Native Apps with Expo
White-label native apps for churches, powered by Expo and managed from their WordPress dashboard.
How It Works
The church's WordPress site becomes the app dashboard. Church admins manage their app alongside everything else in Digital Church — no separate portal needed.
Architecture
Two repos are involved:
| Repo | Purpose |
|---|---|
digitalchurch-app (Expo) | The native app codebase. Builds iOS and Android apps. |
digitalchurch-wordpress | The dashboard controls. Churches configure and manage their app from the same place they manage their website. |
What Lives Where
Expo Repo (digitalchurch-app):
- App shell and navigation
- Native features (push notifications, offline, etc.)
- Build and deployment pipeline via EAS
- App Store / Play Store submission automation
WordPress Repo (App Dashboard):
- Push notification composer and scheduling
- App branding (colors, logos, splash screen)
- Tab configuration (which tabs appear, ordering, content)
- Feature toggles
- App content management (pulls from the same data as the website)
Key Differences from AppPresser
| Feature | AppPresser (Old) | Expo (New) |
|---|---|---|
| App configuration | MyAppPresser.com dashboard | WordPress admin |
| Build system | Bitrise | Expo EAS Build |
| Certificate management | Manual upload to Bitrise | Managed by EAS (or stored in EAS Secrets) |
| Content updates | API calls to WordPress | Same — REST API to WordPress |
| Custom views | HTML/CSS in AppPresser dashboard | React Native components |
| Build triggers | AppPresser dashboard | EAS CLI or GitHub Actions |
Philosophy
The website is the hub. The app extends it into people's pockets. Churches shouldn't need a second admin panel to manage their app — the WordPress dashboard they already use handles it all.
Key Features
- Push notifications — Compose and schedule from the WordPress dashboard
- Branding controls — Set app colors, icons, splash screen without touching code
- Tab configuration — Choose which tabs appear and what content they show
- Shared content — Sermons, events, groups, giving all flow from the same source as the website
- White-label — Each church gets their own branded app in the stores
- OTA updates — Push JavaScript updates without app store review via EAS Update