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Get an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the journey of building Sircles—the social media positivity app changing how we connect, share, and discover.
Sircles Sesh Videos
Join the Sircles team for a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Sircles in this special episode of Sircles Sesh! In Episode 2, Todd, John, and Danny dive into the highs and lows of app development, from overcoming bugs to crafting the ultimate user onboarding experience. They also share insights into building a global engineering team and how collaboration drives their success.
Sircles Work Sessions
March 19th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Deep Link Fixes, Custom Topic Debugging & Build Planning
- Fixing Notification Deep Link Issue 🔗
Ismail and Jerry resolved a bug where tapping a notification wasn’t taking users to the correct profile. Jerry made a backend update to pass the required parameter, and Ismail confirmed the fix is now working as expected. - Investigating Custom Topic Bugs 🐞
Ismail is debugging two custom topic issues: (1) messages showing up as duplicates, and (2) media uploads not displaying properly. Further testing is underway to identify root causes and implement solid fixes. - Next Steps for Builds & PR Merging 🚀
The team aligned on build priorities. A new build will be created for the Lottie upgrade, while the async uploadPR will be merged separately once fully tested and stable. - Reviewing "See All" Feature Progress 👥
Wellington showcased the updated “see all” feature, which allows users to manage their connection list. The team reviewed the add/remove functionality and gave the green light to merge it. - Debounce Strategy for Search Input 🔍
Ismail and Amine discussed how to best implement debounce in search. They decided to apply debounce manually at the call sites, which offers more control and avoids issues like infinite loops.
March 18th, 2025 - Work Session
The team reviewed reports of "fatal" app errors, noting that many stem from background terminations by the operating system rather than true crashes. They agreed to investigate memory usage and improve detection and handling of these issues to better distinguish between OS behavior and app exceptions.
Search performance issues were traced to API calls being triggered with every keystroke. Ismail and Jerry will implement a debounce mechanism and cancel in-flight API calls when search text changes. Testing will be done on physical devices to ensure smooth performance.
The process of generating and uploading custom topic images was flagged for being slow. The team will add a loading indicator to improve user feedback and explore optimizations to speed up image generation and Cloudinary upload times.
Discussion focused on improving the experience of uploading media in chat. Plans include showing toast notifications on success/failure and better managing multiple concurrent uploads as users move throughout the app. Ismail will lead implementation efforts here.
- Ismail and Jerry to implement debounced search with cancellation
- Ismail to enhance custom topic creation feedback
- Improvements planned for asynchronous upload handling
- Ongoing QA and testing to surface and resolve remaining performance issues
March 17th, 2025 - Work Session
The team addressed ongoing problems with duplicate Google Calendar invites. They worked through cleanup strategies and discussed long-term solutions to prevent repeat notifications.
Amit shared progress on several tasks, including fixing a bug where profile images weren’t displaying correctly. The group aligned on next steps for his remaining updates.
The team reviewed the discovery feed as seen by new users and identified ways to surface fresher, more engaging content to avoid an empty or unwelcoming experience.
Jerry demonstrated a bug where the location-based feed was unexpectedly jumping to the top. The team brainstormed potential causes and committed to a fix.
The team discussed refining the iOS contacts permission experience, including clearer messaging and better handling of cases where users select “no contacts.”
The group explored the idea of generating a feed post when a user redeems a reward to boost visibility of the feature and spark more user interest.
The meeting concluded with a review of open items, including Wells' progress on the “send separately” screen and Ismail’s ongoing work on the custom topics feature.
March 14th, 2025 - Work Session
March 13th, 2025 - Work Session
March 12th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Smart Linking, Admin Tools, and Better Group Chat UX!
This week’s meeting was packed with exciting advancements across deep linking, admin controls, UX design, and creative ideas to connect businesses and users more meaningfully. Here's what the team is working on:
- Business Profile Deep Link + QR Code Integration
- The team continued building out a landing page and deep link system that brings users directly to a business profile.
- If the user has Sircles: They’re taken right into the app and can check in or favorite the business instantly.
- If the user doesn’t have Sircles: They’re sent to the App Store, and after onboarding, redirected automatically to the business profile.
- The deep link will be tied to a QR code that businesses can display on signage, receipts, menus, and more — making real-world engagement frictionless.
- Sircles Admin Portal Development
- Progress continued on the Admin Portal, a powerful internal tool that will give Sircles administrators control over user management and account oversight.
- This backend interface will support everything from user lookups to account status management, improving support and oversight.
- Clarifying Profile Sharing in Group Chats
- In current group chats, users have been confused about sharing a user profile vs. adding a user to the chat.
- The team discussed UX and design improvements to make it clear that sharing a profile is for visibility, not for adding a participant.
- New visual cues and updated copy are in the works to reduce this friction and make group chat interactions more intuitive.
- Connecting Point-of-Sale Systems for Business Partners
- The team is exploring integrations with business point-of-sale (POS) systems for Sircles partners.
- This would enable a smart reminder system that prompts customers to favorite a business after completing a transaction, strengthening engagement at the perfect moment.
- API-based triggers could help businesses boost visibility and retention with minimal effort.
March 11th, 2025 - Work Session
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The design phase is officially complete, and development is set to begin next week.
- The team reviewed the roadmap and flagged a few potential risks, agreeing to stay ahead of any blockers through proactive communication and planning.
- Jerry presented the revamped landing page for businesses, which was met with enthusiastic approval.
- Features like the pulsing heart animation were highlighted, along with solutions for displaying a message when a business has no favorites yet.
- Mary raised a red flag regarding a projected $16,000 overage in the testing phase.
- The team brainstormed solutions:
- Automate key tests to reduce manual testing time
- Negotiate discounts with external vendors
- Mark will update the budget projections to reflect the new mitigation plan.
- The team focused on cleaning up duplicate data issues and optimizing favorite business updates.
- Decisions made:
- Use a FlatList component for better performance
- Make data fetching asynchronous to avoid duplication and race conditions
- Improve caching logic for smoother UX
- To address ongoing crashes, the team will raise the minimum supported Android SDK to version 29.
- This update targets stability and compatibility, as older SDKs are no longer reliable for core features.
✔ Amine will complete the streamlined onboarding flow
✔ The team will continue testing the latest build and prepare for the next release cycle
March 10th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: iOS Review Launch, Scrolling Fixes, and Performance Priorities
In this session, the team focused on celebrating the green light on the iOS app update while quickly shifting gears to tackle critical scrolling performance issues affecting the user experience. Here's the full breakdown:
- iOS App Update & In-App Review Testing
- ✅ The latest iOS app update has been approved and is ready for submission to the App Store.
- 🎉 The in-app review feature was tested successfully, allowing users to leave reviews without leaving the app.
- The team confirmed that review prompts and submissions are working smoothly.
- Scrolling Performance Issues Identified
- The team flagged noticeable lag and jumpiness when scrolling, particularly in the home feed and conversation views.
- The issue was confirmed via screen recordings, showing consistent stuttering behavior across multiple screens.
- The slowing down phase of scrolling appears to be the most affected, diminishing the smoothness of the experience.
- Investigating Root Causes
- 🔍 The team discussed possible culprits:
- iOS 18 changes potentially impacting FlatList behavior
- Re-rendering issues causing jerky motion
- Using an outdated version of FlatList, which may not be optimized for current iOS builds
- Agreed to dive deeper by reviewing FlatList documentation and testing the latest version.
- Next Steps & Top Priorities
- 🚨 Scrolling performance was labeled a top priority due to its impact on usability.
- Action plan includes:
- Updating the FlatList library to its latest version
- Investigating unnecessary re-renders or inefficient component updates
- Conducting tests on real devices to better isolate and reproduce the issue
- Other parallel efforts will continue, such as polishing the onboarding flow and addressing any remaining bugs.
With the in-app review system live and a plan in motion to restore smooth scrolling, the Sircles team is ensuring every user interaction feels polished, fast, and frustration-free.
March 7th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Image Fixes, Map Stability, and Performance Boosts Ahead!
This week’s session zoomed in on core stability and performance fixes across image handling, tutorials, caching, and map behavior. The team aligned on priorities and solutions to ensure the app remains smooth and responsive for users.
- Troubleshooting Image Loading Issues
- Problem: Some image formats, especially HEIC files, weren’t loading properly.
- Solution: The team will run a script to convert all non-JPEG images to JPEG, ensuring full compatibility and smoother rendering across devices.
- Recurring “Show Me How” Tutorial Bug
- Issue: The first favorite flow tutorial keeps reappearing, even after users have completed it.
- Plan: Investigate the trigger logic and schedule a fix in an upcoming update to prevent repeated displays.
