Ghost Light
An iOS app that helps an actor find a monologue. See docs/BUILD-SPEC.md.
Status
| step | what | state |
|---|
| 0 | Results spike — dark stage, tilt + scroll spotlights, 20 fixtures | built |
| 1 | Onboarding — 3 swipeable screens, silent anon session | built |
| 2 | Search home — hero field, stage-direction filter chips | built |
| 3 | Live results wired to /api/monologues/search | blocked — search needs auth (see below) |
| 4 | Read — light paper canvas, "lights up" | built |
| 5 | Auth on first save (Apple / Google) | not started |
| 6 | Saves & prep (offline sqlite) | not started |
| 7 | Paywall (RevenueCat) | not started — build last |
Everything built typechecks (npm run typecheck) and bundles (npx expo export --platform ios).
Nothing yet validated on a device — see below.
Two things need you
- The in-hand feel test (Step 0). The tilt spotlight has no accelerometer in the simulator and
60fps in a sim means nothing. Run on your phone and judge whether the tilt reads as a stage light
and the lit-card scroll feels like looking, not scanning. This is the one unproven assumption the
whole product rests on.
npx expo run:ios --device.
- Enable anonymous sign-ins on Supabase. Dashboard → project
actorrise → Authentication →
Sign In / Providers → Anonymous → on. Verified disabled today (anonymous_provider_disabled).
Until it's on, the silent session doesn't mint and live search stays 401 — so Step 3 waits on it.
The app degrades gracefully in the meantime (runs session-less, results screen shows fixtures).
Run it
npm install
npm run ios # builds a dev client and launches the simulator
Expo Go will not work — Skia and Reanimated worklets need custom native code, and IAP will need it
later regardless.
Judge this on a real device. The tilt spotlight does not exist in the simulator (no
accelerometer) and 60fps in a simulator means nothing.
npx expo run:ios --device # pick your phone from the list
What to look for
- Tilt the phone. Does the light on the back wall read as a lamp in a room, or as a parallax
effect? It should feel like the phone is a window, not a gyroscope demo.
- Scroll slowly. The card at the focus point lights; its neighbours fall toward stage dark but
stay readable. You should be able to read the two Courier lines of an unlit card without
fighting for it.
- Scroll fast, then flick. No stutter, no lag between the scroll and the light.
- The haptic ticks once per card as the light moves. Too much? Too little?
- Turn on Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion. The bulb stops flickering, the
spotlight freezes centred, every card is lit. Nothing should feel broken — just still.
What it is not
Not a swipeable card deck. Actors judge a monologue by reading it, so the text is the point and it
stays legible. Not a demo of Skia. The light is emphasis; the words are the product.
Next
Step 1 (onboarding) does not start until Step 0 feels good. The build order in spec §5 is
deliberate.
