All Articles
Staging Wallpaper Packs Before the First Launch: Where Rork Max and Background Assets Fit
Content-heavy apps tend to greet new users with an empty grid. Background Assets downloads content out-of-band, ahead of the first launch. Here is how I implement it in Rork Max's native Swift, a domain Rork (Expo) cannot reach easily, plus how I decide when it is worth it.
Building an iMessage Extension with Rork Max to Bring Your App's World into Messages — Notes on Distribution as Code
A walkthrough of adding an iMessage extension to the native Swift project Rork Max generates, sharing your app's assets right inside Messages. Covers compact/expanded presentation, sending messages, and diagnosing why the extension won't appear in the drawer — from an indie developer's distribution lens.
Building a WeatherKit App with Rork Max — The Auth and Attribution Pitfalls
When you add WeatherKit to a native Swift app generated by Rork Max, the first walls are authentication and attribution. Here is the workflow I confirmed: token handling, rate limits, and the mandatory data-source display.
Adding NFC Tag Reading to a Rork Max App with Core NFC
How to add Core NFC to a Swift app generated by Rork Max and read NDEF tags, covering the entitlement and Info.plist setup through the production gotchas, with real code.
Designing WidgetKit Timelines Around the Refresh Budget: Why My Wallpaper Widgets Stopped
Why does a home screen widget stop updating after the evening? A clear look at WidgetKit timeline design through three lenses: the refresh budget, the reload policy, and entry density. With a working TimelineProvider, an entry design that does not burn through the budget, and relevance-based prioritization, drawn from running six wallpaper apps solo.
Shipping Wallpaper Packs Without an App Review — Versioning and Delta Delivery for Remote Assets Across Six Apps
Re-submitting your app every time you add ten wallpapers grinds operations to a halt. Here is a manifest-based versioning scheme with delta downloads, cache invalidation, and rollback — with the implementation and measured transfer savings from running six apps in parallel.
When and How to Remove Features Nobody Uses — Auditing and Safely Retiring Functionality in Rork-Built Apps
Unused features quietly make an app harder to maintain. A field-tested playbook from running six wallpaper apps in parallel — how to measure feature usage, decide what to retire, and remove functionality in three safe stages with Remote Config.
Keeping a wallpaper app's binary small: moving images out of the bundle
Wallpaper apps bloat every time you add images. Here is where I draw the line between bundled and remote assets, how I keep first paint fast with prefetching, and the format work that cut transfer size to a third — with real numbers.
expo start --offline Says 'forbidden'? Corporate Proxy (403) vs Dependency Validation
Two different failures make 'expo start --offline' or EXPO_OFFLINE=1 die with 'forbidden': an HTTP 403 from a corporate proxy, and Expo CLI validateDependenciesVersions guard. How to tell them apart, when to set HTTP_PROXY to route through the proxy, and when to go fully offline with pre-generated caches instead.
How I Localized My Play Store Screenshots into 16 Languages — Swapping PSD Text with Python and Standardizing on Noto Fonts
An implementation log of localizing an Android wallpaper app's store screenshots into 16 languages: swapping PSD text layers per language with Python, auto-shrinking overflow, and assigning the right font per script — with the actual code and a font cheat sheet.
Unifying Onboarding Across Six Wallpaper Apps: What One Month of First-Day Retention Showed Me
I folded the onboarding flows of six wallpaper apps scaffolded with Rork into a single config-driven component and watched first-day retention and push opt-in for a month. Here is an honest, operational note on what moved and what didn't.
Fixing the 'Signed With the Wrong Key' Error When Uploading a Rork App to Google Play
Your Rork app builds fine but Google Play rejects the upload with 'signed with the wrong key'? Here's how to tell which signing key is involved and the exact steps to fix it for each build setup.