,421 ratings for 14.7k installs (about 9.6%), 1★ and 2★ are both 0, only 22 written reviews, mostly from day one ("estou começando agora")

- **Confirmed** **Referrals** : the 0.1.18 version of 2026-10-01 added "Indique e Ganhe", rewarding users when invited friends subscribe (Play / iOS release notes)

- Inferred **Meta ads** : no package name or domain for it in the metaads library, but that library doesn't cover Brazilian keywords, so this can't be ruled out

- Inferred **TikTok / Instagram / X / press** : TikHub, Jina and x-radar found no related content

## GLProgress (br.com.glpprogress.app) research report

> Research date 2026-11-06. Sources: our googleplay / appstore / metaads libraries (agent-im server), Google Play listing and reviews (scraped via google-play-scraper and r.jina.ai), iTunes lookup, official site glprogress.app, Jina / TikHub / x-radar search.

### One line

A small Brazilian team's (TINY TEAMS LTDA, only this one app in the library) GLP-1 weight-loss shot tracker: logs injections, weight and symptoms, has a hedgehog mascot, and sells subscriptions. It is a **small player that jumped in** during the 2026-year Brazilian "weight-loss shot" boom, not a breakout hit: about 15k installs on Play, around #64 on the Brazil Health & Fitness Top Grossing chart. In the same category, Monju and OzemPro have more than 10 times its installs.

### 1. Basic data

| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Play installs | 14,740 (store tier 10 mil+) | googleplay.app_day,2026-11-06 |
| Play 7 new installs per day | 1,357 (about 190/day) | googleplay.app_profile |
| Play rating | 4.92, **1,421 ratings, only 22 written reviews** ; star distribution 1★0 / 2★0 / 3★27 / 4★54 / 5★1,337 | Google Play listing (scraper, 2026-11-06) |
| Play charts | Brazil HEALTH_AND_FITNESS Top Grossing #62–#64 (on the chart every day since 10-29) | googleplay.chart_rank |
| In-app purchase prices | R$29.99–R$119.90 per item (about $6.99–$39.99 on the card) | Play listing |
| Play launch | Our library records the first release as 2026-07-13 (released_reset=True: reviews predate the store date); the store page says 2026-07-03; the 2026-08-24 on the data card is the date reset after the info was edited | googleplay.app, Play page |
| iOS | id6788891163,2026-07-24 listed, version 0.1.18; Brazil store 249 ratings, average 4.93; 2–6 new ratings per day; Health & Fitness category chart #133–#210 (moving between Top Grossing and Top Free) | iTunes lookup;appstore.app_day 2026-10-28~11-04 |
| Developer | TINY TEAMS LTDA, Curitiba, Brazil; contact email ruan.hey@glprogress.app; website glprogress.app | Play "Sobre o desenvolvedor" |

**Growth curve** (googleplay.app_day_ext, with historical data backfilled by AppstoreSpy): installs started in Jul 18 and then held steady at 50–250 per day, most days in the 100–200 range; no day spiked into the thousands, and the highest day was 10-22 at 627. Cumulative: about 1.6k by early August, 6.3k by early September, 10k by early October, 14.5k by early November. This is a **smooth linear curve** , with none of the steep climbs you see from breakout hits, influencer videos or big paid acquisition.

### 2. Competitors: Brazil is one of the most crowded markets for GLP-1 tracker apps

| Product | Platform | Launched | Scale (as of 2026-11-06) | How it differs from GLProgress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monju: Emagrecer com GLP-1(Meu Guru) | iOS + Android | 2026-05/06 | Play 157k installs, 7 new per day 11.8k; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Grossing #7, Play overall Top Grossing #188; Brazil iOS 22.9k ratings, 7 new per day 1,201, Health & Fitness Top Grossing #6 | Entered around the same time, but adds AI nutrition and food logging, and has expanded to Spanish-speaking markets (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina). It comes from a team that has shipped several apps; its scale is 10 times GLProgress's |
| OzemPro(FITCAL LTDA) | iOS + Android | 2025-10 | Play 193k installs; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Grossing #10; Brazil iOS 18k ratings; charted in 15 countries | Entered 9 months earlier, name directly riffs on "Ozempic"; already multi-country |
| GLP-1 Control | Android | 2026-02 | Play 93k installs; Brazil Health & Fitness Top Grossing #63, similar rank to GLProgress | Installs are 6 times GLProgress's, but the grossing rank is about the same, suggesting GLProgress earns more from each user |
| MeuGLP(BI TREINAMENTOS DIGITAIS) | iOS | 2026-02 | 2,484 iOS ratings in Brazil; Health & Fitness Top Paid #93 | Backed by a Brazilian training company |
| SoPro: Controle GLP-1 e Doses(DocPocket) | iOS | 2026-04 | Brazil iOS 373 ratings, Health & Fitness Top Free #49 | Focused on dose control |
| Shotsy | iOS + Android | 2024-05 | US iOS 34.5k ratings, Play 310k installs, charted in 16 countries | The category leader in English-speaking markets, with almost no presence in Brazil |
| MeAgain | iOS + Android | 2025-04 | US iOS 40.1k ratings | English-speaking markets |
| Dosely(Codeway) | iOS + Android | Running ads since 2026-08 | 120 ads running on Meta, 684 in history | Big-studio paid acquisition at scale (US) |
| General calorie / weight-loss apps (MyFitnessPal, Lose It, WW) | big tech | — | Tens of millions of installs | All have added GLP-1-related features, but none is built specifically around the shots |

Data from googleplay.app_profile / chart_rank, appstore.app_profile, metaads.advertiser, dated 2026-11-06.

