5.3 Building Standalone Apps

In this tutorial, you will learn about how you can use the Expo support to build and deploy your apps to the iTunes and Google Play store using their online services. You will understand that this process requires no set up of XCode or Android Studio, and can be done from a Mac, Windows or Linux machines. At the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • Set up Expo XDE and install the Expo CLI named exp and use them to build and deploy your application
  • Configure your React Native application and then use the online services from Expo to build the Android APK for deployment to the Google Play store

5.3.1 How to

1. Building the Android file (*.apk):

  • $ expo logout
  • $ expo build:android -c
  • $ What would you like your Android package name to be? >> <yourname>.confusion
  • $ How would you like to authenticate? >> Log in with an existing Expo account
  • $ Choose the build type you would like >> apk
  • $ Permanently delete the Android build credentials from our servers? >> y
  • $ Would you like to upload a Keystore or have us generate one for you? If you dont know what this means, let us generate it! :) >> Generate new keystore
  • $ In order to publish an update, expo-updates needs to be installed. Do you want to install it now? >> y

2. Building the iOS file (*.ipa):

  • $ expo logout
  • $ expo build:ios -c
  • $ What would you like your Android package name to be? >> <yourname>.confusion
  • $ How would you like to authenticate? >> Log in with an existing Expo account
  • $ Choose the build type you would like >> archive
  • $ Do you have access to the Apple account that will be used for submitting this app to the App Store? >> n
  • $ Do you also want to revoke this Provisioning Profile on Apple Developer Portal? >> y
  • $ Log in to your Apple Developer account to continue
  • $ You are removing certificate used by ... Do you want to continue? >> y
  • $ Do you also want to revoke it on Apple Developer Portal? >> y
  • $ Removing this key/cert will disable notifications in ... Do you want to continue? >> y
  • $ Do you also want to revoke it on Apple Developer Portal? >> y
  • $ Will you provide your own Apple Distribution Certificate? >> Let Expo handle the process
  • $ Will you provide your own Apple Push Notifications service key? >> Let Expo handle the process
  • $ Will you provide your own Apple Provisioning Profile? >> Let Expo handle the process
  • $ In order to publish an update, expo-updates needs to be installed. Do you want to install it now? >> y