diff --git a/android/app/build.gradle b/android/app/build.gradle
index 2ed88a3..00d3f49 100644
--- a/android/app/build.gradle
+++ b/android/app/build.gradle
@@ -148,7 +148,10 @@ android {
             def enableShrinkResources = findProperty('android.enableShrinkResourcesInReleaseBuilds') ?: 'false'
             shrinkResources enableShrinkResources.toBoolean()
             minifyEnabled enableMinifyInReleaseBuilds
-            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
+            // ponytail: proguard-android.txt carries -dontoptimize, which is what
+            // Play flags as unoptimized code. The -optimize file drops it; R8's
+            // optimizer + keep rules from the RN/Expo AARs carry the rest.
+            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
             def enablePngCrunchInRelease = findProperty('android.enablePngCrunchInReleaseBuilds') ?: 'true'
             crunchPngs enablePngCrunchInRelease.toBoolean()
         }