Rork No Longer Creates New Expo Projects: Keep Yours, or Rebuild It in SwiftUI?
You can no longer start an Expo project in Rork, but existing ones keep building and shipping. Here is how to decide whether to stay on Expo or rebuild in SwiftUI, and what quietly goes missing when you rebuild.
Ask Rork for an iOS 27 feature and you may get last year's code back, with no error at all
iOS 27 ships on September 14. When a model is asked for an API it has never seen, there are two kinds of failure: the kind that stops your build, and the kind that does not. Here is why standard Rork and Rork Max differ, and the order I check generated code in.
I Added a Dim Screen Button, and iPhones Stayed Dark After the App Was Closed
In expo-brightness, setBrightnessAsync applies only to the current activity on Android, but changes the device brightness itself on iOS. Here is why the cleanup burden falls on one platform only, and a hook that restores brightness through AppState.
Your First EAS Workflow in a Rork Repo, and the Alert That Goes Missing Exactly When You Need It
Putting two files into .eas/workflows in a repo exported from Rork, and why a notification wired with needs stays silent on exactly the nights it fails — with the output of a small local checker I actually ran.
Whether You Need Rork Max Is Answered by Your Permissions, Not the Price Page
When I cannot decide between standard Rork and Rork Max, I stop reading the price page. Instead I pull every OS capability my app actually asks for out of app.json and Info.plist, then sort them into what Expo covers, what a config plugin covers, and what truly needs native Swift.
Adding .easignore stops EAS from reading .gitignore — count what actually ships to the build
EAS Build decides what to upload from .gitignore, and the moment you add .easignore the two swap places. Here is how I count the bundled files before sending, plus a measured result: once a parent directory is excluded, an exclamation mark cannot bring a file back.
There is no --json on eas env:list, so I rebuilt my environment variable inventory
eas env:list does not accept a --json flag. Here is how I turn --format short output into safe JSON, and how I spot a missing variable across three environments in one line.
Your Widget Extension Can Submit a BGTaskScheduler Request. It Just Cannot Register the Handler
Calling BGTaskScheduler from a widget extension compiles, submits, and returns true — and then nothing runs. Here is why registration belongs to the host app only, and how I moved refresh ownership back where it belongs across my wallpaper apps.
A Screen That Runs in Rork Companion Is Not Yet a Finished Screen
There is a gap between the app you hold in your hand through Rork Companion and the build that eventually reaches the App Store. Here is why free signing expires after a few days, what Companion can and cannot answer for you, and a small badge that keeps you honest about which build you are looking at.
EAS secret visibility does not keep a value out of your app — deciding prefix and visibility separately
The EXPO_PUBLIC_ prefix decides what ships inside your app; EAS visibility decides who can read it. Why stacking them blanks a value on OTA updates, and how to check your build.
When a link opens the browser instead of your app, look at the signing key before assetlinks.json
Android App Links fail silently when the certificate fingerprint does not match. Here is the real keytool output, the upload key versus app signing key trap, and a small checker you can run before you deploy.
My Second App From the Same Codebase Ships With a Distinct-Value Manifest
Google Play has drawn a clearer line around low-value apps. Here is how I decide where the distinct value of a sibling app lives, and the small script I run before every submission to check that the two apps have actually diverged.