Show HN: HyperFast, a React Native starter kit. Idea to app store in a week.(hyperfa.st)
hyperfa.st
Show HN: HyperFast, a React Native starter kit. Idea to app store in a week.
https://hyperfa.st/
12 comments
These time estimates seem excessive. 8 hours to “set up the environment”?
Also, doesn’t Expo already offer most of these boilerplates for free?
Edit: Not to mention that Expo handles most of the heavy lifting for each of these items (e.g publishing to app stores). What are customers paying for that they cannot easily get for free from the Expo team?
Also, doesn’t Expo already offer most of these boilerplates for free?
Edit: Not to mention that Expo handles most of the heavy lifting for each of these items (e.g publishing to app stores). What are customers paying for that they cannot easily get for free from the Expo team?
For a new React Native developer, I think it's minimum a full day of work to get your head around setting up a new RN project (even with Expo), finding out what dependencies your app needs and trawling through different documentation to learn it, things like that.
Differences to Expo - HyperFast is built on top of Expo. With Expo you get a great developer experience but you don't get code. HyperFast is a white-label best-practice UX app template, with
- app intro screens - signup/login/logout - an onboarding screen - a news feed - an item detail page - ability to "like" items - an account settings page where you can edit your info - a push notification service that lets you set up pre-built recurring local notifications
This is what "boilerplate" or "starter kit" means to me, but if that language isn't correct I'm keen to know how you'd describe it! Expo is an amazing tool but the purpose of HyperFast is to actually give you an app that you can customise.
As for the heavy lifting on publishing to the app store - yes, kinda, it can handle submissions, but HyperFast tells you _what to write_ in your app store listings, what kind of imagery is needed, gives sample text, etc.
Not to mention the huge benefit of having me on our private Discord channel giving advice, code feedback, debugging help etc. All of this is included _on top of Expo_, not in competition with it.
Thanks so much for your feedback! I think it shows that my sales page isn't quite there yet.
Differences to Expo - HyperFast is built on top of Expo. With Expo you get a great developer experience but you don't get code. HyperFast is a white-label best-practice UX app template, with
- app intro screens - signup/login/logout - an onboarding screen - a news feed - an item detail page - ability to "like" items - an account settings page where you can edit your info - a push notification service that lets you set up pre-built recurring local notifications
This is what "boilerplate" or "starter kit" means to me, but if that language isn't correct I'm keen to know how you'd describe it! Expo is an amazing tool but the purpose of HyperFast is to actually give you an app that you can customise.
As for the heavy lifting on publishing to the app store - yes, kinda, it can handle submissions, but HyperFast tells you _what to write_ in your app store listings, what kind of imagery is needed, gives sample text, etc.
Not to mention the huge benefit of having me on our private Discord channel giving advice, code feedback, debugging help etc. All of this is included _on top of Expo_, not in competition with it.
Thanks so much for your feedback! I think it shows that my sales page isn't quite there yet.
> These time estimates seem excessive. 8 hours to “set up the environment”?
Likely a windows user /s
Likely a windows user /s
[deleted]
congrats on launching and putting something out there. I know it isn't easy and I'm sure you've worked long and hard on the product and on the page
so I thought I'd offer some (solicited?) feedback:
* $169 for "starter projects" down from $369 feels like something I don't even want to try out. I don't know if you're trying to make the upsell to $199 easier to digest, but I got sticker shock from a 3 digit number for a starter project. I can host stuff online today for $0 on starter plans and you're charging nearly $200. then you say "The average senior React Native developer charges $120/hour." in relatively small print which I only read after I started proofreading this comment. as a solo founder, I don't pay any react native developers. I'm a full-stack company on my own, so I'm saving wherever I can
* exactly how is this better than just using Expo or something like Flutter or SwiftUI? the fact that you can "fetch from an API" shouldn't be a selling point on your one screenshot -- that's a given these days
* I don't even know what this does other than for some vague marketing words on the page. if you're expecting users to take your word for it and sign up, I think that's going to be tough. at a minimum you ought to show a video of what this does
you're claiming the experience with HyperFast is better than alternatives. prove it. then prove to me that it is better by $169 dollars, because SwiftUI, Flutter, and regular React Native are all free
so I thought I'd offer some (solicited?) feedback:
* $169 for "starter projects" down from $369 feels like something I don't even want to try out. I don't know if you're trying to make the upsell to $199 easier to digest, but I got sticker shock from a 3 digit number for a starter project. I can host stuff online today for $0 on starter plans and you're charging nearly $200. then you say "The average senior React Native developer charges $120/hour." in relatively small print which I only read after I started proofreading this comment. as a solo founder, I don't pay any react native developers. I'm a full-stack company on my own, so I'm saving wherever I can
* exactly how is this better than just using Expo or something like Flutter or SwiftUI? the fact that you can "fetch from an API" shouldn't be a selling point on your one screenshot -- that's a given these days
* I don't even know what this does other than for some vague marketing words on the page. if you're expecting users to take your word for it and sign up, I think that's going to be tough. at a minimum you ought to show a video of what this does
you're claiming the experience with HyperFast is better than alternatives. prove it. then prove to me that it is better by $169 dollars, because SwiftUI, Flutter, and regular React Native are all free
Thanks so much for this valuable feedback. I want to make the service/the sales site as convincing as possible so it's good to know what I'm missing. I'm gonna write responses to your feedback just in case someone sees this and has the same questions:
Language around pricing
Your point about the pricing makes sense to me, and I think it's an issue with my intended market. I wrote the copy speaking to other React Native devs like myself, or freelance React devs who want to jump into app development, but I think I need to consider gearing it towards founders.