- Caching Recent Check-In Data
- Jerry added caching to speed up recent check-in queries, which had been running slowly.
- Side Effect: Favorited items weren’t updating correctly due to the cache not reflecting real-time state.
- Resolving Favorited Item Display Bugs
- The display issue was traced back to the caching logic.
- Fix: Update the cache handling to recognize and reflect real-time changes to favorite status.
- Map-Related Issues & Rollbacks
- Ongoing problems were reported, including:
- Delayed marker loading
- Map jumping to unexpected locations
- Critical errors when toggling between map and list views
- Action Taken: The team agreed to revert recent map changes to stabilize the feature and stop unexpected behavior.
- Optimizing Map Performance
- Plan: Refactor memoization and caching logic for the map to reduce bugs and improve load times.
- The team decided to pause on enhancements and focus first on core functionality and reliability.
- Recap & Next Steps
✔ Address the games topic image bug, map instability, and list view error
✔ Assign team members to tackle specific issues
✔ Focus next update on stability and performance, especially on the map and caching fronts
🔧 Action Items
- Investigate “middle of the ocean” map location bug – WATCH (5 secs)
- Review memoization and SVG caching logic with Amine – WATCH (5 secs)
- Run image conversion script for all profile uploads – WATCH (5 secs)
- Wrap up deep linking support for Tech2U business onboarding – WATCH (5 secs)
- Investigate undefined friend connect notification issue – WATCH (5 secs)
With targeted fixes for caching, media, and map rendering, Sircles is on track to roll out a more stable and intuitive experience in the next release!
March 6th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: App Review Rollout, Map Fixes & Production Build Prep!
This week’s meeting focused on stabilizing the Sircles experience, pushing toward a new production build, and resolving some persistent backend and UI bugs. From memory leak investigations to the upcoming app review prompt, here’s what the team covered:
- Memory Leak Investigation
- Despite removing components like the wheel and subcategory filter, memory usage in the map view is still spiking.
- Even a minimal UI doesn’t resolve the leak, pointing to a deeper issue with component disposal.
- The team will continue investigating and narrowing down the root cause.
- App Review Feature Implementation
- Ismail is nearly finished building the app review prompt, now switching from Firebase Remote Config to a hard-coded list of internal users for testing.
- The prompt will trigger after 3+ signature user actions, and only once per install.
- Jerry will provide the internal user list via Amplitude for controlled rollout.
- Map Marker Color Fix
- A color inconsistency for the Food/Drink category on the map was identified.
- Amit will update the database with the correct hex value: #F7B500.
- John will verify the update once implemented to ensure visual consistency.
- Friend Connect Flow Improvements
- Ismail developed a new friend connect flow, aimed at better timing and UX.
- Jerry will remove the cancellation logic that cuts the flow off once users become friends.
- Triggers now include: after onboarding, through notifications, and when reopening the app.
- A potential edge case was noted: popular users may experience multiple redirects if not handled correctly.
- Production Build Planning
- Several fixes are now ready to ship, including:
- Improved notifications
- Fix for SMS auth interference
- New friend connect logic
- Jerry will prepare backend changes as needed to support the production deployment.
- The build will proceed once all key fixes are merged and tested.
- Next Steps & Action Items
✔ Amine to finalize the PR for map location update fix
✔ Ismail to update the “Skip” button behavior in friend connect so it only skips the screen (not the entire flow)
✔ Jerry to remove friend connect cancellation and ensure proper fetch on onboarding
✔ Amit to update the database with the correct food/drink map marker color
✔ Team to continue memory leak investigations
✔ Prepare for production build once all items are verified
With key user flows improved, a sleeker friend connect experience, and critical fixes ready to ship, the Sircles app is heading toward its next production build with a sharper, more polished experience.
March 5th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Crushing Memory Bugs, Boosting Engagement & Strengthening Friend Connections!
The Sircles crew jumped into action this week to address performance issues, improve user onboarding, and optimize the friend connection flow. With a focus on memory leaks, Mapbox updates, and smarter notifications, the team is lining up major improvements across the board. Here's what happened:
- Memory Leak Investigation
- Issue: Memory usage on the map screen was spiking up to 8GB when switching between map and list views.
- Findings: Removing the wheel and filter components dramatically reduced memory usage.
- Plan:
- Update Mapbox from v10.1.24 to v10.1.36 to address potential internal issues.
- Consider switching from Flash List to Flat List, which performed better in memory tests.
- User Onboarding Analysis
- A key drop-off point was discovered during the SOT (Circle of Trust) onboarding step.
- Cause: Many users deny contact permissions, limiting their ability to find friends.
- Other Observations: Users often get confused about how to add favorites or explore app features.
- Next Step: Refine the onboarding flow and better explain permission benefits.
- Notification & SMS Engagement
- Current SMS click-through rate: ~18%, but conversion to full onboarding remains low.
- Notification gaps: Friend join notifications don’t always inspire user action.
- Proposed fixes:
- Batch SMS for multiple new followers
- Add clearer call-to-actions in push notifications (e.g., “Go follow [Name] back!”)
- Friend Connection Process Enhancements
- A case study (Laura, Rodney, Cindy) revealed missed connection loops among users.
- Issue: Legacy users are especially impacted by inconsistent connection notifications.
- Solution: Strengthen friend loop messaging and ensure the connection feels complete and mutual.
- Next Steps & Action Items
✔ Update Mapbox to latest version to address memory concerns
✔ Optimize wheel & filter components for improved map screen performance
✔ Investigate Flash List performance and consider replacing it
✔ Refine onboarding, especially around SOT and contact permissions
✔ Improve notification language – add “Go follow [Name] back!” to friend join templates
✔ Implement feature flag for app review flow
✔ Fix map marker color sync issue
✔ Finish tutorial for iOS contact permissions (blur background, highlight “Allow Full Access”)
With a focus on performance stability, onboarding clarity, and smarter engagement, Sircles is dialing in on the details to deliver an even better user experience.
March 4th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Custom Topics, Friend Connect UI, and Final Prep for Next Release!
The team gathered to polish features, squash bugs, and line up priorities for the next Sircles production build. From custom topics to drawer animations and backend queries, here’s what went down:
- Custom Topics Feature Updates
- Keyboard and message ordering issues have been resolved in custom topics thanks to Ismail.
- Notifications are now working correctly after initial topic creation.
- Some UI refinements are still needed, like properly displaying emojis in topic names.
- Status: Custom topics will be included in the QA build but likely disabled for the initial production release to allow more testing.
- Friend Connect UI Improvements
- The team discussed updates to drawer animation and styling to improve the visual experience.
- Changes include:
- Adding 50% opacity to the drawer background for consistency
- Disabling the ability to fully close the drawer to prevent UI issues
- Exploring drawer animations tied to the keyboard appearing/disappearing
- Bug Fixes in Progress
- Wells is working on the entertainment search overlay bug, where it appears unexpectedly.
- The “See All” functionality for trending/popular content is pending implementation.
- Notification and caching issues are still under investigation, especially around inconsistencies and delays.
- Upcoming Production Build
- Goal: Include friend connect UI updates and critical bug fixes.
- Custom topics will be held back from production until further testing is complete.
- The team is evaluating which features are ready and which need more time before being included.
- API and Backend Updates
- Jerry shared insights into how trending/popular items are queried from the backend.
- Pagination is supported, allowing users to fetch more content as they scroll.
- Next Steps & Action Items
✔ Ismail to push an OTA update with the latest custom topics fixes for QA testing
✔ Wells to prioritize the entertainment search overlay fix
✔ Continue refining friend connect animations and styling for a smoother drawer experience
✔ Shawntelle to provide updated design specs for the “See All” view
✔ Finalize the feature list for the upcoming production build
With feature testing in motion, visual polish underway, and a production release on the horizon, Sircles is gearing up for a refined and more seamless user experience!
March 3rd, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Badge Fixes, Custom Features, and Web Expansion in Motion!
The team powered through updates and action items across multiple fronts — from badge animation fixes and favorite flow enhancements to business portal improvements, content strategy, and upcoming integrations. Here's what went down:
- Queue Down Badge Animation Issue
- Problem: The badge animation doesn’t play after favoriting the first podcast — it only appears after force-closing and reopening the app.
- Suspected Cause: The new feature showing the friend list post-favorite may be interrupting the badge animation flow.
- Solution: Ismail will implement a local state-based approach to manage subscription updates without extra API calls.
- Custom Topics & Friend Connect Messaging
- The Custom Topics feature is approved and merged for the next build!
- Wellington is working on the “send separately” spring feature in the favorite flow but ran into issues with accessing user data in non-screen components.
