Tasmania's Migrant Integration Platform

GMA Connect is a mobile-first digital ecosystem built to support skilled migrants in Tasmania through intelligent event discovery, professional growth tracking, and community integration.

• Language: TypeScript (Strict typing for robust, error-resistant mobile development)
• Frontend: React Native (Expo)
• Routing: Expo Router (File-based routing)
• Backend: Firebase (Authentication & Firestore)
• Payments: Google Play Billing Library (In-App Subscriptions)
• Architecture: Modular Service-Controller-UI pattern

The codebase strictly follows a separation of concerns, dividing logic, navigation, and presentation:

• /app (Routes): Manages screen-specific logic and navigation "handshakes" (e.g., passing eventId safely).
• /services (Logic): Handles raw Firebase API calls and business logic (e.g., authService.ts).
• /components (UI): Reusable, styled, "dumb" components (e.g., <EventCard />).
• /theme: Centralized styling and color palettes.

• End-to-End Type Safety: Utilizes TypeScript interfaces for Firebase documents and component props, ensuring reliable data structures and predicting errors at compile time.
• Atomic Registration: The authService implements an automatic rollback. If a user's Firestore profile creation fails during sign-up, the Firebase Auth account is immediately deleted to prevent orphaned "ghost" accounts.
• Smart Navigation Handshakes: Implements strict parameter handling (eventId) and finally blocks in route controllers to guarantee loading states resolve, preventing infinite spinners.
• Optimistic Bookmarking: UI updates instantly when saving events, syncing with Firestore in the background.
• Subscription Model: Handles free vs. premium tier access via Google Play Store integration, restricting access to member-only events.

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your local machine:

• Git: For version control and cloning the repository.
• Node.js & npm: The JavaScript/TypeScript runtime and package manager required to run the Expo server.
• Expo CLI: The command-line tool for React Native app development.
• Android Studio: For running virtual device emulators.
• Code Editor: Visual Studio Code is highly recommended, especially for its excellent TypeScript and React Native support.

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

# Clone the repository into a local folder named 'gma-connect'
git clone https://github.com/UTAS-KIT300-GMA/gma-mobile-app.git gma-connect

# Navigate into the project directory
cd gma-connect

# Install all required packages
npm install