How is it better than Expo?
It uses Expo actually! Expo is just a tool, like Rails or NextJS. HyperFast is a template built on top of Expo, which has pre-built screens that you can swap out your content for. It has push notifications already set up (e.g. has code that you can uncomment to launch recurring scheduled notifications), it has best-practice UX patterns (e.g. 'app intro' screens that appear when you first launch the app that describe what the app is before you ask for signup), it's pre-integrated with a BaaS (Supabase) so all you need to do is sign up, pop in your env vars and it just works.
I've basically built a white-label general purpose app, and you can put your images/text/API URL in there and have your own custom app (with a feed, likes/favourite content, account settings, login in/log out/sign up) extremely quickly.
I don't know what this does other than vague marketing words
Point taken, I think a demo video is in order!
Thanks again for the great feedback
Language around pricing
Your point about the pricing makes sense to me, and I think it's an issue with my intended market. I wrote the copy speaking to other React Native devs like myself, or freelance React devs who want to jump into app development, but I think I need to consider gearing it towards founders.
How is it better than Expo?
It uses Expo actually! Expo is just a tool, like Rails or NextJS. HyperFast is a template built on top of Expo, which has pre-built screens that you can swap out your content for. It has push notifications already set up (e.g. has code that you can uncomment to launch recurring scheduled notifications), it has best-practice UX patterns (e.g. 'app intro' screens that appear when you first launch the app that describe what the app is before you ask for signup), it's pre-integrated with a BaaS (Supabase) so all you need to do is sign up, pop in your env vars and it just works.
I've basically built a white-label general purpose app, and you can put your images/text/API URL in there and have your own custom app (with a feed, likes/favourite content, account settings, login in/log out/sign up) extremely quickly.
I don't know what this does other than vague marketing words
Point taken, I think a demo video is in order!
Thanks again for the great feedback
happy to help! it's hard to have enough perspective on things we build ourselves, so I'm always happy to try to contribute with some user confusion feedback
> I've basically built a white-label general purpose app, and you can put your images/text/API URL in there and have your own custom app (with a feed, likes/favourite content, account settings, login in/log out/sign up) extremely quickly.
NOW I get it and I think that's great! it's like a CMS for apps, I guess. you can show that upfront. "Why waste time reinventing the wheel writing basic functionality when you can have your app up and running in one day with hyper fast?"
you want to make the description of your product as short and easy as possible. "when you confuse, you lose"
the challenge there is proving to me that the "framework" will allow me to continue building when it inevitably needs to, as is the case with any framework. so one of your product goals should be to allow people to stay within HyperFast to move fast without feeling they can't customize it enough. at some point, though, you become as complex as React Native because of all the customization. but I do love sane defaults. that's why I use vscode and not vim anymore—just gotta have those vim keybindings and I'm game ;-)
good luck! and if you'd like advice from a real authority on building a clearer message check out https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-C...
or even better, go to Donald Miller's workshops ;-) they cost $995 (!!) but he was a guest speaker in something else I attended and I learned more from him in a couple hours than I learned in a 2-year MBA at Kellogg...
his website is https://storybrand.com/
> I've basically built a white-label general purpose app, and you can put your images/text/API URL in there and have your own custom app (with a feed, likes/favourite content, account settings, login in/log out/sign up) extremely quickly.
NOW I get it and I think that's great! it's like a CMS for apps, I guess. you can show that upfront. "Why waste time reinventing the wheel writing basic functionality when you can have your app up and running in one day with hyper fast?"
you want to make the description of your product as short and easy as possible. "when you confuse, you lose"
the challenge there is proving to me that the "framework" will allow me to continue building when it inevitably needs to, as is the case with any framework. so one of your product goals should be to allow people to stay within HyperFast to move fast without feeling they can't customize it enough. at some point, though, you become as complex as React Native because of all the customization. but I do love sane defaults. that's why I use vscode and not vim anymore—just gotta have those vim keybindings and I'm game ;-)
good luck! and if you'd like advice from a real authority on building a clearer message check out https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-C...
or even better, go to Donald Miller's workshops ;-) they cost $995 (!!) but he was a guest speaker in something else I attended and I learned more from him in a couple hours than I learned in a 2-year MBA at Kellogg...
his website is https://storybrand.com/
Looks interesting. I think your site is missing some information.
