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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
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!