I Built an AI Study App with React Native + Supabase — Here's What Actually Worked

Hicham Zaidi — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:59:33 +0000

A few months ago I set out to build a study app for students who don't want to read a 40-page PDF to understand one concept. The idea: type or paste your notes, and get them broken down the way a good tutor would explain them — simple, step by step, no jargon.

That became TikoNote.

Here's the stack and a few lessons from actually shipping it.

The stack
React Native for the mobile app (iOS + Android)
Supabase for auth, database, and storage
Express.js for the backend API layer
RevenueCat for subscriptions across App Store + Play Store
Stripe for web billing

Nothing exotic. The goal was speed to a real MVP, not a perfect architecture on day one.

What I got wrong early

I assumed the hard part would be the AI explanations. It wasn't. The hard part was:

Subscription state syncing. Getting RevenueCat, App Store Connect, and Google Play Console to agree on entitlement state took longer than the entire AI pipeline.
Onboarding friction. Every extra screen before the "aha" moment cost real users. Cutting onboarding down mattered more than any feature.
Distribution, not code. Building the app was maybe 30% of the work. Getting it in front of the right students (Gen Z, mostly on TikTok and Lemon8, not Twitter) was the other 70%.
A feature that actually landed

The one feature that consistently gets mentioned by users is Feynman mode — you explain a concept back in your own words, and the app tells you where your explanation breaks down. It's a small feature but it maps directly to a study technique people already trust, instead of inventing a new one nobody asked for.

That's been the pattern that works: map the AI feature to a study method people already believe in (active recall, spaced repetition, blurting), don't just bolt AI onto flashcards and call it done.

Where it's at now

Still early — a few thousand downloads, small but real MRR across mobile and web. Mostly sharing this in case it's useful to anyone else building a student-facing app or fighting the same App Store Connect / RevenueCat sync issues.

If you want to see the end result: TikoNote

Happy to answer questions about the stack, the ASO process, or anything else in the comments.

DEV Community: Hicham Zaidi

I Built an AI Study App with React Native + Supabase — Here's What Actually Worked