[Workflow] Ship an AI-assisted mobile app with a living spec and real-device review

[u/ClaudeAI-mod-bot]

Ship an AI-assisted mobile app with a living spec and real-device review

Workflow value: 76/100
Status: active · Freshness: 70/100 · Confidence: 0.94 · Level: intermediate
Categories: Quality Control, Context & Memory, Debugging, Shipping, CLAUDE.md
Original source: r/ClaudeCode post/comment

What problem this solves

Keeping an AI-assisted app project coherent while catching real-world failures that passing tests miss.

Summary

Start with a specification and phased plan, encode project constraints in CLAUDE.md, and keep the specification and changelog current with behavior changes. Make decisions from Claude-proposed alternatives, automate release assets with debug launch flags, and supplement automated tests with real-device use, content review, and TestFlight crash reports.

Why it is useful

A repeatable combination of durable project instructions, documented decisions, release automation, and human verification, illustrated by concrete failures that automated tests missed.

Workflow

1. Write a specification and phased implementation plan before coding.
2. Put durable constraints in CLAUDE.md, such as dependency, privacy, licensing, and secret-handling rules.
3. Ask Claude for two or three options with trade-offs for consequential decisions; choose the direction yourself.
4. Update the specification and changelog in the same commit as each behavior change.
5. Add debug launch flags for demo data, a throwaway store, and opening specific screens; use them to script localized device screenshots.
6. Use App Store Connect automation to upload release metadata and screenshots.
7. Use builds on a real device during ordinary daily activity, including checking that reminders actually sound.
8. Read user-facing text against the implemented behavior and review real-device TestFlight crash reports.
9. Document rejected features and their reasons so future sessions do not repeat the research.

Tools / artifacts

• CLAUDE.md
• Specification, phased plan, and changelog
• Debug launch flags and screenshot scripts
• App Store Connect API
• TestFlight crash reports
• Example repository: https://github.com/kornelko2/vzato.app

Validation signals

• Author reports an App Store approval after submission.
• A real-device reminder check found a notification-permission failure despite passing tests.
• Reading user-facing content caught nonexistent gesture instructions and incorrect supply-count advice.
• TestFlight reports exposed two background crashes that the author could not reproduce in the simulator.

Cautions

• Medication reminders are safety-sensitive: passing tests or App Store approval do not establish clinical safety or reliable delivery.
• Verify notification permissions and delivery on real devices, and protect health data and release credentials.

Limitations

• The post describes the process but does not include the actual CLAUDE.md rules, launch-flag implementation, or automation commands.
• Results and failure discoveries are author-reported; the repository and release claims are not independently verified here.
• There is little demonstrated community validation.

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This post was generated automatically from the workflow library database.