Dev loses Play Store testing streak after missing env variable crashes production app

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A developer building RentDera, a rent-management app for landlords using Expo and React Native, shipped version 1.1.0 on the evening of Janmashtami, only to have it crash within 30 minutes due to a single missing environment variable in the production build. The variable existed locally but was never injected into the CI/release pipeline, causing the app to fail on startup for all closed testers. After a quick fix and republish, a second issue emerged with the newly added Google Sign-In feature, which remains under investigation due to complexities around OAuth credentials and Android keystores. Separately, one of the required 12 closed testers on the Google Play Store opted out that same night, resetting a five-day testing streak that must run 14 consecutive days before an individual developer can publish publicly. The developer highlighted the need to over-recruit testers as a buffer and to ensure release pipelines actively supply all validated environment variables, not just catch missing ones at runtime.

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