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August 31 Means Something Different Depending on Whether You Plan to Ship an Update
Two separate conditions land on Google Play's August 31 date: API 36 to submit an update, and API 35 to stay discoverable to new users. Here is how I sorted six apps, and who actually gets the extension form.
You Cannot Shorten Review, But You Can Still Choose the Moment Your App Goes Live
Review time is out of your hands. The moment your app appears in the store is not. Here is how the three App Store Connect release options, Google Play managed publishing, and eas submit fit together.
Three conditions that make Play Policy Insights report nothing on an Expo project
Google Play now ships an open-source policy auditing skill. Running it against an Expo-shaped project, one directory argument moved the result from five detected data categories to zero. Here is when the scan actually reaches your code, and where its output should not be trusted.
Version code 1 has already been used — who owns that number, app.json or EAS?
When a Play upload stops on versionCode, check where the number actually lives before bumping it. A one-command way to tell whether app.json, EAS, or build.gradle wins.
The three places I had to fix before a Rork project actually targeted API level 36
My app.json said targetSdkVersion 36. The value my build actually read was 35. Here is the script that reports the effective value, and how I split my apps between raising, leaving alone, and requesting an extension.
Write .gitignore Before You Run git init on an Exported Rork Project
Running git init on a freshly exported Rork project puts your signing keys and .env straight into history. I measured what gets committed when the ignore file comes first versus last, and which exclusion patterns actually work.
When an Expo UI drop-in swap actually removes a dependency
Expo UI went stable in SDK 56 with drop-in replacements for eight community packages. Swapping one import does not always shrink your dependency list. Here is how to decide which swaps actually pay off, straight from the dependency graph.
My chart broke on day one, not at scale
A line chart that vanished for anyone with only a few days of data. The cause was a zero-height Y axis turning coordinates into NaN. Here is the measured behavior and the small normalization layer that fixed it.
Find the Code That Trips App Store 2.5.2 Before You Submit
If a remote value can change what your app does, Guideline 2.5.2 may apply. Here is where the line actually sits, plus a script that surfaces the risky paths in your repo before submission.
The Apple-side setup Rork cannot do for you before your first release
Rork Max automates the build, the certificates, and the submission. Your Apple account, contracts, and tax details are still yours to fill in. Here is the order that avoids dead time.
TestFlight External Testing or Phased Release: Where a Solo Developer's Time Actually Pays Off
When you ship a Rork-built app to other people, you can recruit external testers or let a phased release absorb the risk. Here is how I split my limited time between the two, based on where distribution actually stalls and which three areas still deserve pre-release checks.
Find the native edits expo prebuild will erase before you upgrade to SDK 57
Expo SDK 57 makes expo prebuild clear and regenerate ios and android by default. Here is how to audit your hand edits first, move them into config plugins, and why 57.0.9 matters for Reanimated apps.