Introducing Rork: An AI Tool That Automates App Deployment to the App Store

Introduction

For those who say, "I have an idea but can’t code" or "I want to quickly create a prototype," Rork is here to generate an app from natural language and guide you all the way to store publication. This article carefully explains how I tried it and the points to watch out for.

What is Rork?

Rork generates a cross-platform mobile app based on React Native from natural language descriptions, integrating with Expo/EAS to build for the App Store and Google Play. Rork Official Site
Users simply describe their app idea in English, and a functional app template is generated. Real-time previews are also available. Review by Momen

Insights from Reviews and Feedback

Rork receives praise for being "easy to build apps without coding" and "great for quickly creating an MVP", but also criticism for "numerous bugs" and "lack of customization". From Momen article
Reddit comments include:

“Their concept is very nice, looks solid but it crashes and freezes a lot”
“First of all, there is no way I can make any code change manually in their web-IDE... Support from them even after paying is just absent.”

Test Run: Generating a Home Life Management App

Summary of Requirements Provided

Manage family life in one place (calendar, tasks, shopping list, home maintenance, garbage schedule, household budget) — all instructed in natural language.

details

1. App Overview
A web and mobile compatible app that centralizes household management. Integrates calendar, task management, shopping list, home maintenance logs, garbage schedule, and budgeting with real-time sharing among family members.

2. Users
Entire family (multiple accounts / permission settings)
Optional sharing with non-family members (e.g., housekeepers, repair contractors)

3. Functional Requirements
3.1 Calendar & Scheduling
Unified view of all family schedules (color-coded)
Toggle between personal and shared events
Set responsible and participating members
Reminders via push/email
Google Calendar / iCal sync

3.2 Chores & To-Do Management
Task registration (assignee, due date, priority)
Recurring tasks (e.g., weekly cleaning)
Checklist-based progress tracking
Task completion history (visualizing chore distribution)

3.3 Shopping List
Category-based lists (food, daily goods, etc.)
Voice input / barcode scan for adding items
Collaborative editing
Store-specific purchase history
Automatic "out of stock" notifications (e.g., milk quantity tracking)

3.4 Home Repair & Maintenance
Repair log (date, details, contractor, photos)
Inspection scheduling (e.g., AC cleaning, roof inspection)
Attachment of quotes/receipts
Reminders (semi-annual/annual)

3.5 Garbage Schedule
Register local collection calendar
Notifications the day before/on the day (time-specific)
Waste sorting notes

3.6 Money Management
Expense/income logging (by category)
Monthly/annual reports (graphs)
Spending ratio by family member
Budget setting & over-budget alerts
Bank/credit card statement import (CSV/OFX)

3.7 Common Features
Account management (family & individual levels)
Permission settings (e.g., children read-only)
Cloud data sync
Offline mode (sync upon reconnection)
Multi-language support (JP/EN)

4. Non-functional Requirements
Supported Devices: iOS / Android / Web
UI: Simple, intuitive, suitable for all family members
Performance: <0.5s response, store >10,000 records
Security: User auth (OAuth2/password), HTTPS encryption, AES256 data encryption
Backup: Daily cloud backup
Notifications: Push (mobile), email
Data Sharing: Real-time family sync
Extensibility: API-based (REST/GraphQL)
Reliability: 99.9% uptime (cloud hosting)

5. Additional UI/UX Ideas
Dashboard showing today's schedule, tasks, garbage day, shopping list
Voice assistant integration (Google Home, Alexa)
Stickers/comments for tasks/events
AI-based auto-categorization (receipt photo scanning)
Bundled push notifications to reduce noise

Overview of Execution Steps

Input requirements into Rork → React Native project automatically generated with screens, basic logic, and sample data.
Previewed in Expo Go to check navigation and main functions (e.g., adding events).
Used EAS Build for iOS/Android build prep (Apple Developer certificates and provisioning required).
Generated a TestFlight IPA, with auto-generated screenshots/metadata (final manual adjustments required).

Time Spent

Prototype completion: 30 minutes – 2 hours

Resulting Screens

product image

Some buttons were non-functional, requiring 2–3 rounds of chat refinement.

Advantages

Extremely fast MVP creation.
Built-in automation path to the App Store.
Accessible for non-engineers, lowering the barrier from idea to product.

Caveats

Stability issues (frequent crash/freeze reports).
Limited code editing in the web IDE.
Weak support based on user feedback.
Customization limitations for advanced needs.

Conclusion

Rork is highly effective for cases where you want to quickly bring an idea to life and test it, but it has limitations in stability and support. Fully automated operation is difficult — final quality assurance and review handling still require human intervention.