All Articles
Logging Design for Rork Apps: What to Keep and How to Redact PII
Rork-generated apps tend to scatter console.log everywhere, and when a bug appears you cannot read the part that matters. This designs structured logging, log levels, automatic PII masking, and production send control — all with code you can use as-is.
When Rork-Built Lists Stutter: Designing Image Caching and Prefetch
A FlatList from Rork starts stuttering once the images pile up. Here is how I restore smoothness with expo-image caching, recyclingKey, prefetch, and a move to FlashList, with the device numbers I measured.
Before You Pay $200/mo for Rork Max, Map How Far Expo Reaches in Three Tiers
Wanting widgets or Live Activities makes Rork Max tempting, but most of those features are reachable from the Expo setup that standard Rork generates. Here is how I sort each Apple-native feature into three tiers—reachable in Expo, reachable with a custom module, or where Max is the pragmatic answer—and verify which tier my app is in before paying.
Adding a Minimal Test Safety Net to Rork-Generated Screens
You add one new screen to a Rork app, and a completely unrelated paywall check quietly breaks. This is how to bolt a minimal automated test safety net onto generated code with Jest and React Native Testing Library — protecting only the three places that hurt when they break.
Make ITMS-91053 Stop Catching Your Rork Max App — A Release-Proof Privacy Manifest Workflow
Fixing ITMS-91053 once doesn't keep it away — every new dependency can bring it back. Here's a field-tested workflow to audit your dependency tree, generate declarations, and catch the rejection locally before you upload.
Trimming App Size for Rork Max Apps: App Thinning and On-Demand Resources
Rork Max ships images and fonts straight into the bundle, so a generated SwiftUI app quietly grows heavy. Here is how I use App Thinning and On-Demand Resources to shrink the first download, with the device numbers I measured and a size budget you can run.
Before You Burn Out Hand-Testing Every Release: Automate Your Rork App's Critical Flows with Maestro
With Rork, a prompt that fixes one screen can quietly break another. Here is how I automate the revenue-critical path from launch to paywall using Maestro and run it in CI, including the spots where I got stuck as an indie developer.
A Custom Screen Appears When You Long-Press a Notification in a Rork Max App — Implementing a Notification Content Extension
How to add a Notification Content Extension to a Swift app generated by Rork Max so a custom UI is drawn only when the notification expands. Covers the split with the Service Extension, updating the in-notification UI from a button, sharing state via an App Group, and the order to check when nothing shows — all with working code.
Retrofitting Offline-First Into a Rork App: Persistent Cache and a Write Queue
Reviews kept saying the app was blank on the subway. Polishing error screens was not enough, so I retrofitted TanStack Query persistence and an offline write queue into a Rork-generated Expo app. Optimistic updates, reconnect flushing, and keeping the layer safe from regeneration are all covered with code.
Building an Ambient Display App for Apple TV with Rork Max
Use the native Swift that Rork Max generates as a foundation for an Apple TV app that quietly plays on a loop. We cover Top Shelf, the focus engine, and seamless video loops, with the practical lessons that only surface in real operation.
Running Rork Max Swift Apps in Many Languages with String Catalog
An operational design for taking the Swift apps Rork Max generates into multiple languages, centered on the .xcstrings String Catalog. From extracting strings to handling plurals, pouring in translations, and checking for breakage, these are the lessons from keeping multilingual apps running.
Turning Rork App Crash Reports You Can Actually Read — Field Notes on dSYM Recovery, Context Logs, and Staged Distribution
You added Crashlytics, but the stack traces are unreadable. Field notes on restoring dSYM/mapping symbols, logging the context that led to a crash, and gating distribution with App Distribution and GitHub Actions.