Blogs

Last Week Last week was all about tests – lots and lots of tests. I spent the majority of my time writing unit tests for the features I’d already implemented in my app. While it wasn’t the most exciting part of development (let’s be honest, writing tests rarely is), I’ve come to realize just how crucial they are, especially when using AI to assist with programming. This realization has led me to seriously consider adopting Test-Driven Development (TDD) – yes, the practice where you write tests before writing the actual code....

Last Week Week 22 was all about getting the backend under control. I spent a significant amount of time squashing bugs that I didn’t even realize existed in the app. It’s amazing how many issues surface when you start looking closely! But the most important accomplishment was finally implementing version control for my backend infrastructure, specifically the Supabase edge functions and the Postgres database with all its associated schemas, triggers, functions, and constraints....

Last Week Last week I successfully completed the Revenue Cat implementation that had been challenging me for the past three weeks. Now when users tap on the subscription tile in the navigation panel, the paywall displays correctly - a major milestone for the app’s monetization strategy. The bulk of my time was spent on significant tooling improvements, specifically around AI coding agents and development environments. I implemented a sophisticated setup using Model Context Protocol (MCP) with local vector databases to provide my AI coding assistant with up-to-date documentation, dramatically reducing compilation errors from nearly 100% to just 20-30%....

Last Week Last week didn’t go as planned, primarily due to falling quite ill shortly after friends left. This significantly impacted my ability to work. The main technical goal for the week was to implement the connection between the UI (specifically, the ViewModel) and the backend SDK for RevenueCat. While RevenueCat had already been integrated into the data layer of the application, bringing its functionality up to the ViewModel level proved challenging....

Last Week Well, last week didn’t go quite as planned. My main goal was to integrate RevenueCat’s functionalities into my app’s view models. This would allow the app to display paywalls and handle subscriptions. Unfortunately, that task got pushed back. I had friends visiting, and they’re actually still here as I’m writing this – seeing them off tomorrow! The good news is that the RevenueCat SDK is already in the project, and the data layer for it is complete....

Last Week Last week, my focus was on laying the groundwork for monetizing the app using subscriptions. Specifically, I set up the data layer components for integrating RevenueCat. This means I’ve added the necessary code structure (like repositories) to interact with RevenueCat’s services, but haven’t yet built the user interface elements (like a paywall) or connected the actual purchase flows. RevenueCat is a service that simplifies handling in-app subscriptions across different platforms like iOS and Android....

Last Week This past week, I focused on streamlining the process of getting my app from code to users by setting up the Continuous Delivery (CD) part of a CI/CD pipeline. While I haven’t implemented Continuous Integration (CI) yet – meaning automated tests to catch regressions – the CD pipeline is a huge step forward. Previously, releasing a new version was a tedious, multi-step manual process: write code, commit it, manually build the app bundle using Android Studio or command line, sign the bundle (a crucial security step for Google Play), log into the Google Play Console, navigate through various menus, upload the signed bundle, manually configure release settings, painstakingly compile release notes by reviewing commit history, and finally submit for review and later authorize the actual publication....

My Current Thoughts on AI Development Tools This week I’m sharing my experience with AI development tools, specifically focusing on models and their applications in Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) and Hugo projects. It’s important to distinguish between models (the “brains” – like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini – requiring significant resources to train) and tools (the interfaces that allow interaction with the models). My preferred tool: I’ve found Cursor to be the best currently available....

Last Week Major Feature Enhancements & Additions: Host Dashboard: Significant UI/UX improvements, including dynamic titles, FAB for adding entries, drawer improvements (toggle, queue code display in NATO alphabet), optimistic updates for queue entries, enhanced dialogs (appearance, animation, edit/delete functionality for restaurants/queues), better network error handling. Landing Page: UI improvements, added OTP lockout mechanism. Queue Management: Added delete functionality for queues and queue entries. Implemented form dialogs (potentially as bottom sheets) for creating/editing queue entries....

Last Week A simple web frontend is made using Hugo and JAMStack. It is connected to the Supabase backend. Also began investigation of monetization infrastructure in a KMP project, which will be next week’s focus. What does it mean in English? Think of JAMStack as a modern recipe for building websites. The name “JAM” is an acronym that stands for: JavaScript: The ingredient that makes websites interactive APIs: Like digital messengers that fetch information from other services Markup: The structure and content of your website...