diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ad4dd9f005..e4c7e47f89 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -194,3 +194,6 @@ test/appium/tests/users.py
 
 ## git hooks
 lefthook.yml
+
+## metro server logs
+metro-server-logs.log
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 03654c49c2..4fe32474e0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ run-clojure: ##@run Watch for and build Clojure changes for mobile
 
 run-metro: export TARGET := clojure
 run-metro: ##@run Start Metro to build React Native changes
-	@scripts/start-react-native.sh
+	@scripts/run-metro.sh
 
 run-re-frisk: export TARGET := clojure
 run-re-frisk: ##@run Start re-frisk server
@@ -278,22 +278,15 @@ run-android: export TARGET := android
 # Disabled for debug builds to avoid 'maximum call stack exceeded' errors.
 # https://github.com/status-im/status-mobile/issues/18493
 run-android: export ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_hermesEnabled := false
-# INFO: If it's empty (no devices attached, parsing issues, script error) - for Nix it's the same as not set.
-run-android: export ANDROID_ABI_INCLUDE ?= $(shell ./scripts/adb_devices_abis.sh)
 run-android: ##@run Build Android APK and start it on the device
-	npx react-native run-android --appIdSuffix debug
+	@scripts/run-android.sh
 
 SIMULATOR=iPhone 13
 # TODO: fix IOS_STATUS_GO_TARGETS to be either amd64 or arm64 when RN is upgraded
 run-ios: export TARGET := ios
 run-ios: export IOS_STATUS_GO_TARGETS := ios/arm64;iossimulator/amd64
-run-ios: export XCBeautify=$(shell which xcbeautify) # for react-native-cli to pick this up and to auto format output
-run-ios: ##@run Build iOS app and start it in a simulator/device
-ifneq ("$(SIMULATOR)", "")
-	npx react-native run-ios --simulator="$(SIMULATOR)"
-else
-	npx react-native run-ios
-endif
+run-ios: ##@run Build iOS app and start it in on the simulator
+	@scripts/run-ios.sh "${SIMULATOR}"
 
 show-ios-devices: ##@other shows connected ios device and its name
 	xcrun xctrace list devices
diff --git a/doc/ide-setup.md b/doc/ide-setup.md
index d1085018b5..aa400509d7 100644
--- a/doc/ide-setup.md
+++ b/doc/ide-setup.md
@@ -122,10 +122,9 @@ See below:
 
 Do the following:
 
-Ensure you have 3 terminals running the following
+Ensure you have 2 terminals running the following
 
 - `make run-clojure`
-- `make run-metro`
 - `make run-ios` / `make run-android`
 
 [See the STARTING GUIDE for details](STARTING_GUIDE.md#development)
diff --git a/doc/starting-guide.md b/doc/starting-guide.md
index 9f8e55721b..0d1fff2514 100644
--- a/doc/starting-guide.md
+++ b/doc/starting-guide.md
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ This step will take a while the first time as it will download all dependencies.
 There are three steps necessary to start development, in this case for Android:
 
 1. `make run-clojure` - Compiles Clojure into JavaScript, watches for changes on cljs files, and hot-reloads code in the app.
-2. `make run-metro` - Starts metro bundler and watches JavaScript code.
-3. `make run-android` or `make run-ios` - Builds the Android/iOS app and starts it on the device.
+2. `make run-android` or `make run-ios` - Builds the Android/iOS app, starts it on the device and starts metro bundler.
 
 The first two will continue watching for changes and keep re-building the app. They need to be ready first.
 The last one will exit once the app is up and ready.
diff --git a/ios/Podfile.lock b/ios/Podfile.lock
index 486b75e855..f539dec0ed 100644
--- a/ios/Podfile.lock
+++ b/ios/Podfile.lock
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ CHECKOUT OPTIONS:
     :submodules: true
 
 SPEC CHECKSUMS:
-  boost: 57d2868c099736d80fcd648bf211b4431e51a558
+  boost: 64032b9e9b938fda23325e68a3771f0fabf414dc
   BVLinearGradient: 612a04ff38e8480291f3379ee5b5a2c571f03fe0
   CryptoSwift: c4f2debceb38bf44c80659afe009f71e23e4a082
   DoubleConversion: 5189b271737e1565bdce30deb4a08d647e3f5f54
diff --git a/nix/mobile/android/release.nix b/nix/mobile/android/release.nix
index 160e548562..fcd60d3d8a 100644
--- a/nix/mobile/android/release.nix
+++ b/nix/mobile/android/release.nix
@@ -40,8 +40,10 @@ let
     else if (elem buildType ["pr" "manual"])                  then ".env.jenkins"
     else ".env";
 
-  # There are only two types of Gradle build targets: pr and release
-  gradleBuildType = if buildType == "pr" then "Pr" else "Release";
+  gradleBuildType =
+    if buildType == "pr" then "Pr"
+    else if buildType == "debug" then "Debug"
+    else "Release";
 
   apksPath = "./android/app/build/outputs/apk/${toLower gradleBuildType}";
 