**Takeaway** : The GLP-1 tracker space is crowded, with at least 5 local products in Brazil alone. GLProgress came late (2026-07) and ranks roughly 4–5 by scale, so it is a follower.

### 3. Why users are showing up now: timing

- **Semaglutide's patent in Brazil expired in March 2026** , and Anvisa has approved a dozen-plus generic and similar drugs (for example EMS's Olire). After media reports of price cuts, the user base for "weight-loss shots" (canetas emagrecedoras) grew quickly (BBC Brasil, Folha 2026-01, voysaude coverage). Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is also on sale in Brazil.

- The shots are taken once a week, and users have to track doses, injection sites, side effects and weight. That is a **real, recurring need** , which is why a batch of local apps appeared in 2026 (Monju May, SoPro April, GLP-1 Control February, GLProgress July).

- GLProgress's volume mostly comes from demand that already exists in the category (users searching the store for "GLP-1", "caneta", "Mounjaro"); it did not create that demand itself.

### 4. Growth tactics (where users come from)

| Channel | Evidence | Confirmed? |
|---|---|---|
| Store search / ASO | "GLP" appears in the name and subtitle; the Play description reads "Monitore seu tratamento GLP. Acompanhe doses, alimentação e peso". The smooth linear growth curve looks like search-driven traffic. | Inferred, not confirmed |
| In-app rating prompt | 1,421 ratings for 14.7k installs, **a rating rate of about 9.6%** (typical apps see 1–2%); 1★ and 2★ are both 0; only 22 written reviews, nearly all from day one ("estou começando agora", "bora testar", "Baixei o app hoje"). The prompt was probably shown during onboarding, and likely only satisfied users were asked to rate. High ratings in turn lift store conversion. | Strong inference (the data is solid, the mechanism has no direct evidence) |
| Referrals | The 2026-10-01 version (0.1.18) added "Indique e Ganhe": users get a reward when invited friends subscribe | Launch confirmed, effect unknown |
| Meta ads | Our metaads library has no package name or domain for it (this library's keywords only cover the US / UK / Germany / Japan, so it doesn't mean they didn't run ads in Brazil); the Facebook Ad Library web page can't be scraped | Unconfirmed |
| TikTok / Instagram / X / press | TikHub search for "glprogress" turns up no related videos; Jina finds no official Instagram or press coverage; x-radar search for "GLProgress" returns 0 posts in the past 90 days | No evidence found |

### 5. Why users stay and why they pay

- The shot is a fixed weekly action, so reminders and logs give people a natural reason to come back; a single dose costs R$800–1,400, so a R$29.99 subscription is small change next to the drug price.

- Product details (from the website): reminders for the next injection, current dose and cycle, "estimated drug level in the body" (~3.1 mg), weight trends ("don't treat any single day as a verdict"), symptoms, nutrition and exercise logs; on iOS it also syncs with Apple Health.

- **Emotional layer** : the hedgehog mascot has two personalities, "Tranquilo" (laid-back) and "Pistola" (grumpy, won't let you off if you skip a shot), and shows up in reminders, celebrations and restarts. One of the premium selling points is "choose your mascot's personality."

- The positioning is "sem julgamento" (non-judgmental), aimed at the shame felt by people trying to lose weight.

- Its Top Grossing rank is about the same as GLP-1 Control's, but its installs are only one-sixth of that, which suggests decent paid conversion (inference: similar chart rank, fewer installs).

### 6. Differentiation

- Compared with Monju / OzemPro: the features are nearly identical (doses, weight, symptoms, nutrition). What differs is the **hedgehog mascot + two personalities + the "non-judgmental" tone** , plus a cleaner "what to do today" interface.

- This differentiation **is not why it took off** ; it hasn't really taken off much either. Its volume comes from category demand and store search; the mascot at most helped a little with retention, ratings and paid conversion. Most of the volume went to Monju and OzemPro.

### 7. Visibility

- Revenue is not public; no press coverage, X posts, TikTok videos or Product Hunt listings were found. **It's still little known** .

- But the "Brazil GLP-1 tracking app" category itself is crowded and already visible: Monju reached the top 10 of Brazil's Health & Fitness Top Grossing, and large studios like Codeway are buying heavy paid acquisition in the US.

### 8. What to borrow

1. **Ride drug and policy events** : patent expiries and generic launches suddenly enlarge the group of people on the drug, and a tool built around the act of taking it will attract store-search traffic on its own.

2. A fixed weekly action plus reminders is a strong subscription hook.

3. Sell mascot personalities (laid-back / grumpy) as a paid feature to give the tool emotional appeal and a sharing hook (see Duolingo).

4. Prompt for a rating early in onboarding; you can quickly collect thousands of 4.9-star ratings and lift store conversion.

5. Local language, local pricing (in reais), and "non-judgmental" copy.

### 9. Uncertain

- Whether it runs Meta / Google ads in Brazil (our ad library doesn't cover Brazilian keywords);

- Real subscription revenue and conversion rates;

- iOS downloads (only 249 ratings, growing very slowly; Android looks like the main channel);

- Whether the ratings were requested mainly from satisfied users via prompts (only indirect signs in the data, no direct evidence);

- How "Indique e Ganhe" (refer and earn) performed after launch (daily new installs rose slightly in late October, with a spike on 10-22 627, but that can't be attributed to it).

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.