---
modificationDate: October 06, 2025
title: Configure JS engines
description: A guide on configuring JS engines for both Android and iOS in an Expo project.
---

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# Configure JS engines

A guide on configuring JS engines for both Android and iOS in an Expo project.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Use this file to discover all available pages.

JavaScript engines execute your application code and provide various features such as memory management, optimization, and error handling. By default, Expo projects use [Hermes](https://hermesengine.dev/) as the JavaScript engine. Switching to other engines, such as JSC or V8, for Android and iOS platforms is possible. However, not for the web because the JavaScript engine is included in the web browser.

## Configuring the `jsEngine` through app config

> Changing the JS engine is unavailable in Expo Go from SDK 52 (only the Hermes engine is available). A [development build](/develop/development-builds/introduction) is required to use this customization.

We recommend Hermes because it is purpose built and optimized for React Native apps, and it has the best debugging experience. If you are familiar with the tradeoffs of different JavaScript engines and would like to change away from Hermes, the [`jsEngine`](/versions/latest/config/app#jsengine) field inside [app config](/workflow/configuration) allows you to specify the JavaScript engine for your app. The default value is `hermes`.

If you want to use JSC instead, set the `jsEngine` field in the app config:

```json
{
  "expo": {
    "jsEngine": "jsc"
  }
}
```

Usage in bare React Native projects

To change the JavaScript engine in a bare React Native project, update the `expo.jsEngine` value in **android/gradle.properties** and **ios/Podfile.properties.json**.

It's important to highlight that changing the JS engine will require you to recompile development builds with `eas build` to work properly.

## Using the V8 engine

To use the V8 engine, you need to install [`react-native-v8`](https://github.com/Kudo/react-native-v8), an opt-in package that adds V8 runtime support for React Native. You can install it by running the following command:

```sh
npx expo install react-native-v8 v8-android-jit
```

Make sure to remove the `jsEngine` field from the app config.

Usage with Expo Prebuild

Run `npx expo prebuild -p android --clean` after the installation to prebuild again.

## Switch JavaScript engine on a specific platform

To use a different engine on one specific platform, you can set the `"jsEngine"` value at the top level and then override it with a different value under the `"android"` or `"ios"` key. The value specified for the platform will take precedence over the common field.

```json
{
  "expo": {
    "jsEngine": "hermes",
    "ios": {
      "jsEngine": "jsc"
    }
  }
}
```