Using Google authentication

A guide on using react-native-nitro-google-signin or @react-native-google-signin/google-signin to integrate Google authentication in your Expo project.

You can integrate Google authentication in your Expo app using either of the following libraries:

• react-native-nitro-google-signin: A library that uses modern native APIs.
• @react-native-google-signin/google-signin: A widely used library.

Both libraries provide native sign-in buttons and support authenticating the user (and obtaining authorization to use Google APIs). Because they require custom native code, you'll need to use a config plugin in the app config and build a development build.

Choosing a library

When choosing between the two libraries, consider the following differences:

• react-native-nitro-google-signin includes support for Android Credential Manager.
• @react-native-google-signin/google-signin provides Android Credential Manager APIs as part of their paid offering.

The legacy Google Sign-In SDK for Android (part of com.google.android.gms:play-services-auth) is deprecated and Google recommends migrating to Android Credential Manager. See About the migration from legacy Google Sign-In.

This guide provides information on how to configure the library for your project.

Installation

Choose an installation guide based on the library you want to use:

Configure Google project for Android and iOS

Below are instructions on how to configure your Google project for Android and iOS.

Upload app to Google Play Store

We recommend uploading the app to the Google Play Store if your app intends to run in production. You can submit your app to the stores for testing even if your project is still in development. This allows you to test Google Sign In when your app is signed by EAS for testing, and when it is signed by Google Play App Signing for store deployment. To learn more about the app submission process, see the guides below in the order they are specified:

Configure your Firebase or Google Cloud Console project

Refer to the library documentation for a more in-depth configuration guide:

• react-native-nitro-google-signin
• @react-native-google-signin/google-signin

For Android, once you have uploaded your app, you need to provide the SHA-1 certificate fingerprint values when asked while configuring the project in Firebase or Google Cloud Console. There are two types of values that you can provide:

• Fingerprint of the .apk you built (on your machine or using EAS Build). You can find the SHA-1 certificate fingerprint in the Google Play Console under Release > Setup > App Integrity > Upload key certificate.
• Fingerprint(s) of a production app downloaded from the play store. You can find the SHA-1 certificate fingerprint(s) in the Google Play Console under Release > Setup > App Integrity > App signing key certificate.

With Firebase

For more instructions on how to configure your project for Android and iOS with Firebase:

Upload google-services.json and GoogleService-Info.plist to EAS

If you use the Firebase method for Android and iOS (as shared in sections above), you'll need to make sure google-services.json and GoogleService-Info.plist are available in EAS for building the app. You can check them into your repository because the files should not contain sensitive values, or you can treat the files as secrets, add them to .gitignore and use the guide below to make them available in EAS.

With Google Cloud Console

This is an alternate method to configure a Google project when you are not using Firebase.

For more instructions on how to configure your Google project Android and iOS with Google Cloud Console: