Laying Out Variable-Height Images in Two Columns: A Masonry Wallpaper Gallery in a Rork Expo App
From why numColumns cannot pack variable-aspect images cleanly, to a dependency-free column-balancing algorithm, to keeping virtualization with FlashList masonry and a pragmatic no-dependency fallback, building a wallpaper gallery with real code.
The App Icon Badge Still Says 3 — Rebuilding Expo Badge Counts Around a Single Source of Truth
Why an Expo app's icon badge drifts out of sync with real unread counts and refuses to clear — and how to rebuild it around a single source of truth, with working recompute-and-sync code and the production pitfalls that bite you.
Cloud-Synced Folders Break App Builds — Excluding Build Artifacts From Sync to Fix It for Good
A project living in Dropbox or iCloud Drive stopped building one morning. The cause was sync creating conflicted copies inside build artifacts. Here is how I excluded node_modules and Pods from sync to stop the recurrence, told as an indie developer's field notes.
Building a One-Time Code Field in Expo — SMS Autofill and Segmented Display Together
A six-digit verification screen looks trivial, but once you account for SMS autofill, pasting, and deleting one digit at a time, it needs real care. Here is how to nail the iOS and Android autofill first, then build a segmented look on top of a single TextInput that does not break.
Should You Show a Read More Link? Let the Rendered Text Decide in Rork (Expo)
Clamping a product description to three lines and adding a Read more toggle sounds simple, until the toggle also appears under single-line text. This walks through measuring the real line count with onTextLayout so the toggle only shows when text actually overflows, covering iOS vs Android quirks, expand animation, and font scaling.
Screening Images On Device Before They Appear — Notes on SensitiveContentAnalysis
Implementation notes on blocking inappropriate images before they render, right on the device, for apps that handle AI-generated or user-submitted photos. Covers calling Apple's SensitiveContentAnalysis framework from Swift and wiring it into Rork Max native code or an Expo native module, with the pitfalls I actually hit.
Adding Home-Screen Quick Actions to a Rork App — dynamic items without cold-launch drops
How to implement the long-press quick actions on a Rork (Expo) app icon. Covers static vs dynamic items, the iOS/Android differences, and the cold-launch problem where the action arrives before the router is ready — solved with a hold-and-replay design.
Previewing Files In-App in Rork — calling Quick Look safely from Expo
How to preview PDFs, images, and Office documents in place without sending users out of your app, using Quick Look (QLPreviewController) from Rork (Expo). Covers pre-downloading remote files, the local-URL requirement, the Android FileProvider alternative, and handling the share button.
Adding a keyboard toolbar to Rork text inputs — unifying iOS InputAccessoryView and an Android bar into one component
How to add a toolbar pinned above the keyboard — a Done button or quick-insert actions — to the React Native app Rork generates. The iOS InputAccessoryView and a hand-built Android bar, folded into one reusable component, with working code.
Clipboard UX in Expo apps — copy and paste without flooding users with iOS's paste banner
When you wire up copy and paste with expo-clipboard, iOS's paste permission banner can fire constantly and quietly erode trust. Here's exactly when the banner appears, and how hasStringAsync lets you gate a Paste button without ever reading the contents.
Handling iOS Limited Photo Library Access in a Rork (Expo) App
Handle iOS limited photo library access (selected photos only) correctly in a Rork (Expo) app. Covers the three states of full / limited / denied, designing a screen that works from the selected subset, and a path to add more photos, all with working code.
Respecting Metered Connections and Low Data Mode in an Image-Heavy Rork App
In an image-heavy Rork (Expo) app, hold back prefetching on metered connections and Low Data Mode. Read the connection's character from NetInfo details, drop image quality, and defer prefetch with an adaptive policy layer, all with working code.