EAS Update FAQ

Frequently asked questions about EAS Update.

What guidelines must I follow when publishing updates?

One of the rules of EAS Update is that you need to follow the rules of the platforms and app stores you are building for. This means your updates need to follow the App Store and Play Store guidelines, including the content of the updates and how you use them. This usually means changes to your app's behavior need to be reviewed.

App Store rules regularly change and just like how you might need to follow them if you were writing an app without Expo, you need to follow them when you are using Expo and EAS Update.

EAS Update is a great way to quickly deliver improvements to the people who use your apps. For example, consider an app that has a critical bug that needs to be fixed. With EAS Update you can quickly get the fix out and later follow up with a new submission that includes the fix built in.

How are "monthly active users" counted for a billing cycle?

1 monthly active user equals 1 unique installation of an app that downloads at least 1 update during your billing cycle.

• An app install that downloads a new update on each day of your billing cycle counts as 1 monthly active user.
• An app install that does not download any new updates during your billing cycle counts as 0 monthly active users.
• Uninstalling and reinstalling an app (and downloading updates in each during your billing cycle) counts as 2 monthly active users.
• A single device that has two apps owned by a single Expo account, both of which use updates, is considered 2 monthly active users for the account.

How can I implement a custom update strategy for my app?

By default, expo-updates checks for updates every time the app is loaded. You can implement a custom update strategy with the Updates API and app config.

Are Classic Updates still supported?

The Classic Updates service is now deprecated. It was available before December 2021, and expo publish cannot be run anymore. However, existing apps will continue to receive Classic Updates that have already been published and are actively used.

We recommend transitioning to EAS Update or using a self-hosted update service.