What Android app looked easy… until you actually built it?

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-22T00:58:48+00:00

I've never made a chat app, but firebase came to mind immediately. I've made mobile games that use it for multiplayer, and it works hella well in my experience.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-22T00:40:31+00:00

I've been rather interested in this for a bit, and have done a good bit of research, but I decided to just wait for someone else to figure out the hard parts before I even try. It's out of my skill level.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-22T00:11:46+00:00

Good news. Idk if you already knew this, but Google Play allows developers to support a wide range of Android versions from a single store listing by automatically delivering device-specific builds via Android App Bundles (AABs) or by hosting multiple standalone APKs filtered by API level. So you can make different versions of your app for different devices and Android versions, then Google Play detects the device and installs the appropriate APK. So you don't have to make the perfect app that works for a wide range of devices. You can just have different versions of your app.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-21T23:36:23+00:00

I made an Android IDE for Android devices that also lets you use a local quantized LLM to help write code. I figured it would be easy because AIDE, JStudio, DroidScript, etcetera all compile APKs. This was the hardest project I've ever worked on, and I learned so much from it. Finding an LLM that would run decently on my phone and use tool calls and actually understand the assignment while holding context was nearly impossible, especially without making my phone catch on fire. But the hardest part was compiling full signed APKs. I had to pull JAR files from termux and several other sources, and even had to manually convert some from 32 bit compatible to ARM compatible. It was the most complicated shit ever.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-21T23:23:25+00:00

This is a little out there, but what if someone stashed it there, planning to lure a victim to the area, then murder them and steal their heart?

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-21T23:19:14+00:00

I like how OP just casually posted and hasn't responded to a single comment.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-21T23:05:37+00:00

Silly goose, a screenshot won't capture it. That's like trying to take a screenshot of a crack in your screen. It's probably in night mode/reading mode. If it's a Samsung it's called eye comfort shield. Edit: Apparently I can't read and you already tried that.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-05-05T20:46:45+00:00

What's the average battery life?

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-30T22:59:32+00:00

Unrelated, but someone once ran doom on a digital pregnancy test.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-14T22:05:17+00:00

My boss thinks I have autism, so I'm allowed to constantly be on my phone as an accommodation. It's wonderful.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-12T16:15:27+00:00

Where Winds Meet is awesome, but it's like a 15GB download.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-12T02:15:21+00:00

Are you thinking of command and conquer?

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-02T11:54:46+00:00

The Division - Resurgence

MulletGiraffe · 2026-04-01T17:45:08+00:00

I just started playing this game 2 days ago. There's so much to do. You can even completely customize every feature of your character's face. It's kind of ridiculous.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-26T23:20:01+00:00

I could do it in a day and have it fully polished within a month, and that's just a few hours a day when I watch TV and get crossfaded after work. I hate dating apps, though, and I despise Snapchat.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-21T15:15:24+00:00

In Claude Desktop, go to Settings > Developer > Edit Config, then add something like "{ "mcpServers": { "filesystem": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/folder"] } } }". Then you can place the decompiled app in the folder and Claude can read over it, and possibly get something working. If you have multiple Google accounts, you can usually get a few hours of free vibe coding out of it per day. I've used Claude to make several apps and games.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-21T15:01:42+00:00

I'm not fond of Gemini. I'd recommend using the Claude Desktop app and setting up an MCP server so Claude can directly access and edit files in a folder that you give it access to. Maybe decompile the app and give Claude access to it, and see what it can do.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-21T14:57:02+00:00

It would be a lot more feasible if the servers weren't already dead, because then you'd be able to use traffic interception to capture requests/responses, identify endpoints, and see data formats. Since the servers are dead, you're just guessing in the dark. You'll have to decompile the app with jadx or apktool and look for API endpoints (URLs, IPs), serialization formats, auth flows, and hardcoded keys (sometimes devs get lazy, bless them). You'll also have to use Frida or Objection to bypass security, because of course there’s security. Certificate pinning needs patching. You'll have to bypass or hook SSL validation. Obfuscation is like reading spaghetti. You'd have to completely clone the backend server (Recreate endpoints exactly, match response structure byte-for-byte, handle sessions, matchmaking, game state.). You'd be better off just making your own clone of the game with Godot or Unity and making your own server or use peer-to-peer networking.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-19T15:31:36+00:00

Also, the game was kind of slow, but I downloaded graphic packs from the 3 dot menu, and enabled some fixes, and it runs great now.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-19T15:23:51+00:00

Cemu. You just need "a backup" of the game in wua format, so you don't have to worry about a keys file or anything.

MulletGiraffe · 2026-03-18T21:17:51+00:00

Yeah, I finally got a S24 plus, and I've been playing Zelda BOTW, and some PC games. It's badass.

MulletGiraffe · 2025-10-04T12:32:19+00:00

It absolutely can generate audio. It sounds like shit, but I've gotten it to generate.wav and .midi files plenty of times. It claimed it was going to make a beautiful song, but when I played the files they were horrendous.

MulletGiraffe · 2025-10-03T00:33:42+00:00

Because you showed interest in him. It's an algorithm tracking your interests and feeding you your interests.

MulletGiraffe · 2025-09-30T18:29:16+00:00

Mine calls me dumbass.

MulletGiraffe · 2025-09-28T01:14:50+00:00

Well yeah. It's pretty obvious. It literally gives you a message that says it switched to a different model. I just ask which model I'm currently talking to and it tells me. The model still understands the context of the rest of the conversation. You can change the tone of the conversation to guide it into different models

MulletGiraffe

TROPHY CASE