- Fix: Use the usePersistedUser hook instead of navigation-based hooks to ensure reliability.
- Business Management Portal Updates
- Todd reviewed the latest changes and shared positive feedback.
- New Suggestion: Add a business name/location indicator at the top of the portal to make managing multiple businesses easier.
- Wins: Photo management and category assignment now work smoothly. The duplicate issue appears resolved.
- Notifications & Integration Work
- Jerry is focused on enabling notifications for the web version.
- Todd reported odd notification behavior over the weekend (e.g., persisting alerts and misrouted links).
- Next Up: Begin testing the Square integration for seamless business transactions.
- Content Creation & Media Strategy
- TikTok videos are in production, but the app icon needs to be updated to reflect the current iOS version.
- A media kit from the podcast agency has been received — the team will review it to ensure messaging stays aligned with the Sircles brand.
February 28th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Debugging Notifications, Improving Onboarding & Refining Category Display!
- Onboarding & Notification Issues
- Issue Identified: Some users were marked as SMS subscribers but not push subscribers, preventing them from receiving notifications.
- Next Steps: The team will reproduce the issue in a simulator to gather detailed debugging logs for OneSignal troubleshooting.
- Reviewing Session Replays
- Findings: Users were getting stuck or dropping off at certain points in the onboarding flow.
- Key Example: A user checked in, viewed their profile card, but didn’t complete favoriting the business.
- Plan: The team will explore UI and flow improvements to make the process more intuitive and seamless.
- Investigating Category Display Logic
- Issue: Business categories were displayed inconsistently between the owner’s management view and the public profile.
- Action: Jerry will investigate the data model and fix any discrepancies to ensure accurate category representation across the app.
- Reproducing the Notification Issue
- Since the issue wasn’t immediately resolvable, the team decided to simulate the problem in a controlled environment.
- Goal: Capture detailed debugging logs to provide OneSignal with better diagnostic data.
- Next Steps & Action Items
✔ Jerry to investigate and fix category display inconsistencies.
✔ Danny & Ian to set up a simulation environment to reproduce and debug the notification issue.
✔ Continue reviewing session replays to identify areas for onboarding improvements.
With improved debugging strategies, clearer category displays, and onboarding refinements in progress, Sircles is making big strides toward a smoother and more engaging user experience!
February 25th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Database Fixes, Performance Tweaks & Smarter User Flows!
In this action-packed session, the Sircles team tackled everything from database cleanup and business portal updates to performance fixes, app review strategy, and expanded sharing features. Here's a full breakdown of what was discussed:
- Database Issues & User Record Cleanup
Some user records were missing first names in the database. The team decided to use a portion of the full name as a fallback to keep data clean and display consistent user info.
- Business Portal Improvements
The team resolved issues where new users weren’t being linked properly. A generic “BusinessUser” profile was created to cover edge cases and prevent broken connections.
- Android Performance & ANR Crash Fixes
Android users reported “Application Not Responding” (ANR) crashes. The root cause was a conflict between background location fetches and OTA updates. Solutions included skipping OTA checks in the background and adding timeouts to prevent crashes.
- App Review Strategy
The team planned to prompt users for reviews only after they complete “signature actions” (favoriting, sharing, checking in). The timing will ensure users are in a positive state and not overwhelmed by too many prompts.
- Custom Topic Creation in Chat
There was a technical discussion on how to handle custom topic sharing. The team debated using a profile key versus a topic key, and agreed on a simplified approach that fits the current database model.
- OTA Updates & Kill Switch Rollout
To enforce new authentication updates, the team is phasing in a kill switch. More users will be encouraged to update to version 2.2 before the switch is enforced. OTA reliability across versions remains a key focus.
- UI Improvements & Bug Fixes
The team identified a bug in the entertainment search and addressed issues with overlays and navigation interruptions. Updates to search, category selection, and navigation flow are planned.
- Instagram Sharing Limitations
Sircles currently doesn’t appear in Instagram’s native iOS share drawer. The team discussed expanding sharing options to include both images and links, improving visibility across platforms.
February 24th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Chat Fixes, Search Enhancements & Positive User Engagement!
The Sircles team focused on resolving chat navigation bugs, improving user feedback, refining search, and gearing up for the next release. Here’s what was covered:
- Fixing Chat Navigation & Composition Flow
- Issue: When navigating from a chat to a user profile and then trying to send a message, the app was creating a new chat instance instead of reusing the existing one.
- Bug Impact: This caused a white screen issue.
- Solution: Change navigation logic from "push" to "navigate" to ensure the existing chat instance is reused, preventing unnecessary duplication.
- Optimistic Response for Upvoting
- Problem: Upvotes didn't provide instant visual feedback, causing a laggy experience.
- Improvement: Add an optimistic response, so the UI immediately reflects the upvote before the server response arrives.
- Goal: Smoother user experience and more seamless interactions.
- Enhancing Spotlight Entertainment Search
- Wellington introduced improvements to spotlight search, including:
- Recent search history tracking
- Better recommendation logic when exiting the search
- This ensures users get more relevant and personalized entertainment suggestions.
- Positive Feedback on App Engagement! 🎉
- John shared very encouraging feedback on app performance and engagement.
- Key Takeaways:
- Group chats & topic discussions are driving strong user activity.
- Features are working well and keeping users engaged! 🚀
- Fixing Unread Chat Indicator Issues
- Issue: The unread message indicator wasn’t updating correctly, even after messages were read.
- Next Steps:
- Investigate server-side logic & caching to find the root cause.
- Ensure unread indicators stay accurate across all devices.
- Preparing for the Next Release
- Ismail confirmed a QA build is coming for authentication testing.
- Chat retry logic improvements will also be included before the final production release.
Next Steps & Action Items
✔ Fix chat navigation logic to prevent duplicate instances & white screen bugs.
✔ Implement optimistic UI response for instant upvote feedback.
✔ Enhance search functionality for more relevant spotlight entertainment results.
✔ Investigate & resolve unread chat indicator inconsistencies.
✔ Finalize QA build for authentication testing & chat improvements.
With key fixes, UI refinements, and strong user engagement, Sircles is on track for an even smoother, faster, and more intuitive experience!
February 20th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Podcast Upgrades, Crash Fixes & Enhanced Security!
The Sircles team focused on improving the podcast player, resolving an Android crash, enhancing security, and refining UI elements. Here’s what was covered:
- Podcast Player Updates
- Ismail showcased the updated podcast player UI, featuring:
- A larger floating play button at the bottom of the screen.
- Improved scrolling behavior to keep the button always visible for easy interaction.
- Final adjustments will ensure the button’s positioning and size feel natural within the interface.
- Fixing the Android Crash Issue
- A critical error was identified on Android devices.
- Solution: Amine will push an OTA update to temporarily disable the problematic functionality while waiting for the next full release with a fix.
- Danny and the team will test the OTA to confirm the issue is resolved.
- Enhancing Security with Authentication
- Jerry proposed adding authentication layers to backend API calls to enhance security as the app scales.
- Change Required: Front-end updates will be needed to send authentication tokens with API requests.
- Team Agreed: This step is crucial for protecting user data and preventing security risks.
- Designing the Empty State for Favorites
- Problem: When a user has no favorites, the screen feels empty.
- Solution:
- Use an animated dog graphic for visual appeal.
- Add a call-to-action chevron to open a modal with content recommendations.
- Encourage users to share their favorites for a more engaging experience.
- Recap & Next Steps
✔ Push OTA update for the Android crash fix.
✔ Finalize podcast player UI improvements & floating play button placement.
✔ Implement authentication updates to improve app security.
✔ Deploy new favorite screen design with engaging empty state visuals.
✔ Analyze user behavior through session replays to find areas for further optimization.
With improved usability, stronger security, and critical bug fixes, Sircles is set for a more seamless and engaging experience in the next release!
February 19th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Expanding Group Chats, Enhancing Rewards & Refining User Experience!
The Sircles team focused on creating large public group chats, improving the reward store, adding business testimonials, and refining group chat management. Here’s what was covered:
- Launching Large Public Group Chats
- New public group chats are being created, allowing users to join based on shared interests and location.
- Goal: Foster community engagement by connecting users to relevant discussions in their area or around specific topics.
- Enhancing the Reward Store
- New rewards are being added to keep engagement high.
- Design updates will make the reward store more visually appealing and easier to navigate.
- Uploading Testimonials to the Business Portal
- Businesses will now be able to showcase testimonials within the business portal.
- Purpose: Provide social proof to attract more users and encourage businesses to engage with the platform.
- Redesigning the Group Chat Invitation Flow
- The process for adding users and existing groups into new, larger chats is being improved.
