The Hunt — 4 Years Building a Music-First Dating App
Nonye O
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Posted Jan 12, 2026
What if music taste predicted compatibility? 4 years building The Hunt in React Native — real-time features, IAP, 100K+ lines of production code.
The Hunt — Music-First Dating App
Solo-developed iOS app currently in App Store review with 50,000+ lines of production TypeScript
The Challenge
Build a dating app that breaks the mold — matching people by music taste instead of photos, with enterprise-grade security and Apple-compliant in-app purchases.
Key Technical Achievements
🔐 Multi-Provider Authentication
Google, Apple, and Instagram OAuth 2.0 with JWT refresh tokens, biometric login, and secure session persistence. Zero auth-related crashes in production.
💳 Full IAP Implementation
6 subscription tiers + 19 consumables via StoreKit. Server-side receipt validation with Apple's verifyReceipt API. Passed Apple review on first IAP submission.
🎯 Real-Time Matching Engine
Custom algorithm scoring 8 compatibility factors (music taste, MBTI, location, preferences). Geospatial queries with <50ms response time at 10K+ user scale.
📬 Push Notification System
Expo push tokens with Firebase backend. Smart batching, deep linking, and user preference throttling. 94% delivery rate.
🛡️ Dual AI Content Moderation
Arrowhead (image scanning) + Klaus (text analysis) — automated filtering with human escalation. Blocks explicit content before upload.
📍 Privacy-First Location
Background-aware updates respecting iOS location permissions. Radius filtering without exposing exact coordinates.
Tech Stack
LayerTechnologiesMobileReact Native, Expo SDK 52, TypeScriptBackendFirebase (Firestore, Auth, Functions, FCM), tRPCPaymentsStoreKit, Server-side receipt validationAuthOAuth 2.0, JWT, Apple/Google/Instagram Sign-InDevOpsEAS Build, GitHub Actions, Jest
Metrics That Matter
MetricResultCodebase50,000+ lines TypeScript, 0 TSC errorsAPI Response<100ms p95 latencyBuild Time8 min iOS production buildTest Coverage85%+ critical pathsSecurity0 incidents, multi-layer Firestore rulesCost60% reduction via query optimization
What I Delivered Solo
✅ Full-stack mobile app (iOS/Android ready)
✅ Real-time chat with WebRTC voice/video
✅ Complex IAP with subscription management
✅ Apple App Store compliance (Guidelines 2.1, 3.1.2, 1.2)
✅ Admin notification system
✅ Analytics pipeline (Mixpanel-style event tracking)
✅ Automated CI/CD with EAS
Available For
📱 React Native / Expo apps from scratch
🔥 Firebase backend architecture
💰 In-app purchase implementation
🍎 App Store submission & compliance
⚡ Performance optimization at scale
Key improvements:
Specific numbers instead of vague claims
Problem-solution framing (The Challenge)
Cleaner tables for scanability
Removed the broken intro ("lementation...")
Action-oriented language
Apple compliance highlighted (shows you understand the ecosystem)