DEV Community: Mr Solomon 🥷

Bug Hunt: Fixing Blank Gallery Images in React Native (RoomLink Beta Update)

Mr Solomon 🥷 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:09:42 +0000

Yo dev community! 🥷
Just hit a classic 'it worked on my machine' moment with RoomLink. After pushing our first closed test release, a user reported that the property gallery was totally blank.
The Culprit:.
The Solution: [Mention how you fixed it, e.g., adding a fallback 'Loading' state or optimizing the FlatList renderItem].
This is why RoomLink is in closed beta. We are iron-clad on security and UX before we open the floodgates to help Nigerians find homes without the 'agent fee' headache.
Check out the progress: roomlink.homes

Building RoomLink: A Community-Driven Housing Platform for Nigerians

Mr Solomon 🥷 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:51:09 +0000

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

The Community

RoomLink was built for students, young professionals, NYSC members, and working-class Nigerians who struggle to find safe and affordable housing.

In many communities, people lose money to fake agents, unverified landlords, and unreliable listings. Finding a decent apartment often requires personal connections or risky payments.

This app serves people who want transparency, security, and peace of mind when searching for accommodation.

What I Built

I built RoomLink, a mobile platform that connects users to verified apartments and short-let listings.

The app allows users to:

Search for nearby apartments
View verified listings
Contact landlords and agents directly
Book inspections
Explore short-let options
Avoid rental scams

RoomLink focuses on building trust first before monetization.

Demo

📹 Video Demo:

https://youtube.com/shorts/93uPhJ-7140?si=toK-7k8pGenEWRI9

Code

💻 GitHub Repository:

https://github.com/roomlinkhomes/roomlink

How I Built It

RoomLink was built using the following technologies:

React Native with Expo for mobile development
Firebase / Firestore for backend and database
Node.js for server-side logic
HTML/CSS for landing pages
Cloud hosting for deployment

The app was developed as an MVP with a focus on usability, speed, and scalability.

Challenges & Lessons

One major challenge was handling verification and preventing fake listings while keeping the platform easy to use.

I also learned how important community feedback is when building real-world products.

This project helped me improve my skills in full-stack development, product design, and startup thinking.

Future Plans

Planned improvements include:

In-app payments
AI-powered recommendations
Rent split calculator
Digital tenancy agreements
Expanded admin dashboard

My goal is to grow RoomLink into Nigeria’s most trusted housing platform.

Author

Built by Sunday Solomon Chiamaka

Feel free to connect with me and share feedback!

From Idea to Prototype: How I’m Building RoomLink (And Looking for Testers)

Mr Solomon 🥷 — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:45:32 +0000

Every product starts with a problem.

For me, it started when I saw how stressful it is for people to find decent housing — scams, agents’ fees, fake listings, wasted inspections.
I kept asking myself:
“Why isn’t there a simple platform that just works?”
That question became RoomLink.

🚀 How It Started
At first, it was just notes in my phone.
Features, sketches, random ideas.
Then I built a simple prototype using:
React / Expo
Node.js
Firebase
No big funding. No fancy setup. Just late nights and YouTube tutorials 😅

🔨 Building & Shipping
I focused on shipping fast instead of perfection.
First:
Basic UI
Auth system
Listing structure
Then:
Landlord contact
Verification flow
Inspection requests
Many things broke. Some worked. I fixed, rebuilt, and kept going.
That’s how I got to a working prototype.
🧪 Now: Testing Phase
The app isn’t “done” yet.
But it’s good enough to test with real users.
And that’s the most important step.
So now, I’m looking for early testers who can:
Try the app
Break things 😄
Share honest feedback
I made a quick form to join: 👇👇https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVzLmRHu-p3tG8Ei_ONicG1luYzAkRYY9fE3XLp8L0O2ESIg/viewform?usp=header

🎯 Why Testers Matter
I don’t want to build in isolation.
I want RoomLink to be shaped by the people who will actually use it.
Your feedback = better product.