- Goal: Make it easier and more intuitive for users to create and expand group conversations efficiently.
Next Steps & Takeaways
✔ Finalize public group chat invitations based on interests & location.
✔ Push new rewards & design updates to the reward store.
✔ Enable testimonial uploads in the business portal.
✔ Refine the group chat invitation flow for seamless user experience.
With expanded group chats, exciting rewards, and user experience improvements, Sircles is evolving to be more engaging and community-driven than ever!
February 18th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Finalizing Updates, Fixing Chat Issues & Prepping for Deployment!
The Sircles team focused on finalizing key updates, resolving chat issues, and preparing for an upcoming production deployment. Here’s what was covered:
- Project Updates & Work Sessions
- Reviewed progress on:
- Email templates for improved communication.
- Reward store integration to enhance user engagement.
- Chat optimizations to improve performance and stability.
- Deployment logs were analyzed to identify areas needing further testing:
- New user onboarding message
- Friend connect notifications
- SMS tracking functionality
- Testing Friend Connect & Notification Flows
- Conducted thorough testing of friend connect and notification flows, including:
- Creating new test users
- Syncing contacts & sending invites
- Issue Identified: External chat links weren’t properly tracking invitees.
- Next Steps: The team discussed potential fixes to ensure invitees are correctly associated with the inviter.
- Fixing Chat Lobby & Message History Issues
- Bug Discovered: Some chat messages were appearing under the wrong user’s name.
- Cause: A previous deep link issue was suspected to be the root problem.
- Solution: The team worked on updating database entries to correct message history inaccuracies.
- Preparing for Production Deployment
- The team agreed to move forward with deploying the latest changes to production.
- Acknowledged that minor issues may arise but would be addressed in real time.
- Priorities before release:
- Thoroughly test notification templates.
- Ensure chat optimizations are stable.
- Verify smooth functionality across new updates.
- Recap & Next Steps
✔ Continue testing notification & friend connect flows to ensure proper invite tracking.
✔ Finalize chat optimizations and verify message accuracy in history.
✔ Push the latest updates to production while monitoring for potential issues.
✔ Stay in close communication to ensure a smooth rollout.
With critical fixes, optimizations, and a production deployment underway, Sircles is set for a more seamless, stable, and engaging experience!
February 17th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Bug Fixes, Feature Enhancements & Onboarding Improvements!
The Sircles team focused on resolving technical issues, refining search functionality, and enhancing the onboarding experience for new users. Here’s what was covered:
- Technical Issues & Bug Fixes
The team tackled several key bugs, including:
- "Share Separately" Button Malfunctioning – The button wasn’t behaving as expected and is being fixed.
- Blank Alerts Appearing – Unnecessary alerts were popping up unexpectedly, requiring investigation.
- Splash Screen Freezing – Some users were getting stuck on the splash screen, blocking them from accessing the app.
- Topics Jumping in Chat – Topics were unexpectedly shifting, disrupting conversations.
- Android Crash Issue – A major crash was reported on Android devices, and the team worked on reproducing and resolving the issue.
- Handling Test User Contacts
- Issue: Test user contacts were being recommended to real users, causing confusion.
- Solution: The team agreed to regularly clear out test user contacts to prevent accidental recommendations.
- Map Search Functionality
- New Feature: A map search function was implemented, allowing users to find locations more easily.
- Minor Issue Identified: An overlay screen bug was spotted and is being fixed.
- Onboarding Message for New Users
- New Feature: The team is introducing a welcome message in the app’s lobby for new users.
- Next Step: Adding a follow-up message encouraging users to report bugs and improve feedback collection.
- Resolving the Topic Jumping Issue
- The team spent significant time debugging and reproducing the issue of chat topics unexpectedly moving.
- Two different scenarios triggering the behavior were identified.
- A fix is being implemented to stabilize chat topic navigation.
- Investigating & Fixing the Android Crash
- Engineers continued testing to reproduce and isolate the root cause of an Android-specific crash.
- Solution is in progress, with testing ongoing.
- Recap & Next Steps
✔ Push fixes for "Share Separately" button, blank alerts, and splash screen freeze.
✔ Resolve topic jumping issue and finalize the Android crash fix.
✔ Continue testing and debugging before pushing changes to production.
✔ Enhance onboarding with a welcome message and bug reporting prompt.
✔ Refine map search functionality to fix overlay screen issue.
With bug fixes, feature refinements, and user onboarding enhancements in motion, Sircles is moving toward a more stable, user-friendly, and engaging experience!
February 14th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Smarter Notifications, Navigation Fixes & New Features!
The Sircles team focused on enhancing notifications, refining navigation, and finalizing key features for an improved user experience. Here’s what was covered:
- Notification Handling Improvements
- Amit updated the notification system by adding a unique message key and ungrouping notifications for better clarity.
- Jerry will deploy these changes to production to enhance how notifications are displayed and managed.
- Testing Remaining Notification Triggers
- Danny outlined the final notification triggers that need verification, including:
- "Help Bring Friends Together" notification
- Birthday & onboarding notifications
- Once tested, these changes will be pushed to production.
- Fixing Notification Viewing Issues in QA
- Issue: Notifications weren't being marked as viewed in QA.
- Root Cause: An incorrect direct invite link was identified and has been fixed in production.
- Addressing Navigation Issues from Notifications
- John raised concerns about UI flickering and the main chat screen showing the wrong background color when navigating from notifications.
- Ismail will investigate these issues further to ensure smooth navigation transitions.
- Integrating OneSignal for Email Notifications
- Ian discussed enabling email notifications through OneSignal.
- Jerry and Amit will collaborate to allow emails to be sent to both recipients and business owners from the reward store.
- Finalizing the Trailer Feature
- Wellington provided an update on the trailer feature, stating that the core implementation is complete.
- Next Steps: Fixing the "How to Play" functionality to ensure a seamless experience.
- Adding a Place Search Feature on the Map
- New Task: John assigned Wellington to add a place search button to the map, allowing users to search for and add locations more easily.
- Recap & Next Steps
✔ Deploy notification handling improvements & finalize trigger testing.
✔ Investigate navigation issues from notifications and UI flickering.
✔ Complete OneSignal email integration for business notifications.
✔ Finalize trailer feature & implement "How to Play" functionality.
✔ Develop and test the place search button for the map.
With smarter notifications, refined navigation, and exciting new features, Sircles is moving toward a more polished and engaging experience for users!
February 13th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Tutorials, Sharing Enhancements & Chat Improvements!
The Sircles team focused on enhancing the user experience with new tutorials, refining the favorite flow, and improving chat permissions and navigation. Here’s what was covered:
- "Show Me How" Tutorial for First-Time Favoriting
- A new brief tutorial will be introduced when a user favorites something for the first time in the app.
- Goal: Ensure users understand the favoriting feature and how it enhances their experience in Sircles.
- Favorite Flow Follow-Up Screen
- After a user favorites an item, they will now see a follow-up screen asking if they’d like to share their favorite with others via chat.
- Why? Encouraging social engagement and organic sharing within the app.
- Large Group Chat Permissions
- New Rules for Large Group Chats:
- Users can add others to the chat but can only remove themselves.
- Admins will have full permissions to add or remove any member.
- This ensures smoother management of large group conversations while preventing accidental removals.
- Fixing Chat Topic Auto-Navigation Issue
- Issue: Users were being auto-navigated away from their current chat topic when new messages arrived in other topics.
- Fix: Users should stay in their selected topic unless they manually choose to navigate elsewhere.
Next Steps & Takeaways
✔ Implement the "Show Me How" tutorial for first-time favoriting.
✔ Enhance the favorite flow with a follow-up screen to encourage sharing.
✔ Apply new group chat permissions to improve moderation and user control.
✔ Fix chat auto-navigation issues to ensure users remain in their chosen topic.
With new user guidance, social sharing improvements, and chat refinements, Sircles is building a more intuitive and engaging experience for everyone!
February 10th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Bug Fixes, Smarter Navigation & Exciting New Features!
The Sircles team focused on resolving critical bugs, refining navigation stability, and rolling out new UI enhancements. Here’s a breakdown of the key discussions:
- General Updates & Fixes
- Streaming Service Fix: Amit resolved an issue where streaming services were not displaying correctly in profile details due to a filtering issue.
- OneSignal Notification Updates: Two pending notifications need to be created and merged via a pull request.
- Duplicate Group Creation Issue:
- Users sharing to a group were unintentionally creating duplicate groups if a participant left mid-share.
- Solution: Implement group key-based identification instead of relying solely on participant IDs.
- Major Bugs & Investigations
Friend Connect Crash on iPhone 8
- Issue: Johnny’s iPhone 8 was crashing when using Friend Connect.
