Streamlining React Native Development with EAS CLI

1. Moving from Expo's Managed Workflow to Bare Workflow

• In order to have complete control over the native code and enable local builds, you must switch from Expo's managed workflow to the bare workflow. This transition is essential for local builds. Execute:

• This command will generate the android and iOS directories in your project, containing the native code.
  • When using the expo prebuild command for iOS, it will attempt to install the appropriate version of CocoaPods using brew or gem, and then run pod install. If any issues occur during this process, they will be addressed in the subsequent step of Building IPA Locally.

Building APK Locally

• After the Android folder is generated, ensure to navigate inside the android/app directory and verify the presence of the debug.keystore file. You won't be able to proceed without it if it's missing.
• Additionally, ensure to configure your Java version appropriately. In your case, if you're using JDK 17, set JAVA_HOME accordingly.
• You can now build the APK using Android Studio.

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Using Android Studio:

1. Open the android folder in Android Studio.

2. Wait for the Gradle sync to finish.

3. There needs to be a directory labeled "Gradle Scripts" situated beneath all other directories.

a. Open the file called as build.gradle (Module :app) inside the Gradle Scripts

4. Go to Build > Generate Singled Bundled or APK

• Click on APK radio option
• For the keystore path Choose existing and select the debug.keystore file
• For remaining fields copy over from the signingConfigs object
• Select the release option and Finish

5. After the build completes, you can find the APK in the android/app/release/app-release.apk folder.

Building IPA Locally

Prerequisites

• Mac Required and a apple developer account which is paid

Steps

• Go inside iOS folder generated by expo prebuild
• Type the below command

• Once this step is done go inside the ios folder
  • double click on the file extension which ends with .xcworkspace , it will open xcode
  • Wait for xcode indexing to finish
• Select Any Any iOS Device (arm64) option beside the  appName, image attached below

• Go to Product > Archive
  • This will start the build process.
  • You may get a signing certification issue, or Signing requires a development team error

• Solution → Go to Signing & Capabilites and add your developer account, which will resolve the issue

• After the build process is successfully completed, a archives screen will popup

• Click on Distribute App
• Select Release Testing which should generate the ipa

Steps to build apps using EAS Cloud

Prerequisites

• An Expo account: You need to have an Expo account to use EAS Build.
• An Expo project: This case study assumes you have an existing Expo project.
• Node.js and npm: Ensure you have Node.js and npm installed on your machine.

Step 1: Install EAS CLI

First, you need to install the EAS CLI globally on your machine. Open your terminal and run:

Step 2: Log in to Your Expo Account

Before you can use EAS Build, you need to log in to your Expo account. Run the following command and follow the prompts:

Step 3: Configure the project

Navigate to your Expo project directory and run:

This command will guide you through the process of setting up EAS Build for your project. It will ask you to choose the platforms you want to build for (Android and/or iOS) and configure your project accordingly.

It will also create an eas.json file in the root directory with the default configuration. It looks something like this

Step 5: Build Your App

Now, you're ready to build your app. To build an APK for Android, run:

To build an IPA for iOS, run:

You can also build both platforms at once by omitting the --platform flag:

Step 6: Download Your Build

Once the build process is complete, EAS CLI will provide you with a URL to download your APK or IPA file. You can download the file directly from your browser or use the provided URL in your terminal.

Conclusion

Expo CLI offers a powerful and efficient way to develop, build, and deploy React Native applications. It simplifies the development process by abstracting away the complexities of native code management. However, for scenarios requiring custom native code or when you need full control over the build process, ejecting the project and generating local builds provides the necessary flexibility. By understanding the differences between cloud Expo builds and local builds, we can choose the most appropriate build strategy for their specific needs, whether it's for testing, distribution, or custom native code integration.