#039 - Award Winning Credit Card App Yonder with Henry Moulton

04/23/24 • 50 min

In this episode, Henry Moulton, principal engineer at Yonder, shares the story of building the award-winning mobile app Yonder. He talks about the challenges working with private Apple and Google APIs as well as the technology stack of their React Native app. Henry also recaps his App.js talk about Maestro from 2023 and how AI is enabling developers to build even better products today. Tune in to hear what it takes to build outstanding apps with React Native!

Learn React Native - https://galaxies.dev

Henry Moulton

Henry Twitter: https://twitter.com/HenryMoulton
Yonder: https://www.yonder.com/

Links

Henrys App.js talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCzBdFCoqc
React Native Connection: https://reactnativeconnection.io/

Takeaways

React Native is usually a better choice for B2C apps than frameworks like Ionic
Expo EAS is a key component of shipping weekly app updates at Yonder
Google and Apple have private APIs for working with payments and credit cards
Maestro is the rising star of end-to-end testing in React Native
AI is not taking developer jobs, but makes every person capable of producing more and better ouput

Learn React Native - https://galaxies.dev

Henry Moulton

Henry Twitter: https://twitter.com/HenryMoulton
Yonder: https://www.yonder.com/

Links

Henrys App.js talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCzBdFCoqc
React Native Connection: https://reactnativeconnection.io/

Takeaways

React Native is usually a better choice for B2C apps than frameworks like Ionic
Expo EAS is a key component of shipping weekly app updates at Yonder
Google and Apple have private APIs for working with payments and credit cards
Maestro is the rising star of end-to-end testing in React Native
AI is not taking developer jobs, but makes every person capable of producing more and better ouput

Previous Episode

#038 - Expo EAS and 100 Snakes with Jon Samp

In this episode, Jon Samp, head of product at Expo, shares his background in herpetology research and how he transitioned into programming. He discusses his experience developing the Codecademy app with Expo and the challenges he faced. John also talks about his other apps, including the Single Origin coffee timer and WordCheck for Scrabble. He emphasizes the ease of creating hobby apps with React Native and the importance of using native elements for good design. The conversation concludes with a discussion on EAS and how teams can work better together. Jon highlights the improvements being made to the onboarding experience and the Expo dashboard, and the focus on workflow improvements and release management. He also shares future plans for EAS, including enhancing team coordination and communication and improving device management and notifications.

Learn React Native - https://galaxies.dev

Jon Samp

Jon Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonsamp
Jon Website: https://jonsamp.dev

Links

Expo EAS: https://expo.dev/eas

Takeaways

React Native and Expo make it easy to develop hobby apps without a large team or production process.
Using native elements and animations in React Native apps can enhance the user experience and make the app feel more polished.
EAS (Expo Application Services) simplifies the development and deployment process for React Native apps.
EAS allows for side-loading apps on iOS and Android, making it easy to distribute apps for development purposes.
The easiest way to distribute iOS apps is to use EAS device calling create, which generates a QR code that can be scanned to install a provisioning profile.
EAS supports updates and over-the-air updates, allowing for easy distribution of app updates to users.
EAS provides a faster and more convenient way to build and distribute private applications compared to using Xcode and Android Studio.
Future plans for EAS include improving the onboarding experience, enhancing team coordination and communication, and adding features for release management and workflow improvements.

Next Episode

#040 - From Next.js to React Native with Kitze

In this conversation, Simon and Kitze discuss various topics including Kitze's experience as a React Native developer, his encounter with Gary Vee, and his popular product Sizzy. The conversation revolves around the challenges of building customizable UI components in React Native and the lack of comprehensive libraries. Simon and Kitze discuss their frustrations with existing libraries and the need for better primitives and components. The conversation then shifts to the Benji app and the process of building a native app from scratch. In this conversation, Kitze and Simon discuss various topics related to app development, including the challenges of building a native app with React Native based on an existing Next.js project, the use of Tailwind CSS, and the performance issues on Android.

Learn React Native - https://galaxies.dev

Kitze

Kitze Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekitze
Kitze Website: https://www.kitze.io/

Links

Sizzy: https://sizzy.co/
Zero to shipped course: https://www.zerotoshipped.com/
Benji: https://benji.so/
Gluestack: https://gluestack.io/

Takeaways

The choice of libraries in development can greatly impact productivity and the developer experience.
The React Native ecosystem offers a variety of tools and libraries that can enhance the development process.
The challenges of building and maintaining a successful product or project require dedication, focus, and continuous improvement.
The lack of comprehensive UI component libraries in React Native can be frustrating and lead to the need for custom solutions.
Having better primitives and components in React Native would make app development easier.
Being open about not having all the answers shouldn't discourage people from teaching.
Building a native app from scratch can be challenging, especially when transitioning from a web app.
Finding the right tech stack and considering the need for a native app early on can save time and effort.
Building a native app with React Native can be challenging, especially when trying to maintain consistency between the web and mobile versions.
Tailwind CSS offers a wide range of components and resources, making it a popular choice for app development.
Android performance can be a pain point in React Native development, requiring optimization and testing on Android devices.
Integrating Apple Health data and implementing in-app purchases can be complex tasks that require careful consideration and planning.