- Investigation Findings:
- Session Replay is incompatible with older devices.
- Fix: Disable Session Replay on devices with ≤6GB RAM on Android and iPhone 10 or older.
Freezing Bug in Deep Links & Topic Navigation
- App freezes when opening deep links from notifications, particularly from a background state.
- Observed Behavior:
- First notification works fine.
- Second notification freezes the topic view, preventing scrolling.
- Cold start works but causes double screen stacking (same topic appearing twice).
- Potential Causes:
- Timing issue with interaction manager and tab view state.
- Navigation is triggered too early before the screen fully loads.
- Regression from recent builds—not an issue in production.
- Fixes & Next Steps:
✔ Remove/adjust interaction manager to test impact on timing.
✔ Investigate why the main chat briefly appears before the topic loads.
✔ Ensure background color updates don’t interfere with navigation sequence.
✔ OTA update pushed to remove unnecessary background logic for testing.
✔ Further testing on force closing vs. background state behavior.
- New Features & Tasks
- Play Button for Trailers: Wells is implementing a play button for trailers in entertainment profiles.
- Favorite Sharing Screen Update: Users will be able to send favorites individually or to a group.
- Analytics Integration: Tracking first-time user experience and onboarding flow.
- Final Thoughts & Next Steps
✔ Fixing the deep link freezing bug remains a top priority before the next production release.
✔ Session Replay adjustments are in place to prevent crashes on older devices.
✔ New UI features (play button, favorite sharing options) are moving forward.
With critical bug fixes, smarter navigation, and new UI features in the pipeline, Sircles is preparing for a smoother and more engaging user experience! 🚀
February 7th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Bug Fixes, Smarter Notifications & Prioritizing Stability!
The Sircles team focused on resolving technical issues, enhancing notifications, improving group management, and aligning priorities for the next build. Here’s what was covered:
- Technical Issues & Bug Fixes
- Freezing & Navigation Problems: Users experienced app freezing and incorrect navigation when tapping notifications or switching between topics and events.
- Lobby Screen Inconsistencies: Some conversations were not fully loading, causing missing details.
- Top Priority: The team agreed that fixing these issues is the highest priority before pushing the next production build.
- Notification Templates & Analytics
- Automated Business Reports: Jerry set up a cron job to send out weekly business health reports.
- Better Click Tracking: The team wants improved analytics to track notification engagement once templates are fully implemented.
- SMS Opt-Out Handling: Users who reply "STOP" to SMS notifications should no longer receive messages—the team is implementing a Twilio webhook to enforce this.
- Member Management & Group Updates
- Dynamic Group Updates: Amine is working on ensuring group images and member counts update correctly when members are added or removed.
- Returning Full Group Object: The team discussed returning the full group object, including member count, when a group is updated.
- Upcoming Work & Priorities
- Data Cleaning & SMS Integration: Jerry is working on data cleaning jobs and Twilio SMS improvements.
- Pull Requests Ready: Amit and Amine have PRs ready for review and merging.
- Top Priority: Fixing freezing & navigation bugs is the main focus before releasing the next build.
- Recap & Next Steps
- Reproducing & Debugging Freezing Issues: Ismail will work on reproducing the chat freezing issue and removing the freeze component for testing.
- Continued Testing & Feedback: The team will test navigation fixes and provide feedback to ensure a stable release.
- Goal: Push a stable build to production ASAP.
- Key Action Items
✔ Design post-favorite buttons: 1) Start a 7-person convo, 2) Share separately. Update in Figma.
✔ Fix chat freezing & navigation issues: Identify race conditions, test without freeze component.
✔ Push OTA update for Build 93.
✔ Implement play button for trailers in entertainment profiles using video details API.
✔ Update game category search placeholder: Change from "Search for books" to "Search for games."
✔ Improve group member mutation: Ensure new member count and correct image URL (excluding requesting user).
✔ Create nightly data cleaning job: Ensure accurate business stats calculations.
✔ Implement Twilio webhook for "STOP" replies to prevent further SMS messages.
✔ Enhance business report emails with week-over-week metric changes.
Final Takeaway
With critical bug fixes, notification enhancements, and group management improvements in progress, the Sircles team is laser-focused on stability, user experience, and preparing the next production build! 🚀
February 6th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Performance Boosts, Bug Fixes & Animation Enhancements!
The Sircles team focused on optimizing blur hash performance, refining friend connect notifications, fixing UI bugs, and improving badge animations. Here’s what was discussed:
- Blur Hash Performance Improvements
- New Lambda-Based Approach: Jerry implemented a Lambda solution for generating blur hashes, significantly improving speed by offloading compute from the main server.
- Faster Processing: Initial tests showed 20 blur hashes generated in just 1.3 seconds.
- Smart Query Optimization: The team decided to add an optional parameter in the profile query so blur hashes only generate when needed, reducing unnecessary computation.
- Friend Connect & Notification Issues
- Friend Connect Notifications Now Live: Friend Connect notifications went live in production yesterday afternoon and are now working properly.
- App Freezing on Dog Animation: Shawntelle reported that the app got stuck on the Sircles Buddy animation after tapping a notification.
- Potential Causes: The team explored cross-environment notifications between QA and production as a possible issue.
- Next Steps: Amit is creating OneSignal notification templates for improved notification management.
- UI & Navigation Bug Fixes
- Animation Interruptions in Friend Connect Flow: John identified issues with animations disrupting the Friend Connect process.
- Topic Creation & Navigation Issues: Bugs were found in chat topic creation and navigation.
- Fixes in Progress: Ismail is working on resolving preview window issues and improving navigation between chats and topics.
- Badge & Level-Up Animations
- Timing Challenges: The team discussed how to properly trigger badge and level-up animations after the Friend Connect flow.
- Explored Solutions: Options like event emitters and refetching queries were considered to ensure animations play at the right time without impacting performance.
- Further Refinements Needed: Work continues on finding the best balance between performance and animation accuracy.
- Development Process & Deployment Fixes
- Deployment Issues: A missing file in a pull request caused deployment failures.
- Issue Resolved: The team identified and fixed the problem, successfully redeploying the application.
With performance boosts, smarter notifications, and UI fixes in motion, Sircles is gearing up for a smoother and more engaging user experience!
February 5th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Smarter Analytics, Performance Boosts & UI Enhancements!
The Sircles team focused on improving push notification analytics, optimizing blur hash performance, refining game search, and enhancing the member management screen. Here’s what was discussed:
- Push Notification Analytics
- One Signal Limitations: The One Signal dashboard lacks detailed analytics per template, making tracking more difficult.
- Exploring Alternatives: The team is considering using Journeys instead of templates for better tracking.
- Potential API Calls & Amplitude Integration: Deeper analytics may require custom API calls or integration with Amplitude.
- Next Steps: The team will schedule a call with One Signal to clarify the best approach for tracking notification performance.
- Blur Hash Implementation
- Switching from Blur View to Blur Hash: The team implemented a 3x3 blur hash, balancing quality and performance for image loading.
- Performance Concerns: Computational costs—especially on QA servers—were flagged as a concern.
- Potential Microservice Implementation: The team discussed caching blur hashes and offloading generation to a microservice for efficiency.
- Game Search Functionality
- Fixing Search Issues: Bugs affecting game search in the entertainment category were resolved.
- Enum for Game Search Added: This update improves consistency in search results.
- Haptic Feedback in Chat: Emoji reactions in chat now include haptic feedback for a more engaging experience.
- Member Management Screen Enhancements
- New Screen in Development: A redesigned member management screen is being developed for group chats.
- UI Improvements Discussed: Includes search bar enhancements, "Show More" functionality, and potential tweaks to blue pills for selected members.
- Sync Contacts Option: A "Sync Contacts" button may be added for users who haven't granted contact permissions yet.
- Performance Optimizations
- Optimizing Blur Hash & Image Loading: The team is exploring compressed images from Cloudinary for faster processing.
- Running Blur Hash Scripts for Profile Images: Options were discussed to pre-generate blur hashes for existing profile pictures.
- Miscellaneous Fixes & Features
- Profile Loading Fixes: Investigating slow profile loads.
- Timestamp Display Bug: A bug affecting chat timestamps is being analyzed.
- Potential Background Blur Toggle: The team discussed adding a toggle in settings to allow users to enable/disable background blur.
With smarter notifications, faster image loading, and UI improvements in motion, Sircles is gearing up for a more seamless and engaging user experience!
February 4th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: App Builds, Bug Fixes & UX Enhancements!
