Shipped to App Store & Google Play

Building & Shipping
Deen Detectives

A cross-platform Islamic educational game app — taken from concept to production across QA, UX research, product management, payment integration, and AI-augmented development.

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App Review Cycles
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Terms Curated
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Languages
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Payment Pathways

What Is Deen Detectives?

An Islamic educational game app featuring word-guessing challenges, a daily "Dhikr" Wordle mode, social deduction gameplay, and a curated vocabulary archive — built with React, TypeScript, and Capacitor for iOS, Android, and Web.

🎯 My Role

Solo product owner responsible for QA engineering, UX research, content strategy, payment integration testing, localization management, and App Store submission — all powered by AI-augmented development workflows.

📱 Platforms

Cross-platform deployment targeting iPhone, iPad, Android, and web browsers using Capacitor. Native payment integration via RevenueCat wrapping Apple StoreKit and Google Play Billing.

🌍 Localization

Full 10-language support (English, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Indonesian, Malay, Spanish, French, Russian, Bengali) with 583 vocabulary terms, game UI, onboarding, and legal disclaimers fully translated.

💰 Monetization

Freemium model with monthly subscriptions ($2.99/mo) and sliding-scale lifetime pricing ($9.99–$24.99). Seven distinct premium conversion pathways, all audited for compliance and consistency.

React
TypeScript
Capacitor
RevenueCat
react-i18next
Xcode
Android Studio
Vite

6 App Store Review Cycles.
Systematic Platform Alignment.

Each review cycle was an opportunity to master platform-specific deployment standards. I triaged reviewer feedback, addressed guideline requirements, and implemented targeted optimizations — iterating rapidly until final production approval.

#1
Sign-in with Apple
Blank screen after auth → Pivoted to local storage profiles entirely
#2
IAP Not Found
Reviewers couldn't locate premium features → Added floating upgrade button
#3
IAP Sandbox Failure
Purchase didn't initiate → Integrated RevenueCat, fixed Paid Apps Agreement
#4
Settings Crash
Context error on Settings tap → Removed GameContext dependency from Settings
#5
iPad Compatibility
Touch targets too small, layout issues → Full iPad audit + HIG compliance pass
Approved
All guidelines met — shipped to App Store & Google Play

Every App Store review cycle taught me more about platform compliance than any documentation ever could. I learned to think from a platform QA perspective — testing edge cases across multiple target devices, validating payment architectures in sandbox environments, and designing for strict Human Interface Guidelines compliance.

— Reflection on the process

By the Numbers

Quantifiable outcomes from the development, QA, and launch process.

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Bugs Triaged
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Terms Curated
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Payment Pathways
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Languages
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Automated Tests
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AI Models Used
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Platforms Shipped
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Dev Sessions

End-to-End Product Ownership

From content curation to App Store approval, I owned every phase of the product lifecycle.

QA Engineering

Cross-Platform Testing & Regression

Systematically tested every screen and interaction across iPhone, iPad, and Android. Identified critical bugs including IAP race conditions, SDK initialization failures, stale entitlement caching, and cross-device rendering issues.

  • Tested RevenueCat + StoreKit sandbox purchase flows end-to-end
  • Identified double-billing risk between subscription and lifetime plans
  • Maintained 24-unit automated test suite with zero regressions
  • Conducted full Apple Review Guidelines compliance audit
UX Research

Usability Auditing & Redesign

Performed heuristic evaluation identifying touch target violations, safe-area conflicts, and confusing compound-word displays. Directed a complete onboarding redesign inspired by Duolingo's conversion psychology.

  • Redesigned onboarding with goal-setting, personalized roadmaps, and commitment levels
  • Audited 583 transliterated terms for spelling consistency and readability
  • Designed compound-word grid system for multi-word Islamic phrases
  • Increased touch targets to meet Apple HIG 44pt minimum
Product Management

Strategy, Monetization & Compliance

Developed the freemium monetization model, scoped free vs. premium content boundaries, and navigated Apple's review team through 6+ submission cycles — drafting professional responses and triaging issues by severity.

  • Designed 7 premium conversion pathways with strategic paywall placement
  • Analyzed Duolingo, Muslim Pro, and Deen Buddy for conversion psychology
  • Made critical pivot decisions (removed Sign-in with Apple, adopted RevenueCat)
  • Managed version bumps across 3 build systems (package.json, Xcode, Gradle)
AI-Augmented Development

Multi-Model Evaluation & Direction

Evaluated and compared 5+ AI coding models for production development, learning to match model strengths to task types. Developed a human-AI workflow balancing speed with critical quality auditing.

