Ejecting to ExpoKit

ExpoKit is deprecated and is no longer supported after SDK 38. If you need to make customizations to your Expo project, we recommend using the bare workflow instead.

ExpoKit is an Objective-C and Java library that allows you to use the Expo platform and your existing Expo project as part of a larger standard native project -- one that you would normally create using Xcode, Android Studio, or react-native init.

What is this for?

If you created an Expo project and you want a way to add custom native modules, this guide will explain how to use ExpoKit for that purpose.

Normally, Expo apps are written in pure JS and never "drop down" to the native iOS or Android layer. This is core to the Expo philosophy and it's part of what makes Expo fast and powerful to use.

However, there are some cases where advanced developers need native capabilities outside of what Expo offers out-of-the-box. The most common situation is when a project requires a specific Native Module which is not supported by React Native Core or the Expo SDK.

In this case, Expo allows you to eject your pure-JS project from the Expo iOS/Android clients, providing you with native projects that can be opened and built with Xcode and Android Studio. Those projects will have dependencies on ExpoKit, so everything you already built will keep working as it did before.

We call this "ejecting" because you still depend on the Expo SDK, but your project no longer lives inside Expo Go. You control the native projects, including configuring and building them yourself.

Should I eject to ExpoKit?

You might want to eject if:

• Your Expo project needs a native module that Expo doesn't currently support. We're always expanding the Expo SDK, so we hope this is never the case. But it happens, especially if your app has very specific and uncommon native demands.

You should not eject if:

• All you need is to distribute your app in the iTunes Store or Google Play. Expo can build binaries for you in that case. If you eject, we can't automatically build for you any more.
• You are uncomfortable writing native code. Ejected apps will require you to manage Xcode and Android Studio projects.
• You enjoy the painless React Native upgrades that come with Expo. After your app is ejected, breaking changes in React Native will affect your project differently, and you may need to figure them out for your particular situation.
• You require Expo's push notification services. After ejecting, since Expo no longer manages your push credentials, you'll need to manage your own push notification pipeline.
• You rely on asking for help in the Expo community. In your native Xcode and Android Studio projects, you may encounter questions which are no longer within the realm of Expo.

Instructions

The following steps are for converting a pure-JS Expo project (such as one created with Expo CLI) into a native iOS and Android project which depends on ExpoKit.

After you eject, all your JS files will stay the same, but we'll additionally create ios and android directories in your project folder. These will contain Xcode and Android Studio projects respectively, and they'll have dependencies on React Native and on Expo's core SDK.

You'll still be able to develop and test your project with Expo CLI, and you'll still be able to publish your Expo JS code the same way. However, if you add native dependencies that aren't included in Expo, other users won't be able to run those features of your app with the main Expo app. You'll need to distribute the native project yourself.

1. Install Expo CLI

If you don't have it, run npm install -g expo-cli to get our command line library.

If you haven't used Expo CLI with an Expo account before, the eject command will ask you to create one.

2. Make sure you have the necessary configuration options in app.json

Ejecting requires the same configuration options as building a standalone app. Follow these instructions before continuing to the next step.

3. Eject

From your project directory, run expo eject. This will download the required dependencies and build native projects under the ios and android directories.

4. Set up and Run your native project

Congrats, you now have a native project with ExpoKit! Follow the directions under Developing with ExpoKit to get things set up and running.

5. Make native changes

You can do whatever you want in the Xcode and Android Studio projects.

To add third-party native modules for React Native, non-Expo-specific instructions such as react-native link should be supported. Read more details about changing native dependencies in your ExpoKit project.

6. Distribute your app

Publishing your JS from Expo CLI will still work. Users of your app will get the new JS on their devices as soon as they reload their app; you don't need to rebuild your native code if it has not changed.

If you do make native changes, people who don't have your native code may encounter crashes if they try to use features that depend on those changes.

If you decide to distribute your app as an ipa or apk, it will automatically hit your app's published URL instead of your development Expo CLI URL. Read advanced details about your app's JS url.

In general, before taking your app all the way to production, it's a good idea to glance over the Advanced ExpoKit Topics guide.