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White House App Decompiled Reveals Tracking, WordPress Backend

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A developer has decompiled the White House's new mobile app, exposing its technical underpinnings and concerning tracking practices. The app, available on both the App Store and Google Play, is built using Expo SDK 54 and the Hermes JavaScript engine. Its backend relies on WordPress with a custom REST API, hosted at whitehouse.gov.

The app's structure is relatively simple: a thin native layer wraps a React Native frontend, with core logic compiled into a 5.5 MB Hermes bytecode bundle. Key technical details include the use of the OneSignal SDK for notifications and analytics, which tracks user locations and interactions extensively. The app also loads third-party JavaScript from services like Elfsight and Mailchimp, raising security and privacy concerns.

This reveals the app as a content portal powered by WordPress, but its tracking infrastructure and reliance on external, potentially insecure third-party code are significant findings.