@@ -171,12 +173,14 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ${adhocEnvVars} ${gradleCommand}
     popd > /dev/null
   '';
-  doCheck = true;
-  checkPhase = ''
+
+  doCheck = buildType != "debug";
+  checkPhase =  ''
     ls ${apksPath}/*.apk \
       | xargs -n1 ${pkgs.unzip}/bin/unzip -qql \
       | grep 'index.android.bundle'
   '';
+
   installPhase = ''
     mkdir -p $out
     cp ${apksPath}/*.apk $out/
diff --git a/scripts/run-android.sh b/scripts/run-android.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8f4c11aa84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run-android.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+set -m # needed to access jobs
+
+GIT_ROOT=$(cd "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}" && git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+
+# We run Metro in background while calling adb.
+cleanupMetro() {
+    pkill -f run-metro.sh
+    rm -f metro-server-logs.log
+}
+
+# Using function gives a neater jobspec name.
+runMetro() {
+   nohup "${GIT_ROOT}/scripts/run-metro.sh" 2>&1 \
+        | tee metro-server-logs.log
+}
+
+waitForMetro() {
+    set +e # Allow grep command to fail in the loop.
+    TIMEOUT=5
+    echo "Waiting for Metro server..." >&2
+    while ! grep -q "Welcome to Metro" metro-server-logs.log; do
+      echo -n "." >&2
+      sleep 1
+      if ((TIMEOUT == 0)); then
+        echo -e "\nMetro server timed out, exiting" >&2
+        set -e # Restore errexit for rest of script.
+        return 1
+      fi
+      ((TIMEOUT--))
+    done
+    set -e # Restore errexit for rest of script.
+}
+
+# Generate android debug build.
+export ANDROID_ABI_INCLUDE=$("${GIT_ROOT}/scripts/adb_devices_abis.sh")
+export BUILD_ENV=debug
+export BUILD_TYPE=debug
+"${GIT_ROOT}/scripts/build-android.sh"
+
+# Install the APK on running emulator or android device.
+adb install ./result/app-debug.apk
+
+trap cleanupMetro EXIT ERR INT QUIT
+runMetro &
+waitForMetro
+
+# Start the installed app.
+adb shell monkey -p im.status.ethereum.debug 1
+
+# bring metro job to foreground
+fg 'runMetro'
diff --git a/scripts/run-ios.sh b/scripts/run-ios.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c913d4895f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run-ios.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+set -m # needed to access jobs
+
+GIT_ROOT=$(cd "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}" && git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+
+# We run Metro in background while calling adb.
+cleanupMetro() {
+    pkill -f run-metro.sh
+    rm -f metro-server-logs.log
+}
+
+# Using function gives a neater jobspec name.
+runMetro() {
+   nohup "${GIT_ROOT}/scripts/run-metro.sh" 2>&1 \
+        | tee metro-server-logs.log
+}
+
+waitForMetro() {
+    set +e # Allow grep command to fail in the loop.
+    TIMEOUT=5
+    echo "Waiting for Metro server..." >&2
+    while ! grep -q "Welcome to Metro" metro-server-logs.log; do
+      echo -n "." >&2
+      sleep 1
+      if ((TIMEOUT == 0)); then
+        echo -e "\nMetro server timed out, exiting" >&2
+        set -e # Restore errexit for rest of script.
+        return 1
+      fi
+      ((TIMEOUT--))
+    done
+    set -e # Restore errexit for rest of script.
+}
+
+# Check if the first argument is provided
+if [ -z "${1-}" ]; then
+    echo "Error: No simulator name provided." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+SIMULATOR=${1}
+
+# get our desired UUID
+UUID=$(xcrun simctl list devices | grep -E "$SIMULATOR \(" | head -n 1 | awk -F '[()]' '{print $2}')
+
+# get simulator status
+SIMULATOR_STATE=$(xcrun simctl list devices | grep -E "$SIMULATOR \(" | head -n 1 | awk '{print $NF}')
+
+# sometimes a simulator is already running, shut it down to avoid errors
+if [ "$SIMULATOR_STATE" != "(Shutdown)" ]; then
+    xcrun simctl shutdown "$UUID"
+fi
+
+# boot up iOS for simulator
+xcrun simctl boot "$UUID"
+
+# start the simulator
+open -a Simulator --args -CurrentDeviceUDID "$UUID"
+
+#iOS build of debug scheme
+xcodebuild -workspace "ios/StatusIm.xcworkspace" -configuration Debug -scheme StatusIm -destination id="$UUID" | xcbeautify
+
+trap cleanupMetro EXIT ERR INT QUIT
+runMetro &
+waitForMetro
+
+# launch the app when metro is ready
+xcrun simctl launch "$UUID" im.status.ethereum.debug
+
+# bring metro job to foreground
+fg 'runMetro'
diff --git a/scripts/run-metro.sh b/scripts/run-metro.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..37741881c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run-metro.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+pkill -f 'react-native start'
+
+react-native start --reset-cache
diff --git a/scripts/start-react-native.sh b/scripts/start-react-native.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index f137844bbb..0000000000
--- a/scripts/start-react-native.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-GIT_ROOT=$(cd "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}" && git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
-source "${GIT_ROOT}/scripts/colors.sh"
-
-METRO_PORT=8081
-METRO_PID="$(lsof -i :${METRO_PORT} | awk 'NR!=1 {print $2}' | sort -u | tr '\r\n' ' ')"
-if [ ! -z "$METRO_PID" ]; then
-  echo -e "${YLW}TCP port ${METRO_PORT} is required by the Metro packager.\nThe following processes currently have the port open, preventing Metro from starting:${RST}"
-  ps -fp $METRO_PID
-  echo -e "${YLW}Do you want to terminate them (y/n)?${RST}"
-  read -n 1 term
-  [[ $term == 'y' ]] && kill $METRO_PID
-fi
-
-react-native start --reset-cache