The Sircles team gathered to tackle key updates across app builds, chat performance, notifications, and UI improvements. Here’s what was covered:
- iOS & Android Build Resolutions
- iOS Build 92 Issues: Initially failed to upload to TestFlight, but after a rerun, the upload was successful, and the build is now available.
- Android Build Version Conflict: A versioning conflict (4000 vs. 400) due to QA testing caused an issue, but the team found a workaround to publish Build 92 without the extra zero, resolving the problem.
- Chat & Notification Bug Fixes
- Empty Chat Threads & Slow Loading: Some users in the QA build experienced empty chats and slow loading—this was linked to system messages, and the issue has now been resolved.
- Blur Hash Computation Delays: The initial chat load was slowed down by blur hash processing—optimizations are underway.
- Unexpected Notifications: Production devices were receiving QA-related notifications unexpectedly; the team is working on isolating these actions.
- Apollo Subscription Issue: The Apollo cast subscription was triggering every second, causing performance issues. A new implementation will replace it for better efficiency.
- One Signal Notification Templates
- Jerry is working on implementing One Signal templates to streamline notification management.
- Reporting Challenges: The current setup lacks detailed day-by-day delivery metrics per template. One Signal suggested tracking these metrics independently—potential solutions are being explored.
- Edit Members Screen Redesign
- The team is merging two screens in the edit members process to simplify large group management.
- Pagination Fixes: Issues with pagination for groups with 1000+ members were addressed to improve user experience.
- Performance Improvements: Design changes aim to boost responsiveness in large group chats.
- Miscellaneous Development Enhancements
- Returning Users & Conversations: Adjustments were made to start conversation logic for returning users.
- Blur Hash Optimization: Further refinements are being made to improve chat image rendering speed.
- Small UI & Bug Fixes: Various minor bugs and UI improvements are being tackled for a smoother experience.
With these fixes and optimizations in progress, Sircles is on track for a smoother, faster, and more user-friendly experience!
February 3rd, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Bug Fixes, Feature Enhancements & Next Steps!
The Sircles team gathered to discuss critical bug fixes, feature rollouts, and backend improvements to enhance user experience and app stability. Here’s what was covered:
- Bug Fixes & Feature Updates
- Investigating Chat Lobby Issues: Image loading and sender name display problems are under review.
- Android Chat Blurring Crash: The team is considering an alternative solution to prevent crashes.
- Topic Navigation Fixes: Most navigation jumps have been resolved, but a minor issue remains.
- Friend Connect Auto-Start: This feature will be enabled automatically in the next build and requires final testing.
- First Favorite Flow & Onboarding Updates: New onboarding features will be enabled without feature flags for a smoother user experience.
- Notification System Enhancements: Updates will include app state change checks to improve real-time engagement.
- UI/UX Improvements
- Search Bar Refinements: Adding a cancel button and updating text for better usability.
- Group Member Management UI Redesign: A new design for managing large groups is in development.
- Background Styling Exploration: Considering gradient backgrounds as an alternative to blurred images for visual appeal.
- Backend Updates
- New API for Badges & Levels: A backend upgrade is in progress to improve achievement tracking.
- Exploring BlurHash for Background Images: This method is being considered to optimize background image generation.
- Notification Queue & Delivery Enhancements: Backend updates are needed to support improved notification handling.
- Improving the Development Process
- Enhanced Testing Strategies: The team is exploring ways to identify issues earlier in development.
- Creating Simplified Test Environments: A proposal to build isolated test environments for complex components is under consideration.
- Miscellaneous Discussions
- Team Discussion on World Events & Beliefs: A thought-provoking conversation took place about global issues, religions, and personal perspectives.
Final Takeaway
With major bug fixes, onboarding improvements, and backend optimizations underway, the next Sircles build will introduce a more refined and seamless user experience. Stay tuned for upcoming updates!
January 31st, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Refining Deep Links, Enhancing Podcasts & Leveling Up Rewards!
The Sircles team met to fine-tune deep linking, enhance the user experience, and improve the app’s visual appeal. Here’s what was covered:
- Perfecting Deep Links
Testing continued on deep linking issues, particularly to resolve force navigation problems that redirect users to the wrong chat topic. The team is working toward a seamless navigation experience. - Enhancing Podcast Visibility & Accessibility
Design improvements are in the works to make it clearer that users can not only search and recommend podcasts in Sircles but also listen to them directly within the app. This will ensure users fully engage with the feature. - Revamping the Rewards Store & Level-Up Screen
Discussions focused on enhancing the look and feel of the rewards store and level-up screen, making them more visually engaging and exciting for users earning achievements. - Improving Reward Uploads
The team is working on streamlining the process of uploading rewards into the rewards store, ensuring a smoother experience for both users and administrators. - Optimizing Badge & Level-Up Animations
The team reviewed the badge and level-up animations to ensure they trigger at the right moments, delivering a polished and rewarding experience when users achieve new milestones. - Cosmetic Enhancements to Profile Screens
Updates are being made to improve the design and layout of the profile screens, ensuring a more modern and visually appealing interface.
Next Steps & Takeaways
From deep linking fixes to reward store upgrades, podcast engagement enhancements, and profile screen refinements, the Sircles team is making key improvements for a more seamless, exciting, and visually engaging app experience. Stay tuned for the next wave of updates!
January 30th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Enhancing Chat, Fixing Bugs & Perfecting Deep Links!
The Sircles team gathered to discuss key updates aimed at refining the chat experience, improving Android performance, and optimizing deep linking. Here’s what was covered:
- Enhancing Chat with OTA Updates
The team explored the use of Over-the-Air (OTA) updates to improve the chat experience dynamically. A new feature will adjust chat backgrounds to smoothly blend colors from the topic image using a blurred fade effect, creating a more immersive and visually appealing chat environment. - Fixing a Critical Android Bug
A persistent Android bug affecting app performance was identified. This issue, which can eventually cause the app to crash and close unexpectedly, is now a top priority for resolution to ensure stability across all devices. - Testing Notification Flows for Deep Linking
The team ran tests on notification flows related to deep linking into chat topics, ensuring that users are seamlessly directed to the correct conversations when tapping on notifications. - Resolving Deep Linking Navigation Issues
During testing, the team discovered a problem where deep linking into a chat topic was unexpectedly forcing users to navigate to a different topic. Investigations are underway to correct this behavior and provide a more intuitive and reliable deep link experience.
Next Steps & Takeaways
With OTA updates bringing exciting visual improvements, critical bug fixes in progress, and deep linking refinements underway, the Sircles team is committed to delivering a seamless, engaging, and stable experience for users. More testing and refinements are planned before the next update rollout!
January 29th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: UI Fixes, Friend Connections & Outreach Strategies!
The Sircles team tackled key updates, from refining the friend connect experience to optimizing costs and launching a targeted outreach campaign. Here’s what went down:
- Troubleshooting UI Issues
The team addressed several UI inconsistencies, including background color issues on the first topic card and a rerendering bug affecting specific user selections. Ismail investigated the root cause and suspected the issues were linked, with plans to resolve them efficiently. - Optimizing the Friend Connect Flow
Adjustments were made to the friend connect logic to only show suggested friends if the user has fewer than 10 contacts, reducing unnecessary clutter. The team also discussed minimizing over-the-air (OTA) updates to prevent potential data syncing issues between builds. - Improving Notification Handling
The notification system was refined to ensure users don't receive sound or vibration alerts when they add someone to a group. The team implemented a dual-notification system: one with sound for group members and one silent notification for the user making the addition. - Exploring Cost-Saving AWS Options
Jerry proposed several AWS cost-saving measures, including transitioning from Redis to Valkyrie and consolidating the dual database setup into a single instance. The team agreed to test these optimizations in QA before rolling them out to production. - Planning a Targeted Outreach Campaign
The team devised a strategy to re-engage inactive users by sending targeted notifications and SMS messages promoting a new Boba Tea partner location. Danny and Shawntelle were tasked with segmenting the user list, crafting the outreach messages, and executing the campaign. - Recap & Next Steps
The meeting wrapped up with key action items: Shawntelle and Jerry will move forward with the targeted outreach campaign, while Ismail continues investigating and resolving UI issues. The team will maintain close collaboration to ensure smooth execution of these initiatives.
Takeaways
With improvements to UI, friend connections, notifications, and AWS infrastructure underway—plus an exciting outreach campaign in motion—Sircles is primed for even greater engagement and efficiency!
January 28th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Streamlining Notifications & Enhancing User Connections!
