Expo APK/AAB Building Tutorial (No EAS Required)

Learn how to build your own .aab and .apk files for your Expo Android apps without using the Expo Application Services (EAS).
Instructions given in the video: gist.github.co...
In this video, I'll walk you through the step-by-step process of configuring your Expo project and using the Expo CLI to generate installable Android app bundles (.aab) and packages (.apk) locally on your machine.
We'll cover setting up the required build tools, creating a keystore for code signing, and running the necessary commands to build both .aab and .apk files from your Expo project.
By the end of this tutorial, you'll be able to build production-ready Android apps from your Expo projects without relying on EAS. This gives you more control and flexibility over the build process.
Whether you're new to Expo or an experienced developer, this video will guide you through building Android .aab and .apk files for your Expo apps using a self-hosted, local approach.
React Native Docs for publishing app to Play Store: reactnative.de...

[@p369m]

Nice bro keep it up 💪

[@BBTR_]

before, it is impossible to build local in expo. they advice to eject project and then build. But this feature is new? i saw build first time with prebuild

[@AverageDevDude]

Yes expo eject is deprecated and prebuild is the much better replacement. Also expo has improved quite a lot with addition of expo router and less configuration to write

[@BBTR_]

bro thank you. I want to do a project, but for example, when you enter the application, it will download a 50 MB database from the Google cloud service and its data will be updated. But I couldn't find anything like this in the expo. Downloads always go to the android download folder. Can you make a video about this?

[@safalbk6571]

you are great....😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@mahtab_sudip]

Thanks broh!!!!!
KEEP IT UP💪💪

[@AverageDevDude]

Glad it helped!

[@naveenprasanth957]

Hi bro. It is very useful.

[@aadarshgurug]

it helped alot. thanks

[@AverageDevDude]

Glad it helped!

[@aadarshgurug]

@@AverageDevDude would like to have video on webrtc implementation and testing in expo and native cli apps

[@doms1570]

u are amazing!! thank u very much. Please tell me if with this tutorial i cant install native libraries like notifee on my expo app . can u do tutorial about it please ?

[@AverageDevDude]

yes you can use notifee on expo but you cannot use it on Expo Go, you need to make an debug apk/development build
For notifee
1. install the package `pnpm expo install @notifee/react-native`
2. add the notifee plugin in the app.json, you can see the docs
3. prebuild the app `pnpm expo prebuild`
4. Now to make you debug apk connect to an android phone debugging enabled, then run `pnpm expo run:android --variant debug`, make sure this apk is installed in the connected phone
5. Now for next time, you can connect the phone and run `pnpm start -d`
and remember you need to build the debug apk again if you add any new native libraries, e.g react native firebase

[@zelvrs]

is it must to have openjdk 17 and not another version?

[@AverageDevDude]

It is recommended on the official docs
reactnative.dev/docs/set-up-your-environment?os=windows

[@ThePrajaktaVlogs]

I was using eas build --local which is creating .aab file . i want apk file with this. is that possible?

[@AverageDevDude]

I have shown how to make both apk and aab files in the video :-)

[@7-haroon]

which OS you are using for local build . I want to build my app but i am confused how to build locally

[@AverageDevDude]

@7-haroon I have Windows as my OS and to build apk/aab locally, follow the instructions in the video

[@mwlulud2995]

Its work with expo 51?

[@misalambasta]

Yes

[@thegraintgaymer8080]

for ios pls?

[@AverageDevDude]

for iOS, you need at least a Mac

[@ElyDev0]

hello I followed the tutorial to the letter but in the end I got this error. your aude would be very useful to me thank you very much """".....\android> npx react-native build-android --mode=release
info Building the app...
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
* Where:
Settings file 'C:\Users\daoud\Desktop\project\mobil\lycee_augustin
ode_modules\@react-native\gradle-plugin\settings.gradle.kts' line: 16
* What went wrong:
Plugin [id: 'org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention', version: '0.5.0'] was not found in any of the following sources:
- Gradle Core Plugins (plugin is not in 'org.gradle' namespace)
- Included Builds (No included builds contain this plugin)
- Plugin Repositories (could not resolve plugin artifact 'org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention:org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention.gradle.plugin:0.5.0')
Searched in the following repositories:
MavenRepo
Google
Gradle Central Plugin Repository
* Try:
> Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace.
> Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.
> Run with --scan to get full insights.
> Get more help at help.gradle.org.
BUILD FAILED in 3m 20s
info 💡 Tip: Make sure that you have set up your development environment correctly, by running npx react-native doctor. To read more about doctor command visit: github.com/react-native-community/cli/blob/main/packages/cli-doctor/README.md#doctor
error Failed to build the app.
Error: Command failed with exit code 1: gradlew.bat app:bundleRelease"""""

[@AverageDevDude]

github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/42149