Ohel Rachel

A cross-platform React Native mobile app for the Ohel Rachel community, built with Expo and TypeScript.

Overview

Ohel Rachel is a community and religious app providing members with real-time access to prayer schedules, events, donation options, and more. The app features a tab-based navigation interface with real-time data synchronization through Firebase Firestore.

Why I Built This

The community previously relied on group chats and word-of-mouth to distribute information about events and prayer schedules. This led to inconsistent communication and missed updates.

I built Ohel Rachel to centralize announcements, schedules, and donation options into a single real-time mobile platform accessible to all community members.

Tech Stack

• Framework: Expo 54 with React Native 0.81.5
• Router: Expo Router (~6.0.14) for file-based routing with tab navigation
• Language: TypeScript with mixed .ts and .tsx files
• Styling: NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for React Native) with custom theme
• Backend: Firebase Firestore for real-time data
• UI Components: React Native Paper + Expo Vector Icons
• Build: EAS Build configured for cloud builds

Features

• Home Tab: Community dashboard and announcements
• Events Tab: Upcoming community events calendar
• Minyan Times Tab: Real-time prayer schedule with live section visibility
• Donation Tab: Secure donation interface
• "About Us" Action: Community information access

Engineering Decisions

• Real-Time Updates: Implemented Firestore onSnapshot listeners to enable reactive UI updates without requiring app reloads.
• Backend-Controlled Visibility: Designed schedule sections with visibility flags, allowing administrators to modify displayed content instantly.
• Type Safety: Used TypeScript to enforce Firestore data consistency and reduce runtime errors.
• Deployment Strategy: Chose Expo + EAS Build to simplify provisioning, certificate management, and production builds.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd OhelRachelNew

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

Development

Start the development server:

npx expo start

Choose your platform:

• iOS Simulator: Press i
• Android Emulator: Press a
• Web: Press w
• Expo Go: Scan QR code with Expo Go app

Production Deployment

The application is configured for production builds using EAS Build.

iOS distribution configured

Pending Apple Developer approval for public App Store release