I decompiled the White House's new app
thereallo.dev
March 28, 2026
9 min read
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
70/100
Summary
The White House's new app is built using React Native with Expo (SDK 54) and operates on the Hermes JavaScript engine. The backend utilizes WordPress with a custom REST API and was developed by "forty-five-press."
Key Takeaways
- The White House app is built using React Native with Expo and runs on the Hermes JavaScript engine, utilizing a WordPress backend with a custom REST API.
- The app injects JavaScript into external websites to remove cookie consent dialogs, GDPR banners, and paywalls.
- The app includes various API endpoints for accessing content such as news articles, live streams, and policy issues from whitehouse.gov.
- The app has disabled OTA updates and contains a plugin that strips location tracking, despite the presence of location tracking code in the APK.
Community Sentiment
Concerns
- The app's performance is severely hindered on older devices, leading to a frustrating user experience that could limit accessibility.
- Concerns arise about the app's lack of location permissions transparency, raising questions about user privacy and data security.
- The presence of a cookie/paywall bypass injector and frequent GPS tracking in a government app suggests significant security vulnerabilities and ethical implications.
- Injecting JavaScript into web views for cookie consent overrides indicates a troubling approach to user consent and data handling by the government.
