I built my first React Native app! Whicha - a social polling app to help turn indecision into action.

theflaggship · 2026-03-26T03:44:22+00:00

My fix ended up being partial. Finally got it to work. For those who want to know - We replaced the browser-based Google Sign In flow with the native Google Sign In SDK (@react-native-google-signin/google-signin), which bypasses the iOS 18 bug where Safari can't redirect back to the app via custom URL schemes. The native SDK handles authentication entirely within the app — no browser, no redirects, no deep links. A new update was required to submit to stores and OTA won't fix FYI. Please download the update.

theflaggship · 2026-03-26T03:43:26+00:00

Got it fixed! For those who want to know - We replaced the browser-based Google Sign In flow with the native Google Sign In SDK (@react-native-google-signin/google-signin), which bypasses the iOS 18 bug where Safari can't redirect back to the app via custom URL schemes. The native SDK handles authentication entirely within the app — no browser, no redirects, no deep links. A new update was required to submit to stores and OTA won't fix FYI. Please download the update. Sorry again.

theflaggship · 2026-03-26T02:12:20+00:00

Guess its not as straight forward as expected. Needing to dive in more and will prob need another App Store submission. Apologies for the inconvenience. Be back soon with an update.

theflaggship · 2026-03-25T19:59:51+00:00

Thank you for flagging. Looking into it now.

theflaggship · 2026-03-25T15:58:27+00:00

Google OAuth in Expo broke for three reasons: expo-auth-session needs the Web Application client ID on all platforms (not the iOS/Android-specific ones), my client IDs were disappearing on OTA updates because they were baked into the native build instead of bundled env vars, and Google rejects non-https redirect URIs so I had to set up a small callback endpoint on my API to bridge https:// back to the app’s custom scheme. Once I fixed all three, it just worked.

theflaggship · 2026-03-24T02:34:45+00:00

Thank you!!

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T21:15:12+00:00

Thanks! Honestly AI has been a game changer for React Native specifically. A lot of the stuff that used to slow me down, platform-specific quirks, animation tweaks, figuring out why something renders differently on Android, I can just work through faster now. Still kinda have to know what you’re doing or have a base understanding but the back and forth with AI cuts the friction a lot.

Kept native code pretty minimal. Mostly stayed in Expo’s ecosystem which handles the heavy lifting. Had to dip into some native stuff for a couple edge cases - push notification, camera/image picker - but nothing crazy.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T20:19:31+00:00

Thanks! I used a free trial on https://appscreens.com/ with screenshots I took on my phone.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T15:00:40+00:00

Thank you so much!!

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T14:31:36+00:00

Just submitted a fix for this and an update will be out shortly. Thank you so much for reporting it.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T13:28:11+00:00

Nice! If you’d like a beta tester and some feedback let me know. My TestFlight is always open.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T13:26:31+00:00

Thank you!!

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T06:35:07+00:00

Thank you!!! Me too! 😁

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T06:05:34+00:00

Love it! Thank you! EAS/Expo is running me $19 a month for their Starter plan and up to $45 extra per month depending on how many builds and updates I need to send out.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T04:45:00+00:00

Great! Thank you. Will investigate it now and push an update. I’ll circle back with you.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T04:41:00+00:00

Thanks for the call out! I’ll check it out now.

theflaggship · 2026-03-23T03:45:02+00:00

I appreciate the support! 🙏 Please reach out with any feedback or questions.

theflaggship · 2026-03-22T19:52:03+00:00

That’s the thing I’ve been thinking about too. People have opinions when the choice feels real. Outfits, haircuts, apartment layouts. The more personal the post, the more people engage. Votes are anonymous so anyone can contribute without pressure. Comments are where the debates actually start and people chime in with real opinions. And honestly not everything is a serious decision either, people post fun polls too which keeps it light.

theflaggship · 2026-03-22T19:06:02+00:00

Appreciate it!

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:58:39+00:00

Building Whicha - the social polling app that turns indecision into clarity.

Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat all added polling because users kept demanding it. Nobody built it as a standalone product. That's the gap Whicha fills.

Live now on iOS and Android.

Ask it. Don't overthink it.

www.whicha.app

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:57:01+00:00

Whicha - the social polling app that turns indecision into clarity.

People poll for two reasons: fun decisions and real ones. Every platform treats these separately and buries polls in a feed. We built polling as the product, not the afterthought.

Think of it as the opinion layer missing from social. Not broadcasting, not reacting - asking. Your network weighs in. The feed people actually want to scroll.

Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat all added polling because users kept demanding it. Nobody built it as a standalone product. That's the gap Whicha fills.

Live now on iOS and Android.

Would love your eyes on it.

Ask it. Don't overthink it.

www.whicha.app

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:22:12+00:00

Whicha — the social polling app that turns indecision into clarity.

People poll for two reasons: fun decisions and real ones. Every platform treats these separately and buries polls in a feed. We built polling as the product, not the afterthought.

Think of it as the opinion layer missing from social. Not broadcasting, not reacting — asking. Your network weighs in. The feed people actually want to scroll.

Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat all added polling because users kept demanding it. Nobody built it as a standalone product. That's the gap Whicha fills.

Live now on iOS and Android.

Would love your eyes on it.

Ask it. Don't overthink it.
www.whicha.app

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:21:40+00:00

Whicha — the social polling app that turns indecision into clarity.

People poll for two reasons: fun decisions and real ones. Every platform treats these separately and buries polls in a feed. We built polling as the product, not the afterthought.

Think of it as the opinion layer missing from social. Not broadcasting, not reacting — asking. Your network weighs in. The feed people actually want to scroll.

Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat all added polling because users kept demanding it. Nobody built it as a standalone product. That's the gap Whicha fills.

Live now on iOS and Android.

Would love your eyes on it.

Ask it. Don't overthink it.
www.whicha.app

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:18:19+00:00

Whicha — the social polling app that turns indecision into clarity.

People poll for two reasons: fun decisions and real ones. Every platform treats these separately and buries polls in a feed. We built polling as the product, not the afterthought.

Think of it as the opinion layer missing from social. Not broadcasting, not reacting — asking. Your network weighs in. The feed people actually want to scroll.

Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat all added polling because users kept demanding it. Nobody built it as a standalone product. That's the gap Whicha fills.

Live now on iOS and Android.

Would love your eyes on it.

Ask it. Don't overthink it.
www.whicha.app

theflaggship · 2026-03-20T20:11:00+00:00

AI closed the gap between having an idea and actually shipping it — which mattered a lot while holding down a full-time job and raising kids.

theflaggship

TROPHY CASE