  • Benchmarked Claude, Gemini, and GPT models for code quality and context retention
  • Directed complex multi-file refactoring across payment, i18n, and UI layers
  • Caught AI-generated issues (hardcoded answers, dead code, data inconsistencies)
  • Built production-grade features via AI pair programming
Localization

10-Language Content Management

Directed the complete localization of 583 Islamic vocabulary terms, game UI, onboarding flows, and legal disclaimers into 10 languages — achieving 100% translation coverage with zero missing keys.

  • Standardized Arabic-English transliterations from 545 variants to 460 terms
  • Authored and translated a transliteration disclaimer across all languages
  • Sourced definitions from authoritative texts (Ibn Kathir, Stories of the Sahabah)
  • Resolved RTL handling for Arabic and Urdu content
Content Strategy

Educational Content Curation

Curated 583 Islamic vocabulary terms with definitions, moral lessons, and historical context. Replaced 80+ generic English words with authentic Arabic vocabulary and organized content into a structured taxonomy.

  • Replaced generic terms (HEART→QALB, FAITH→IMAN, ANGEL→MALAK, etc.)
  • Enriched Prophet and Sahabah definitions with biographical and moral detail
  • Designed gamified daily engagement (Daily Dhikr Wordle mode)
  • Created a glossary/library dual-mode vocabulary system

Roles This Experience Maps To

The breadth of this project maps directly to high-demand career roles across engineering, product, and design.

🔍
QA Engineer / SDET
$90K – $160K+

Mobile app testing, IAP sandbox verification, cross-device regression testing, automated test maintenance, and App Store compliance auditing.

iOS/Android Testing StoreKit Sandbox Regression Testing Cross-Platform QA
🎨
UX Researcher
$95K – $165K+

Heuristic evaluation, onboarding flow optimization, accessibility compliance (Apple HIG), information architecture, and content readability auditing.

Usability Evaluation Conversion Funnels Apple HIG A/B Testing
📊
Product Manager
$120K – $200K+

Monetization strategy, feature scoping, App Store submission lifecycle, stakeholder communication, competitive analysis, and go-to-market planning.

Monetization App Store Connect Feature Scoping Competitive Analysis
🤖
AI-Augmented Developer
$130K – $220K+

Multi-model AI evaluation, prompt engineering for code generation, human-in-the-loop quality control, and AI output auditing for production safety.

LLM Evaluation Prompt Engineering AI Output QA Human-AI Workflows
🌐
Localization Specialist
$80K – $140K+

i18n project management, translation quality assurance, transliteration standardization, and cultural sensitivity across 10 languages.

i18n/l10n react-i18next Transliteration TQA
🚀
Release Manager
$100K – $170K+

iOS/Android release pipeline, build system coordination (Xcode, Gradle, Vite), SDK integration, and rapid incident response across 6+ release cycles.

Xcode Gradle RevenueCat Capacitor Sync
📚
Content Strategist
$75K – $130K+

Educational content curation from authoritative sources, content taxonomy design, gamification mechanics, and quality assurance across 583 terms.

Content Curation Taxonomy Design Gamification Editorial QA

AI Models Evaluated & Used

I actively tested and compared multiple AI coding assistants throughout development, selecting the right model for each task type — from complex refactoring to rapid debugging.

🟣
Claude Opus 4.6
Complex architecture & reasoning
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Gemini 3.1 Pro
Broad context & multi-file work
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Fast iteration & quick fixes
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GPT-OSS 120B
General-purpose development
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Model Switching
Task-matched selection strategy

I developed a practical intuition for when to use which AI model — Claude for deep architectural reasoning, Gemini for broad multi-file context, and Flash for rapid iteration. Every AI output was critically audited; I caught issues like hardcoded quiz answers, dead premium bypass code, and data inconsistencies between files that could have stalled our production release.

— On human-AI collaboration

Transferable Meta-Skills

Beyond technical roles, this project demonstrated the soft skills that employers value most.

💪 Persistence Under Pressure

Navigated 6+ App Store review and feedback cycles — interpreting complex reviewer requirements, directing swift technical resolutions, rebuilding, and resubmitting within days to secure approval.

🧭 Decision-Making Under Ambiguity

Made critical mid-project pivots: removed Sign-in with Apple, switched to local storage, adopted RevenueCat over direct StoreKit, and scoped free vs. premium content.

🔄 Cross-Functional Thinking

Simultaneously managed content curation, UX design, payment integration, compliance requirements, and engineering — context-switching fluently between domains.

📋 Documentation Discipline

Created and maintained payment audit reports, premium pathway maps, monetization strategy documents, glossary registries, and step-by-step release guides.

Let's Connect

Interested in discussing product, QA, UX, or AI-augmented development roles? I'd love to hear from you.

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