What auth service does it use?
What BaaS does it use?
How easy is to publish to the Apple and Android stores?
Can I also make a website out of it or just mobile?
It would be great to see some code snippets. If I'm buying this (which I might), I'm someone who doesn't know much. I'd love to see a component example. I have no idea what Expo is.
Just the first few thoughts that came to mind.
What auth service does it use?
What BaaS does it use?
How easy is to publish to the Apple and Android stores?
Can I also make a website out of it or just mobile?
It would be great to see some code snippets. If I'm buying this (which I might), I'm someone who doesn't know much. I'd love to see a component example. I have no idea what Expo is.
Just the first few thoughts that came to mind.
Great thoughts! Looks like I need to re-work the info on the homepage.
*Auth service*
I use Supabase email auth, specifically with one-time passwords. Why? Because it's the quickest to set up by far (compared to oAuth, where you have to have a website live + verification by Google / FB). It also allows you to skip over a separate "Log in" screen flow.
My boilerplate has all of this included and all the UX worked out (loading spinners when you click submit, an "enter your 6 digit code" screen which displays the email address you input and allows you to send again / change the email, etc
*What BaaS does it use?*
Supabase, for the reasons above. I also supply SQL creation templates to use within Supabase for profile table + auth creation, and the HyperFast docs have a step by step guide on how to set everything up.
*How easy is it to publish on the Apple and Android stores?*
Very hard. Great question. Once you have an established app it's relatively easy to _resubmit_ to these stores, but getting set up, getting all your assets (like images) together, and getting approved is extremely difficult for first-time users. Also difficult for return users like me, I stumble over it every time!
*Can I also make a website out of it or just mobile?*
Love this one. I've not yet implemented `react-native-web` but it'd be fairly simple to do so.
*Code samples / snippets*
Good idea, I think a video product tour might be a good thing, just show how everything works, show what you get, show the difference between using HyperFast to start your project vs showing how much harder it would be to do with plain react
*Auth service*
I use Supabase email auth, specifically with one-time passwords. Why? Because it's the quickest to set up by far (compared to oAuth, where you have to have a website live + verification by Google / FB). It also allows you to skip over a separate "Log in" screen flow.
My boilerplate has all of this included and all the UX worked out (loading spinners when you click submit, an "enter your 6 digit code" screen which displays the email address you input and allows you to send again / change the email, etc
*What BaaS does it use?*
Supabase, for the reasons above. I also supply SQL creation templates to use within Supabase for profile table + auth creation, and the HyperFast docs have a step by step guide on how to set everything up.
*How easy is it to publish on the Apple and Android stores?*
Very hard. Great question. Once you have an established app it's relatively easy to _resubmit_ to these stores, but getting set up, getting all your assets (like images) together, and getting approved is extremely difficult for first-time users. Also difficult for return users like me, I stumble over it every time!
*Can I also make a website out of it or just mobile?*
Love this one. I've not yet implemented `react-native-web` but it'd be fairly simple to do so.
*Code samples / snippets*
Good idea, I think a video product tour might be a good thing, just show how everything works, show what you get, show the difference between using HyperFast to start your project vs showing how much harder it would be to do with plain react
edit: typo
Looks cool. As someone who buys these things it always helps to maybe include a full working demo. IMHO I would offer a kitchen sink demo and remove the 7 day money back guarantee.
Looks cool. As someone who buys these things it always helps to maybe include a full working demo. IMHO I would offer a kitchen sink demo and remove the 7 day money back guarantee.
Oh great. By a full working demo, do you mean like an Expo Snack style interactive demo of the app on the home screen?
Or doing a video screencast thing where I go through all the features / the app etc?
Or doing a video screencast thing where I go through all the features / the app etc?
This looks good, well done! Got a license, thanks!
The good news for you: I've read every different push notification service/auth provider/etc's documentation and made informed choices, so you don't have to!
I've made HyperFast (https://hyperfa.st), a service which includes:
- A boilerplate to get you up and running (hyper) fast
- Solid documentation that tells guides you along the various steps with developing, building, submitting and launching an app
- Detailed documentation on the ins-and-outs of the Google Play Store and iOS App Store
- (a big one) lots of advice on MVP app principles, how to not overthink it, what information to put on various screens, things like that
- (another big one) very opinionated advice on services to use, UX paths to go down and decisions made for you so you don't get bogged down in swathes of documentation
- A community of developers on a similar app-building path to help you out whenever you need (including me, currently at your beck and call during Australian awake hours!)
My promise is: buying HyperFast will save you - at the VERY least - your hourly rate x the hours you'd spend setting up a React Native app from scratch.
The service is in its infancy at the moment so I'm offering a hefty discount for new signups. Would love for you to check it out and would love some feedback.