💬 For Fellow Builders
If you’ve built products before, I’d love advice on:
Getting first users
Managing feedback
Scaling from MVP
Let’s learn from each other.
Thanks for reading 🙏🏽
More updates coming soon 🚀

Common React Native Performance Gotchas I Fixed in 2025 (and How to Avoid Them)

Mr Solomon 🥷 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:57:21 +0000

Hey DEV community 👋
I'm a React Native dev who's been shipping mobile apps for a couple of years now. In 2025 I hit a bunch of performance walls that cost me days of debugging — so I want to share the most common ones I see (and fixed) so maybe you can skip the pain.

Unnecessary re-renders from anonymous functions in render
Classic mistake:

data={items}
renderItem={({ item }) => (
doSomething(item)}>
{item.name}

)}
/>
Every render creates a new function → children re-render unnecessarily.
Fix — use useCallback:const handlePress = useCallback((item) => doSomething(item), []);
Large lists without keyExtractor or getItemLayout
FlatList without keyExtractor or getItemLayout can lag badly on long lists.
Quick wins:
Always add keyExtractor={(item) => item.id.toString()}
If items have fixed height → add getItemLayout={(data, index) => ({ length: ITEM_HEIGHT, offset: ITEM_HEIGHT * index, index })}
Overusing useState in deeply nested components
Lifting state too high or creating tons of tiny useState hooks kills performance.
Better — use Zustand or Jotai for global/cross-component state instead of prop drilling + local state everywhere.
Image loading without caching or placeholder
Remote images without cache policy or blurhash placeholders cause jank.
Use expo-image instead of — it handles caching, placeholders, and priority better out of the box.
import { Image } from 'expo-image';

source={{ uri: imageUrl }}
placeholder={require('./blurhash-placeholder.png')}
cachePolicy="memory-disk"
style={{ width: 200, height: 200 }}
/>

Not using Reanimated for animations Animated API is slow on JS thread. Switch to Reanimated 2/3 for 60fps spring/physics animations that run on UI thread. import Animated, { useSharedValue, withSpring } from 'react-native-reanimated';

const scale = useSharedValue(1);
const animatedStyle = useAnimatedStyle(() => ({
transform: [{ scale: withSpring(scale.value) }],
}));

Quick checklist I run before every release:
Profile with Flipper or React DevTools
Check re-renders with why-did-you-render
Test on low-end device (Android Go or old iPhone)
Use expo-optimize or bundle visualizer for JS size
What are your biggest RN perf wins or pains in 2025? Drop them below — let's help each other ship faster. 🚀

ReactNative #Performance #MobileDev #Expo #JavaScript

Build RoomLink: A Verified Housing Platform with React Native & Expo.

Mr Solomon 🥷 — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:00:48 +0000

Hey DEV community! 👋

I'm Mr Solomon, founder of RoomLink — a mobile app I'm building to make renting apartments and short-term stays safer, more transparent, and way less stressful.

The Problem

Finding a decent place to live shouldn't feel like a scam lottery. Fake listings, hidden agent fees, unreliable landlords — too many people go through this every day. RoomLink is my attempt to fix it.

What RoomLink Does

Fully verified landlords, properties, and users (ID checks + document proof)
Direct in-app chat — no middleman drama
Transparent pricing — what you see is what you pay
Seamless search, booking, and management in one app

Tech Stack I'm Using

React Native + Expo (for fast cross-platform mobile)
Firebase (Firestore for data, Auth, Storage for images)
Tailwind CSS for clean, responsive UI
React Navigation + Zustand for smooth state & routing

Right now the landing page is live: https://roomlink.homes

App is in active development — MVP focused on verification flow and core search/chat.

Why I'm Sharing This

I'm solo-building everything, learning a ton along the way (Firebase scaling, mobile performance tricks, UI polish). Would love to hear from the community:

React Native tips for scaling real-time features?
How do you handle user verification in mobile apps?
Feedback on the landing page — brutal honesty welcome!
Anyone working on trust-based marketplaces? Let's connect.

Follow along if you're into mobile dev, housing tech, or just want to see how a side project turns into something real.

Thanks for reading! Drop a comment, like, or share if this resonates.

ReactNative #Expo #Firebase #MobileDev #Startups #HousingTech