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Deployment

  • During development time we run the packager and development server locally on the workstation.
  • The Expo Go client loads the app from the local development server
  • Many clients can load the app from the development server but if we close the development server, the apps stop
  • This makes sharing the app to others problematic

Deploying apps to other users​

  • Running apps using the Expo Go client is feasible for development and testing purposes
  • In order to be able to share the app to other users we need to create a standalone application
  • The standalone binary app can be distributed in the app distribution channels, i.e. Apple App Store and/or Google Play Store. It can also be deployed to emulators or test devices directly
  • We will cover both publishing options here. They are both useful but for different purposes.

Building standalone apps for Android and iOS​

  • In order to be able to deploy standalone apps we need to create different native builds for the different platforms
  • This can be done using Expo Application Services (EAS) tools (https://expo.dev/eas):
npm install -g eas-cli    # install EAS tools globally
eas login                 # you need to have an Expo account to use EAS
eas build:configure       # create EAS configuration for your project
  • Now you can make different builds for different purposes (development, preview, production) and platforms (Android, iOS).
  • The build will be done as a Continuous Integration (CI) build on Expo servers: the entire project is uploaded to the cloud, then downloaded by a build server, the dependencies are installed, and the build is run.

https://docs.expo.dev/build/setup/

Building for internal distribution on Android​

  • For Android you can build an apk-binary that can be installed on an emulator or a device directly.
  • You may need to modify the build profile definition in eas.json
{
  "build": {
    "preview": {
      "android": {
        "buildType": "apk"
      }
    },
  • Run build
eas build -p android --profile preview
  • When the build is complete, download and install the binary on an emulator or a device.

https://docs.expo.dev/build-reference/apk/

Building for internal distribution on iOS​

  • For iOS you can build a iOS simulator build
  • You may need to modify the build profile definition in eas.json
{
  "build": {
    "preview": {
      "ios": {
        "simulator": true
      }
    },
  • Run build
eas build -p ios --profile preview
  • When the build is complete, download and install the binary on an emulator or a device.

https://docs.expo.dev/build-reference/simulators/

Deploying to App Stores​

  • To make the app publicly available it needs to be built and submitted to the app store of each platform
  • Each platform has different requirements for publishing. There are also approval phases that the app needs to pass before it is made avaible in the app store
  • Publishing to app stores is not free
    • Google has a one time $25 registration fee which you need to pay before you can upload an app.
    • Distribution via the Apple app store goes for an annual fee of USD$99

Further information about publishing to app stores​

EAS:

Android:

iOS:

Some issues to consider when publishing​

  • Make sure that your app layout works in different screen form factors
    • small and large display sizes, handsets and tablets
  • App icon
    • Expo tools can create the required different size icons, just provide an png icon file of adequate size and configure it in app.json
    • Platforms have different icon guidelines. You can provide a different icon file for each platform in app.json.
  • Splash screen
    • Splash screen is the first screen that a user sees when opening your app. It stays visible while the app is loading.
    • You can define the splash screen image in app.json.
    • You can control the behavior of the splash screen with the AppLoading component in the App.

App stores best practices: https://docs.expo.dev/distribution/app-stores/

Read more​