Sircles Work Session

1. Server Test Cases and Pipeline Updates

The engineering team has successfully resolved the issues with the previously broken test cases on the GitHub Actions pipeline, and current builds are now passing. Work is ongoing to add more server-level test cases for the message module. Additionally, a fix was confirmed for the midnight UTC server disruptions, which was traced to an AWS log rotation process; this task has been shifted to off-peak hours (11:00 AM UTC) to avoid future lag.

2. Web View Optimization and Scrolling

Progress continues on the web view, where an "infinite scroll list" library was implemented to replace standard HTML lists, resulting in smoother performance. While general scrolling is improved, the team identified a recurring issue where scrolling occasionally freezes if the user's thumb interacts directly with specific UI elements, such as image cards or icons. A CSS-based solution is being investigated to resolve these interaction conflicts and ensure a responsive web experience.

3. New Architecture Stability and "Jank" Reduction

The team is focused on identifying and removing "jank" within the new architecture build (Version 14), specifically targeting flickering during topic transitions and stuttering caused by Lottie animations. To pinpoint these issues, engineering plans to perform side-by-side, frame-by-frame comparisons of recordings between the old and new architectures. A comprehensive QA session is planned to stress-test various user flows, such as creating custom topics and navigating from notifications, to catch edge cases where the UI currently shifts or skips frames.

4. Podcast Player Prioritization

A top priority was established for fixing the podcast player to ensure it continues playing without interruption when a user bounces between different chats or topics. Currently, leaving a chat lobby pauses the player, which is undesirable for live broadcasts. Ismail will prioritize this fix for Build 16, which is expected to be a production build rushed for release before the next scheduled podcast stream.

5. Lottie Animation Refactoring

Significant performance issues were attributed to heavy Lottie animation files that can reach sizes of several megabytes, causing phone stutters. The team proposed remaking these assets using the Lottie editor rather than Adobe After Effects to reduce them to a few hundred kilobytes and enable them to run on the phone's hardware GPU rather than software. This transition is essential for a smooth onboarding experience, as it allows the new architecture to leverage its intended performance benefits.

6. Link Previews and Metadata Sizing

Engineering has polished dynamic sizing for link previews in the new architecture by pulling image height and width data directly from the backend. This prevents "scrolling jumps" that previously occurred when the frontend had to calculate dimensions after an image loaded. Additionally, a fix was implemented for internal links so that sharing a link to a podcast or group chat within the app now displays the correct preview and metadata rather than opening a web browser.

7. App Permissions and Diagnostic Tools

The team addressed a recurring issue where the camera would fail to open if permissions were missing or previously denied. The updated logic now checks for permission status first and, if necessary, redirects the user directly to the device settings to enable access. Regarding diagnostics, the team decided to downgrade Sentry to an older version to avoid app freezes on Android. They also discussed using experimental canvas capturing on iOS to capture logs while smoothing out the choppy scrolling caused by standard session replays.

8. Campaign Preparation and Staffing

With a new crowdfunding campaign approaching, leadership noted that Jerry will need to take on additional responsibilities formerly handled by other staff, such as drafting email blasts and managing Facebook ad tests. Coordination for these promotional efforts will begin immediately to ensure the audience is properly engaged when the campaign launches.