A full iOS and Android app rewrite that modernized the edX mobile experience, adopted SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose, and created a stronger foundation for edX.org and the Open edX community.
The edX mobile apps were stable and serving learners at scale, but the underlying architecture had reached a point where it was becoming harder to support the future we wanted to build toward.
As one of the major contributors to the Open edX ecosystem, edX had an opportunity to move toward a modern mobile foundation that could benefit both edX.org learners and the broader Open edX community. The goal was not to fix a broken app. The goal was to future-proof the mobile experience, adopt modern native technologies, and create a codebase that would make it easier for internal teams and community contributors to build on top of the apps over time.
The challenge was significant: we had to launch new iOS and Android apps built on a modern architecture while maintaining the reliability, learner trust, and production quality of the legacy apps. The new apps needed to feel fresh and modern, but the launch strategy had to follow a clear "do no harm" principle.
I owned the product side of the rewrite across scope definition, roadmap alignment, delivery coordination, launch planning, and stakeholder communication.
The first priority was ruthless scoping. We aligned around an MVP that focused on 80% feature parity with the production apps, while making clear decisions on what needed to launch immediately versus what could follow after release. Every feature decision was weighed against the delivery timeline, learner impact, and the risk of disrupting existing user behavior.
A major part of my role was aligning teams that did not all report into the same structure. The rewrite required coordination across internal edX.org mobile teams, TouchApp Media, and Open edX community contributors including Racoon Gang and Schema Education. I created a unified roadmap and ways of working that helped these teams move together toward the same launch target.
To keep momentum high, I set up clear processes for cross-team planning, async updates, internal demo meetings, community demos, decision documentation, and blocker escalation. I worked closely with engineering and design teams to make sure the new apps were also meaningfully better for learners — introducing a more modern interface, improved navigation, a refreshed Learn tab, updated Course Home, grouped Dates, improved Discussions, and Dark Mode.
Prior to launch, I also worked with the branding and UX teams to update the mobile app's store presence — aligning the launch communication, store page updates, preview assets, and the "What's New" experience so the new app felt like a cohesive product release, not just an engineering migration.
This was not just a mobile rewrite. It was a multi-platform, multi-team, community-aligned product transformation.
The first layer of complexity was coordination. The project involved internal edX.org teams, external mobile partners, and Open edX community contributors. My role required influence without direct authority: aligning priorities, creating shared visibility, and keeping teams moving together despite different ownership models and working styles.
The second layer was scope control. A rewrite can easily turn into an endless wish list. We had to make disciplined trade-offs between feature parity, learner experience improvements, technical modernization, accessibility, in-app purchases, analytics, error handling, release readiness, and store updates. The MVP had to be ambitious enough to justify the rewrite, but focused enough to ship.
The third layer was launch risk. Because the existing apps already had a high quality bar, success was not about dramatically fixing broken metrics. Success meant launching a completely rebuilt app while maintaining learner trust, preserving core engagement patterns, and keeping reliability stable across a large global learner base.
The new edX mobile apps launched across both iOS and Android with a modern architecture built using SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose.
The rewrite introduced a more modern and delightful learner experience, including a redesigned Learn tab, improved Course Home, better Dates navigation, improved Discussions, refreshed app branding, and Dark Mode.
Most importantly, the launch maintained edX's high reliability standards. We carried forward the strong crash-free experience from the legacy apps, maintaining around 99%+ crash-free stability through the transition. App Store and Play Store ratings also improved after launch, showing that learners responded positively to the new experience.
This project became a strong example of my ability to lead through ambiguity, adapt to complex team structures, and influence teams beyond my direct reporting line — bringing together product, engineering, design, QA, branding, and community contributors around a shared roadmap to ship a high-stakes platform rewrite without compromising learner trust.
