Hey Reader - Simon here 👋 last week I did something I almost never do: I didn't post. No video. No newsletter. Instead, I took a step back and just focused on building and thinking during my vacation. Honestly, it felt refreshing after years of content grinding. I still love doing this - but I want to improve the quality of my content for you in the future, and this week I got a new kind of video. 🎥 New Video: I Made $2,500 From My First Game Over the past weeks, my game Tiny Harvest started...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader - Simon here 👋 Everyone seems to have an opinion about AI and coding right now. Some say it’s making developers worse.Others say you just need to fully embrace it. After spending the last months building apps and even a game mostly with AI, I think both sides are missing something. 🎥 New Video: Does AI make Developers dumb? I’ve been using AI heavily in my workflow - not just for small tasks, but to actually build real apps and systems. And at some point I noticed something: I...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader - Simon here 👋 Last week I spent some time building something slightly different: a Fire TV app with React Native. Not a mobile app.Not a web app. An actual TV app. It’s funny because React Native has been around for so many years, but most developers still think of it only as a mobile framework. Turns out the ecosystem has expanded quite a bit! 🎥 New Video: I Built a Fire TV App with React Native using Vega OS This week I tried something new: building a Fire TV app using React...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader - Simon here 👋 AI app building tools suck, right? That was my assumption until a couple of weeks ago. But things are changing so fast in software dev right now that opinions from three months ago already feel outdated. So with (still) my old mindset, I approached a new tool. 🎥 New Video: This AI Builds Full Apps… Should You Use It? This week I tested Orchids, an AI-powered tool that takes a different approach. Instead of forcing you into a new stack or subscription, it lets you use...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader 🎉 If you’re building any kind of mobile app in 2026, chances are you’ve thought about: Diamonds. Gems. Tokens. Credits. Coins. Virtual currencies are everywhere - but implementing them properly (tracking, purchasing, spending, restoring) used to be a pain. Not anymore. This week I published a new video on how to add Virtual Currencies to your app using RevenueCat’s latest features - and it’s surprisingly smooth.In the video, I show: How to set up virtual currencies How to sell them...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader 🎉 This week feels like one of those “shift is happening” moments in the React Native ecosystem. Hermes is evolving fast.WebAssembly is coming.And Tanner Linsley is teasing a new React Native framework Let’s unpack it in this week’s podcast,👇 React Native 0.84 (Hermes V1 by default) WebAssembly support in Hermes The possibility of a new TanStack React Native framework Updates & Numbers from my game Tiny Harvest 🌱 👉 Watch the video🎧 Listen to the Podcast ✨ React Native 0.84, Hermes...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader 🎉 This week is a bit special. I published two videos that are closely connected - one practical, one philosophical. The first is a full crash course on how I’d approach learning React Native today, in 2026 - especially in an AI-first world. The second is more opinionated: why traditional coding courses alone aren’t enough anymore… and what actually is. If you’re building, learning, or rethinking your path this year, these two belong together. Would love to hear your thoughts on...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader 🎉 I’ve been in full dev mode lately - between refining Tiny Harvest, playing with AI agents, and watching the React Native ecosystem evolve, there’s a lot to talk about. In this week’s podcast, we cover: Why Gesture Handler v3 is awesome AI agents that literally control your app Animated component libraries that blew my mind And what’s next for Tiny Harvest now that it’s officially in Season mode 🌱 👉 Watch the video🎧 Listen to the Podcast ✨ Gesture Handler v3, AI Agents Everywhere,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader 🎉 You might think you know Expo Router… But even after building dozens of apps with it, I still pick up new tricks regularly. This week I wrapped up 10 essential tips that will help you navigate deep linking, layouts, API routes, and other real-world stuff you actually deal with when building mobile apps. Whether you’re just getting started or already shipping apps - I’m sure there’s at least one you didn’t know 👀 👉 Watch the video on YouTube ✨ 10 Tips You NEED For Expo Router in...
3 months ago • 1 min read