Catch Real-Device Bugs Before You Ship: A Pre-Submission Checklist for Rork Share Links
Rork's editor preview runs in an ideal environment, so it hides bugs that only appear on real hardware. Here are the seven device differences to clear before you hand out a share link, in the order to check them, with the code to set up first.
Your Arabic Users See an Unmirrored Layout — RTL in a Rork (Expo) App and the Reload Trap
You added Arabic to a Rork-generated Expo app, but the screen never flips and the back button stays on the wrong side. The cause is that I18nManager.forceRTL requires a relaunch. This walks through detecting direction with expo-localization, applying it reliably with Updates.reloadAsync, swapping to marginStart, and mirroring only the arrows — all with working code.
Keep Your Rork App's Review From Stalling on a Privacy Manifest Gap
Handle PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy and Required Reason APIs in a Rork Expo app — a common cause of App Store review stalls — covering app.config.ts setup, collected-data declarations, third-party SDK checks, and a pre-submission verification script.
Watermark Only the Shared Image in Your Rork Wallpaper App
In a Rork-generated Expo wallpaper or image app, keep saved images untouched and burn a watermark only into the share export, shown two ways — react-native-view-shot and Skia — with the resolution-loss pitfalls to avoid.
Import the User's Own Image From the Files App in a Rork App, Without the URL Going Stale
Pull images from the Files app or iCloud Drive and the URL you picked goes invalid moments later. Here is how expo-document-picker, security-scoped URLs, and a reliable copy into your sandbox actually work, with running code.
Keep Audio Playing in the Background and Add Lock Screen Controls in a Rork App
How to make a Rork-generated Expo app keep playing music or healing sounds in the background and expose lock screen and Control Center controls, with working expo-audio code and the platform-specific gotchas.
When Push Notifications Reach Only Some Users — A Delivery-Reliability and Diagnosis Design for Rork (Expo) Apps
A design for diagnosing why push notifications reach only some users in a Rork-generated Expo app, by splitting send-to-display into stages and measuring delivery to close the gap. Covers stale-token cleanup, recording APNs/FCM failure codes, priority and message type, and a per-user triage procedure, with implementation.
Why Reinstalling Users Don't Return to 'First Run' — A First-Launch and State-Persistence Design for Rork (Expo) Apps
How to fix broken first-launch detection, onboarding, and free-trial state on reinstall in a Rork-generated Expo app, by treating it as an asymmetry in storage persistence. Covers what survives uninstall on iOS vs Android, separating install and version axes, and server-authoritative entitlements, with implementation.
Why Untranslated Strings Leak to Production Every Time You Add a Language — A Catalog and Gap-Detection Design for Rork (Expo) Apps
A design for stopping untranslated strings from leaking into production after you localize a Rork-generated Expo app. Covers a single source-of-truth catalog, CI-based missing/extra key detection, explicit fallback chains, plurals, and pseudolocalization for layout — with implementation.
The App Privacy Section That Grows the Moment You Add Ads and Subscriptions — Notes on What I Actually Checked
How I filled out App Store Connect's App Privacy section for a Rork (Expo) app with AdMob, RevenueCat, and Crashlytics — including the tracking-to-ATT chain, written up as field notes from running six apps.
Crashes Only in the Release Build — Rescuing Classes R8 Stripped in Expo (Android)
I turned on R8 code shrinking to slim down an AAB, and one screen started crashing only in production. Here is how I traced the stripped class through mapping.txt and added keep rules via expo-build-properties.
Three Builds on One iPhone: Environment Separation for Rork (Expo) Apps
Split a Rork-generated Expo app into dev, staging, and production builds that live side by side on one device. A hands-on walkthrough of dynamic app.config.ts, eas.json profiles, and isolating notifications, analytics, and billing per environment.