The Sircles team gathered to refine notifications, optimize subscriptions, and improve the friend connect experience. Here’s what was covered:
- Notification Queue & Scheduling
Amit completed work on a new level of bad subscriptions and submitted a pull request. The team also discussed combining badge levels and leaderboard functionality while ensuring the notification queue operates as expected. - Ungrouping Certain Notifications
John and Amit reviewed notification grouping and identified cases where notifications—such as multiple check-ins from the same user—should be ungrouped for a cleaner experience. They agreed to implement this refinement. - New Notification Creation
Amit shared progress on building a new set of notifications requested by John. Using an organized tracking sheet, the team finalized the required fields and details to ensure seamless implementation. - Notification Deployment & Testing
Jerry provided an update on deploying the notification queue to QA. The team planned structured testing by creating group chats to generate sample notifications, ensuring everything functions smoothly before release. - Simplifying Subscription & Query Structures
Ismail proposed streamlining the way subscriptions and queries handle events like level-ups, badges, and leaderboards. The team agreed on a more efficient approach, reducing complexity by using just two fields: event type and badge/level number. - Enhancing the Friend Connect Flow
John suggested refining the friend connect flow so users can easily navigate to a friend's profile and, if applicable, trigger the "start the convo" feature. The team discussed different user scenarios and agreed on the final implementation.
Next Steps & Takeaways
With key improvements in motion—especially around notifications, subscriptions, and friend connections—the team is set to deliver a more seamless and engaging Sircles experience. Testing and refinements continue as these updates move closer to launch!
January 27th, 2025 - Work Session
Sircles Team Meeting: Speed, Engagement, and Smarter Updates!
The Sircles team came together to tackle performance optimizations, feature enhancements, and innovative fixes to keep the app running smoothly. Here’s what was covered:
- Media Upload Improvements
Jerry highlighted recent optimizations to the media upload process, eliminating the need to rename Cloudinary IDs. This change significantly sped up uploads, and the team agreed it was a great improvement for overall performance. - Fixing Dummy Messages in the Lobby
Amit and Jerry resolved an issue where invited users weren’t seeing the expected dummy messages in the lobby. With this fix in place, new users will now have a smoother onboarding experience. - Levels and Badges API
Amit provided an update on a new API designed to manage levels and badges. This API will streamline client-side logic and improve performance, making achievements more responsive and seamless. - Notification Queue and Retries
The team explored solutions for failed push notifications due to OneSignal’s lack of automatic retries. Options discussed included having the app handle retries itself and evaluating alternative services to ensure reliable message delivery. - Expanding the "Start the Conversation" Flow
The team brainstormed ways to make the "start the conversation" flow more dynamic. Instead of triggering it only for invited users, they explored activating it when two users become friends. Push notifications were considered as a way to prompt engagement. - Downloading Images from Chat
A much-requested feature—downloading images from chat—was discussed. The team explored the technical requirements, including permissions and storage considerations, to ensure a smooth user experience. - OTA (Over-the-Air) Updates for Quick Fixes
A visibility issue with usernames in chat led to a discussion on leveraging OTA updates for rapid fixes. The team agreed this functionality will be useful for deploying minor updates without requiring full app releases.
Next Steps & Takeaways
The meeting wrapped up with plans to continue refining notification reliability, enhancing user engagement with the "start the conversation" feature, and leveraging OTA updates for fast fixes. With these improvements in motion, Sircles is on track for an even smoother and more engaging user experience!
January 24th, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team tackled several pivotal topics to enhance our application's performance and user engagement:
- Addressing Technical Issues with Friend Connect
Jerry and John identified that the app was experiencing delays when loading user profile pictures, particularly for users without set profile images. To resolve this, they plan to implement a solution that gracefully handles missing profile pictures, ensuring smoother connectivity among friends.
- Enhancing Onboarding and Friend Invites
Ian and John evaluated the onboarding journey of a new user, Michael, focusing on his ability to connect with existing contacts and send invitations. They assessed the relevance of friend recommendations presented to him, aiming to refine the matching algorithm for better alignment with users' actual connections.
- Troubleshooting the "Share the Love" Feature
Jerry, John, and Amine collaborated to debug the "Share the Love" feature, which was malfunctioning due to issues with how user profile images were embedded in URLs. They successfully implemented a fix to ensure this feature operates seamlessly, enhancing user interaction.
- Improving the Entertainment Category Experience
John and Jerry brainstormed ways to elevate the user experience within the entertainment category. Proposals included setting it as the default category or introducing prompts encouraging users to explore entertainment options. They also considered streamlining the app by removing underutilized categories.
- Recap and Next Steps
The team reviewed ongoing tasks, including the fixes for "Share the Love," enhancements in onboarding, and improvements in the entertainment category. They outlined plans for continued testing and resolution of these issues ahead of the upcoming production release.
By addressing these areas, we aim to provide a more intuitive and engaging experience for our users, fostering stronger connections and enjoyment within the app.
January 23rd, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team explored innovative strategies to enhance user engagement through location-based group chats and refined notification preferences.
- Onboarding Location and Group Assignment
We devised a plan to automatically enroll new users into local group chats during onboarding, based on their detected location. For instance, users in the Sacramento area would be added to the "SACTO Events" group. Initially, these users will receive silent notifications from the group until they choose to interact by sending a message or reacting to a post.
- Notification Preferences and Cohorts
The team deliberated on managing notifications for these auto-assigned group chats. We concluded that keeping notifications visible but silent would inform users of new content without causing disturbance. Additionally, we considered creating a separate cohort for non-interacting users to send periodic updates about group activities, encouraging engagement.
- Technical Implementation
From a technical perspective, the backend will handle location detection and group assignment, with Jerry implementing a mutation to report the user's location and assign them to the appropriate group. The frontend team, led by Ismail, will adjust the application to manage silent notifications and develop the cohort system for non-interacting users. Todd will assist in defining precise geofence boundaries for these location-based groups. - Recap and Next Steps
In summary, the team is set to implement automatic, location-based group chat assignments during onboarding, accompanied by silent notifications to enhance user experience. We will focus on backend location detection, frontend notification management, and defining geofence boundaries to ensure a seamless integration of this feature.
By integrating these strategies, we aim to provide a more personalized and engaging experience for our users, fostering community interaction from the moment they join.
January 22nd, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team delved into several key areas to enhance user experience and app performance:
- Notification Settings Update: Amit implemented a change ensuring that only the author of a message receives notifications when someone reacts to it, reducing unnecessary alerts for other participants. This update has been merged and is now ready for testing.
- Category Consistency Between Profile and Card: Amit identified a discrepancy where the category displayed on a user's profile differed from that on their card in the chart. Denny provided a fix by updating the card query to align with the profile category, ensuring uniformity across the app.
- Retrieving Invited Image URLs: Jerry updated an SQL function to make the invited image URL accessible, facilitating its display at the start of the screen. This enhancement is slated for deployment soon.
- Detailed Level-Up Notifications: The team discussed enriching level-up notifications by specifying the new level achieved, offering users clearer insights into their progress. Plans are underway to implement this enhancement.
- Enhancing Avatar Clickability in Chat: Ismail addressed an issue where chat avatars were unclickable due to an overlapping component. The team considered solutions such as adjusting component widths or repositioning elements to restore avatar interactivity.
- Disabling Reactions to System Messages: A backend change was confirmed to prevent reactions to system messages. The frontend has been updated accordingly, adding an extra layer of safeguard against unintended interactions.
- Onboarding Analytics Tracking: Wellington introduced a pull request to incorporate analytics tracking for errors during the onboarding process. This initiative aims to gather valuable data to monitor and enhance the user onboarding experience.
- Optimizing Topic Background Loading: The team focused on improving performance during topic transitions by utilizing cached images and refining the rendering process. Various approaches were explored, including employing separate components for background handling, resulting in a significant reduction in delays and white screen flashes.
- Recap and Next Steps: The meeting concluded with a review of progress, including successful implementations of notification settings updates, category mismatch resolutions, invited image URL retrievals, and topic background optimizations. The team also outlined next steps to address remaining minor issues and continue enhancing the overall user experience.
Through collaborative efforts, the team continues to make significant strides in refining the app's functionality and user engagement.
January 21st, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team navigated through a series of challenges and developments:
- Power Outage Amid Historic Snowstorm: Jerry faced connectivity issues due to a significant snowstorm in New Orleans. This rare event, the first major snowstorm in over a century, led to widespread power outages and disruptions.
- Investigating Friend Connect Issues: The team examined a case where new user Dan West was not appearing as a suggested friend to existing users like Todd and Danny. Upon reviewing the friend connect flow and notifications, they discovered that some users were not receiving the expected prompts to connect.
- Enhancing Notification Management: Discussions centered on improving notification handling, including silencing notifications when the app is active and ensuring proper grouping and clearing of notifications upon user interaction. The team identified inconsistencies across different devices and scenarios that need addressing.
