diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a636c5981..f6de07b83 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 .DS_Store
 .gradle
 /local.properties
+/apikeys.properties
 /build
 /captures
 .externalNativeBuild
diff --git a/app/build.gradle.kts b/app/build.gradle.kts
index 927aacf6c..07ee6a2e9 100644
--- a/app/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/app/build.gradle.kts
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@ android {
   namespace = "com.android.periodpals"
   compileSdk = 34
 
-  // Load the API key from local.properties
-  val localProperties = Properties()
-  val localPropertiesFile = rootProject.file("local.properties")
+  // Load the API key from apikeys.properties
+  val apikeysProperties = Properties()
+  val localPropertiesFile = rootProject.file("apikeys.properties")
   if (localPropertiesFile.exists()) {
-    localProperties.load(FileInputStream(localPropertiesFile))
+    apikeysProperties.load(FileInputStream(localPropertiesFile))
   }
-  val supabaseUrl = localProperties.getProperty("SUPABASE_URL")
-  val supabaseKey = localProperties.getProperty("SUPABASE_KEY")
+  val supabaseUrl = apikeysProperties.getProperty("SUPABASE_URL") ?: ""
+  val supabaseKey = apikeysProperties.getProperty("SUPABASE_KEY") ?: ""
 
   defaultConfig {
     applicationId = "com.android.periodpals"