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What Android 16 ignores on tablets, and why app.json gives you no way out
Targeting API level 36 means screenOrientation is ignored on displays at least 600dp wide. Here is how to check your project without a tablet, why app.json cannot express a fix, and what the opt-out property actually restores.
Put Your Live Rork App on a Spare iPhone Before iOS 27 Ships
iOS 27 has shipped. Here is how to use a spare iPhone to check your live Rork app, what to look at first, which fixes you can ship from JavaScript, and how to keep the device ready for the next beta cycle.
I Split Rork and Claude Code by Who Owns the Build Environment
How to decide between Rork and a terminal coding agent using data from your own repository instead of impressions of generated code. Includes a script that counts which layer your maintenance work lands in, and a check that catches native settings silently disappearing on regeneration.
I Moved My Dark Mode Checks Into DevTools, and Only Four Places Still Need a Real Device
Expo SDK 57 added light and dark emulation to React Native DevTools, which ended my trips to the Settings app. What it swaps is the value JavaScript reports, so a few places still need a real toggle. Here is how to find that boundary in your own project.
I Moved the Thumbnails Assuming the Shipped Build Would Keep Asking for the Old Path
Reorganizing image directories on the server does not reach the builds already installed on people's phones. Here is the two-way fallback that returns 200 for both the old and new paths, the ordering rule for images versus catalog, and the four checks I run through a CDN before calling a release live.
Bumping targetSdk to 36 surfaced a 16 KB warning. These are two different deadlines
The August 31 target API 36 requirement and the February 1, 2027 16 KB page size requirement are separate conditions. Here is how to inspect your AAB without installing the NDK, and why a LOAD misalignment and a zip boundary miss need completely different fixes.
Predictive back on Android 16: what to fix before August 31, and what can wait
Targeting API 36 turns predictive back on by default and stops onBackPressed from firing. Here is how I split the work that the deadline actually requires from the work that does not, and how I kept the opt-out from disappearing on the next prebuild.
The names you can change, and the ones you can't — the 30 minutes before your first Rork release
An app has three names, and only the display name can be changed after release. Here is how I check the identifiers Rork fills in by default, using a dependency-free script, before I hit submit.
Every bulk replace exited zero. The damage was in the lines I did not delete
Run a bulk replace over generated code and the breakage lands on the neighbouring lines, not the matched ones. Here is what broke in a live project, and a dependency-free guard that checks the invariants a replace must preserve.
Apple's automated pass reads what your purpose strings are for, not whether they exist
Submit a Rork or Expo iOS build and you may get it back under Guideline 5.1.1 with a note about placeholder or otherwise insufficient purpose strings. Here is how to read a rejection that names no key, and how to rewrite the strings from app.json.
The four acceptance checks I still run after the build turns green
A successful build does not mean a shippable build. Here are the four failure classes an AI build loop cannot see, and a dependency-free script that inspects the artifact itself before you submit.
A beta-SDK build can reach TestFlight, but it can't reach review
Builds made with a beta Xcode can be distributed through TestFlight, but they cannot be submitted for App Store review. Here is how to check which SDK produced your build, and how to protect your release profile in eas.json.