- Optimizing Favorite Flow: Ismail updated the team on efforts to refine the favorite flow, introducing logic to control when the favorite flow modal appears. The discussion also covered potential performance implications and strategies for optimization.
- Recap and Next Steps: The meeting concluded with a plan for Ismail to continue refining the favorite flow, while the team delves deeper into the identified notification handling issues.
Despite the unforeseen challenges posed by the historic snowstorm, the team remained focused on enhancing user experience and addressing critical issues.
January 20th, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team tackled several key topics to enhance our application's performance and user experience:
- Notification Delivery Challenges
John and Todd reported not receiving certain notifications. Amit confirmed that while notifications were sent successfully, delivery issues—possibly related to player IDs—were causing the problem. The team plans to troubleshoot by examining OneSignal logs and retrying notifications.
- Grouping Notification Messages
To improve the notification experience, the team decided to group messages together rather than sending them individually. John suggested this approach, noting that the content remains consistent across recipients. Implementing grouping is expected to streamline notifications for users.
- Optimizing Trust Tip Fetching
Ismail noted that fetching trust tips was slower compared to chat messages. The team agreed to investigate and optimize the database queries involved to enhance performance.
- Resolving Z-Index Issue on Profile Screen
Ismail addressed a Z-index problem where trust tips overlapped the header on the profile screen. He refactored the component styles to correct this and will submit a pull request for review.
- Managing Users Leaving Groups
The team discussed handling scenarios where users leave group chats to prevent old notifications from bringing them back into groups they've exited. They identified this as a front-end issue requiring careful management.
- Deploying OTA and Production Builds
The pros and cons of deploying an over-the-air (OTA) update versus a full production build were considered. To address onboarding issues promptly, the team decided to prioritize releasing a new production build as soon as possible.
By addressing these areas, the team aims to enhance both the performance and user experience of the application.
January 17th, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team tackled several key topics to enhance our application's performance and user experience:
- Notification Delivery Challenges
John and Todd reported not receiving certain notifications. Amit confirmed that while notifications were sent successfully, delivery issues—possibly related to player IDs—were causing the problem. The team plans to troubleshoot by examining OneSignal logs and retrying notifications.
- Grouping Notification Messages
To improve the notification experience, the team decided to group messages together rather than sending them individually. John suggested this approach, noting that the content remains consistent across recipients. Implementing grouping is expected to streamline notifications for users.
- Optimizing Trust Tip Fetching
Ismail noted that fetching trust tips was slower compared to chat messages. The team agreed to investigate and optimize the database queries involved to enhance performance.
- Resolving Z-Index Issue on Profile Screen
Ismail addressed a Z-index problem where trust tips overlapped the header on the profile screen. He refactored the component styles to correct this and will submit a pull request for review.
- Managing Users Leaving Groups
The team discussed handling scenarios where users leave group chats to prevent old notifications from bringing them back into groups they've exited. They identified this as a front-end issue requiring careful management.
- Deploying OTA and Production Builds
The pros and cons of deploying an over-the-air (OTA) update versus a full production build were considered. To address onboarding issues promptly, the team decided to prioritize releasing a new production build as soon as possible.
By addressing these areas, the team aims to enhance both the performance and user experience of the application.
January 16th, 2025 - Work Session
In our latest meeting, the team delved into several critical areas to enhance user engagement and app performance. Key topics included refining notification strategies, strategizing for upcoming giveaways, addressing challenges in large group chats, re-engaging long-term users, and coordinating logistics for an upcoming in-person meeting. These discussions underscore our commitment to improving user experience and ensuring seamless team collaboration.
- Notification Enhancements and Testing
The team evaluated the performance of the recent Vanderpump Rules notification, noting 59 confirmed deliveries and 28 unconfirmed. They strategized to send an alternative notification promoting the upcoming trivia event and the opportunity to meet Tom Schwartz, aiming to boost user engagement.
- Giveaway Strategy and Structure
Concerns arose about users claiming giveaway prizes too quickly, leading to premature conclusions. To mitigate this, the team deliberated on structuring the giveaway to require users or their groups to reach specific levels before becoming eligible, ensuring a fair and extended participation period.
- Managing Large Group Chat Notifications
An issue was identified where users received repeated notifications upon exiting large group chats. To address this, the team planned internal tests by creating sizable group chats and monitoring the behavior when members leave, ensuring the latest build resolves the problem.
- Re-engagement of Long-Term Inactive Users
The team proposed strategies to re-engage users inactive for over 30 days. Ideas included sending targeted notifications highlighting rewards or prompting users to revisit previously enjoyed content, aiming to rekindle their interest and activity within the app.
- Coordination for Upcoming In-Person Meeting
Logistics for the forthcoming in-person meeting were coordinated, covering travel plans, meeting schedules, and transportation arrangements, ensuring smooth and efficient planning for all attendees.
This meeting underscored the team's proactive approach to enhancing user engagement, refining app functionalities, and meticulous planning for future initiatives.
January 14th, 2025 - Work Session
The Sircles team came together to tackle issues, refine features, and map out the next app build. Here’s a look at the highlights:
- Android Onboarding Verification Issue – An issue with phone verification for Android users, linked to a recent Firebase SDK upgrade, was discussed. Some users experience automatic code entry that isn’t recognized, leading to errors. The team is exploring solutions, including disabling the auto-verification feature or improving its handling.
- Favorite/Save Flow Improvements – The team reviewed the user experience for favoriting and saving content. Enhancements will focus on clearer instructions, improved feedback, and seamless UI updates, especially for unfavoriting actions. Updates are in the works to create a more intuitive experience.
- Notification Sound Customization – Plans to customize notification sounds are underway! The team tested custom channels and sounds but faced unexpected playback issues. Troubleshooting continues to deliver a polished and personalized notification experience.
- Upcoming Build & Feature Release Plans – The team outlined their roadmap for the next production build, aiming for release within a day. Key inclusions:
- Fixes for the Android onboarding issue
- The first favorite feature flag
- Amine’s scroll issue fix
- Minor bug fixes and UI enhancements
They’ll hold off on merging the more complex “saves” feature for thorough testing and aim to enable the friend connect feature in a future build.
This meeting showcased the team’s dedication to creating a seamless, user-friendly experience. Stay tuned as Sircles continues to deliver exciting updates!
January 9th, 2025 - Work Session
The Sircles team came together to troubleshoot animations, refine badge criteria, and prepare for an exciting new release. Here’s the recap:
- Badge & Level Up Animation Fixes – Animation glitches caused by navigation interference were addressed. The team implemented a 4-second delay on the server side to ensure smooth playback before navigation occurs.
- Consistency in Animations – Inconsistent badge and level-up behavior, caused by race conditions between subscriptions and queries, was resolved. The team streamlined the process to trigger subscriptions only once per badge or level-up.
- "Love Guru" Badge Update – The criteria for earning the "Love Guru" badge were updated from inviting 7 friends to 10. Text updates in both the pre-earned and post-earned badge states now reflect the new requirement.
- Build 82 Release Prep – The team confirmed all key fixes were ready for release in build 82, including animation and badge updates. With no further front-end changes needed, they set plans in motion to submit the build to app stores.
- Recap & Next Steps – The meeting concluded with a review of other ongoing work, such as Ismail’s plans to refactor the “saves” feature and a discussion about potential updates to the app’s dynamic icon. The team felt confident and ready to push forward!
With build 82 on the horizon, Sircles continues to deliver a polished and engaging experience for users. Stay tuned for more updates!
January 7th, 2025 - Work Session
January 7th, 2025 - Sircles Team Meeting: Fixes, Features, and Final Touches!
The Sircles team gathered to address bugs, refine features, and push forward exciting updates. Here’s what happened:
- Bug Fixes & Production Build – Critical fixes for the profile picture upload, event preview card, and friend connect feature were prioritized. The team aimed to release a production build today, possibly with a feature flag for the friend connect updates.
- Android Build Testing – The latest Android build (version 79) underwent review, focusing on notification behavior and chat topic creation flow. Danny, Todd, and Jerry will team up for comprehensive testing to ensure a smooth experience.
- Group Invite Campaign Links – Plans for a new feature allowing users to generate campaign links for group invites were discussed. The team emphasized a clear UI flow to show when users are added via a campaign link. Shawntelle will lead the design effort for this feature.
- UI Debugging – Shawntelle flagged a UI issue occurring after a check-in and friend tagging. The team identified the problem with how check-in information was displayed, and Ismail took on the task of investigating further.
This meeting highlighted the team’s focus on delivering a polished, user-friendly experience with every update. Stay tuned for the exciting improvements ahead!
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