Install app variants on the same device

Learn how to install multiple variants of an app on the same device.

When creating development, preview, and production builds, installing these build variants simultaneously on the same device is common. This allows working in development, previewing the next version of the app, and running the production version on a device without needing to uninstall and reinstall the app.

This guide provides the steps required to configure multiple (development and production) variants to install and use them on the same device.

Prerequisites

To have multiple variants of an app installed on your device, each variant must have a unique Application ID (Android) or Bundle Identifier (iOS).

Configure development and production variants

You have created a project using Expo tooling, and now you want to create a development and a production build. Your project's app.json may have the following configuration:

{
  "expo": {
    "name": "MyApp",
    "slug": "my-app",
    "ios": {
      "bundleIdentifier": "com.myapp"
    },
    "android": {
      "package": "com.myapp"
    }
  }
}

If your project has EAS Build configured, the eas.json also has a similar configuration as shown below:

{
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "developmentClient": true
    },
    "production": {}
  }
}

Convert app.json to app.config.js

To have multiple variants of the app installed on the same device, rename the app.json to app.config.js and export the configuration as shown below:

export default {
  name: 'MyApp',
  slug: 'my-app',
  ios: {
    bundleIdentifier: 'com.myapp',
  },
  android: {
    package: 'com.myapp',
  },
};

In app.config.js, add an environment variable called IS_DEV to switch the android.package and ios.bundleIdentifier for each variant based on the variable:

const IS_DEV = process.env.APP_VARIANT === 'development';

export default {
  name: IS_DEV ? 'MyApp (Dev)' : 'MyApp',
  slug: 'my-app',
  ios: {
    bundleIdentifier: IS_DEV ? 'com.myapp.dev' : 'com.myapp',
  },
  android: {
    package: IS_DEV ? 'com.myapp.dev' : 'com.myapp',
  },
};

In the above example, the environment variable IS_DEV is used to differentiate between the development and production environment. Based on its value, the different Application IDs or Bundle Identifiers are set for each variant.

Note: If you are using any libraries that require you to register your application identifier with an external service to use the SDK, such as Google Maps, you'll need to have a separate configuration for that API for the android.package and ios.bundleIdentifier. You can also swap this configuration using the same approach as above.

Configuration for EAS Build

In eas.json, set the APP_VARIANT environment variable to run builds with the development profile by using the env property:

{
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "developmentClient": true,
      "env": {
        "APP_VARIANT": "development"
      }
    },
    "production": {}
  }
}

Now, when you run eas build --profile development, the environment variable APP_VARIANT is set to development when evaluating app.config.js both locally and on the EAS Build builder.

Using the development server

When you start your development server, you'll need to run APP_VARIANT=development npx expo start (or the platform equivalent if you use Windows).

A shortcut for this is to add the following script to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "APP_VARIANT=development npx expo start"
  }
}

Using production variant

When you run eas build --profile production the APP_VARIANT variable environment is not set, and the build runs as the production variant.

Note: If you use EAS Update to publish JavaScript updates of your app, you should be cautious to set the correct environment variables for the app variant that you are publishing for when you run the eas update command. See the EAS Build Environment variables and secrets for more information.

In bare project

Android

In android/app/build.gradle, create a separate flavor for every build profile from eas.json that you want to build.

android {
    %%placeholder-start%%... %%placeholder-end%%
    flavorDimensions "env"
    productFlavors {
        production {
            dimension "env"
            applicationId 'com.myapp'
        }
        development {
            dimension "env"
            applicationId 'com.myapp.dev'
        }
    }
    %%placeholder-start%%... %%placeholder-end%%
}

Note: Currently, EAS CLI supports only the applicationId field. If you use applicationIdSuffix inside productFlavors or buildTypes sections then this value will not be detected correctly.

Assign Android flavors to EAS Build profiles by specifying a gradleCommand in the eas.json:

{
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "android": {
        "gradleCommand": ":app:assembleDevelopmentDebug"
      }
    },
    "production": {
      "android": {
        "gradleCommand": ":app:bundleProductionRelease"
      }
    }
  }
}

By default, every flavor can be built in either debug or release mode. If you want to restrict some flavor to a specific mode, see the snippet below, and modify build.gradle.

android {
    %%placeholder-start%%... %%placeholder-end%%
    variantFilter { variant ->
        def validVariants = [
                ["production", "release"],
                ["development", "debug"],
        ]
        def buildTypeName = variant.buildType*.name
        def flavorName = variant.flavors*.name

        def isValid = validVariants.any { flavorName.contains(it[0]) && buildTypeName.contains(it[1]) }
        if (!isValid) {
            setIgnore(true)
        }
    }
    %%placeholder-start%%... %%placeholder-end%%
}

The rest of the configuration at this point is not specific to EAS, it's the same as it would be for any Android project with flavors. There are a few common configurations that you might want to apply to your project:

• To change the name of the app built with the development profile, create a android/app/src/development/res/value/strings.xml file:
  android/app/src/development/res/value/strings.xml

  Copy

  <resources>
      <string name="app_name">MyApp - Dev</string>
  </resources>
  

• To change the icon of the app built with the development profile, create android/app/src/development/res/mipmap-* directories with appropriate assets (you can copy them from android/app/src/main/res and replace the icon files).
• To specify google-services.json for a specific flavor, put it in the android/app/src/{flavor}/google-services.json file.
• To configure sentry, add project.ext.sentryCli = [ flavorAware: true ] to android/app/build.gradle and name your properties file android/sentry-{flavor}-{buildType}.properties (for example, android/sentry-production-release.properties)

iOS

Assign a different scheme to every build profile in eas.json:

{
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "ios": {
        "buildConfiguration": "Debug",
        "scheme": "myapp-dev"
      }
    },
    "production": {
      "ios": {
        "buildConfiguration": "Release",
        "scheme": "myapp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Podfile should have a target defined like this:

target 'myapp' do
  %%placeholder-start%%... %%placeholder-end%%
end

Replace it with an abstract target, where the common configuration can be copied from the old target:

abstract_target 'common' do
  # put common target configuration here

  target 'myapp' do
  end

  target 'myapp-dev' do
  end
end

Open project in Xcode, click on the project name in the navigation panel, right click on the existing target, and click "Duplicate":

Rename the target to something more meaningful, for example, myapp copy -> myapp-dev.

Configure a scheme for the new target:

• Go to Product -> Scheme -> Manage schemes.
• Find scheme myapp copy on the list.
• Change scheme name myapp copy -> myapp-dev.
• By default, the new scheme should be marked as shared, but Xcode does not create .xcscheme files. To fix that, uncheck the "Shared" checkbox and check it again, after that new .xcscheme file should show up in the ios/myapp.xcodeproj/xcshareddata/xcschemes directory.

By default, the newly created target has separate Info.plist file (in the above example, it's ios/myapp copy-Info.plist). To simplify your project we recommend using the same file for all targets:

• Delete ./ios/myapp copy-Info.plist.
• Click on the new target.
• Go to Build Settings tab.
• Find Packaging section.
• Change Info.plist value - myapp copy-Info.plist -> myapp/Info.plist.
• Change Product Bundle Identifier.

To change the display name:

• Open Info.plist and add key Bundle display name with value $(DISPLAY_NAME).
• Open Build Settings for both targets and find User-Defined section.
• Add key DISPLAY_NAME with the name you want to use for that target.

To change the app icon:

• Create a new image set (you can create it from the existing image set for the current icon, it's usually named AppIcon)
• Open Build Settings for the target that you want to change icon.
• Find Asset Catalog Compiler - Options section.
• Change Primary App Icon Set Name to the name of the new image set.