SafeDeal

The Problem

Shopping on Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress means reading long review threads, guessing whether a discount is real, and trusting seller badges that don’t always tell the full story. That work is worse on a phone, where comparison tabs and extension overlays don’t exist.

Safe Deal already had a desktop browser extension for this. Mobile needed the same decision layer without asking people to leave the product page.

What I Built

I was the React Native frontend engineer on the Safe Deal mobile app — an Expo shopping browser that opens marketplace product pages in an in-app WebView and surfaces a buy/caution verdict with evidence on top of the live page. Shipped for Android and iOS.

Major Features

For shoppers

• Marketplace hub — One-tap shortcuts into AliExpress, Amazon, and eBay, plus custom links you add yourself.
• In-app browser — Search or paste a URL, back/forward, and browse product pages without hopping to Chrome or Safari.
• Product insights — Rule checklist for reviews, seller tenure, price vs average, and store satisfaction, plus a price-history chart.
• AI insights — Review text rolled into pros, cons, and “good to know” so you don’t read hundreds of comments.
• Customer images & review videos — Real buyer photos and a YouTube reviews search from the same analysis sheet.
• Share into SafeDeal — Share a product link from another app; Safe Deal opens it and runs the analysis.
• Languages — Large locale set so the same flows work across markets.

Under the hood

• Site-aware product detection — Recognizes Amazon / eBay / AliExpress item URLs so the analysis UI only appears on real product pages.
• Injected page cleanup — WebView scripts tighten the viewport and hide noisy marketplace chrome so the product — and the Safe Deal sheet — stay readable.
• Cached analysis by URL — React Query keeps conclusions keyed to the page you’re on while you move between tabs in the sheet.
• Share-intent entry — OS share target opens the shared product URL directly in the browser shell.

Key Challenges

The app is a browser and a decision UI at once. Navigation, URL validity, and home shortcuts had to stay simple while the analysis modal stayed one tap away from any product page.

Analysis must feel ambient, not bolted on. The footer shield turns green / amber / red with the conclusion so status is visible while you still see the marketplace page behind the sheet.

Mobile is part of a larger product. The React Native client had to match Safe Deal’s extension story (same retailers, same “recommended / not recommended” language) without owning the whole desktop pipeline.

Results

The app is live on Google Play (5K+ downloads, 4.5★) and iOS, alongside the product site at joinsafedeal.com. The broader Safe Deal platform reports 6M+ products checked and 590K+ reviews checked.

Approach

React Native with Expo for iOS and Android. React Native WebView for the shopping shell. React Query for analysis fetches. Stack details live in the sidebar.