How does expo publish overwrite my Testflight download? - react-native

I have a react-native application which is using Expo. When I want a build on my iOS device, I run
expo build:ios
then I upload the build to my appstoreconnect account and manage the build version through Testflight. Then on my iOS device I'm able to download it.
This all makes sense, as it mirrors the android process of building, creating a downloadable link, and having the end user download the latest link. But if I make a change and run "expo publish"... the app downloaded on my iOS device automatically has the changes that I made to the source code. How is that possible? Why don't I need to rebuild and reupload the .ipa to Apple for them to distribute through Testflight?
Thank you in advance!

It's happening because of the Expo "OTA" updates system (over the air).
When you publish to a release channel, users will automatically get the new update.
If you make some changes in app.json, or if you updated some native codes, you will need to re-build your app. The OTA updates only works for JS updates.

Related

Impossible to update expo project inside Expo Go after switching to EAS Build

I have the need to run a project from Expo Go without being connected to PC. We are developing an app that require GPS and needs to be tested in open field.
Before EAS became the standard to create projects i used
expo build:android
ad this created not only the apk, but uploaded the project to my account and i was able to start it from Expo Go projects section just like the app was installed on phisical device. That worked also fo iOS and was a great testing feature.
After i moved to EAS Build
eas build -p android --profile preview --clear-cache
my project inside Expo Go does not update anymore and its stucked at sdk 44 even if now i'm working (and creating builds) with sdk 46.
I went through the official documentation many times but i don't get how to make the app start from Expo Go (project sction) as i did before. Maybe i'm missing some configuration.
Thank you all for any kind reply.
Have a good day.
EDIT
I found the solution to this problem and now my builds are working and uploading to Expo Go.
Check out this information: https://github.com/expo/fyi/blob/main/eas-build-archive.md
Basically EAS Updates will not bundle anything inside your .gitignore, in my case it needed specific config files. Did a quick test by taking them off the .gitignore and now it's working. Will move to GitHub SECRETS in the future.
Hope that helps.

How to update a standalone APP by expo:publish?

I have two standalone APP building by Expo, one for iOS which push to testflight so internal iOS users can test it, another is just an APK let Android users can download and test.
Like Expo document said, I publish code to release-channel 'staging' then build these two APP by release channel staging, all are good and my users can start testing with testflight/APK.
But when I modify code and publish again, no OTA update happen, and in my Expo dashboard, the version code is just the previous one (I've also updated version/android.versionCode/ios.buildNumber in app.json).
What should I do to make the OTA update works? If need any other information please let me know, any suggestion is appreciated!!

React Native application deployment

I have already developed a React native application on my mac book, this is myfirst application. I want to deploy it to iPhone so that I can test it. I don't want to put it on appstore yet. I am not sure how to compile the application and get it ready to put it on iPhone. I tried this web site
https://www.diawi.com/, but not sure which .ipa or a.pk file, I need to upload. I can also try using expo, but not sure how to use it. Can anyone give me step by step instruction on how to upload this application on iPhone.
any help will be greatly appreciated.
For iPhone
For react-native-init you will probably need Apple developer account to test your app on your phone
Since you are using react-native-init, You should checkout this article by Facebook
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/running-on-device
In the second point, it says Register for an Apple developer account if you don't have one yet
For create-react-native-app you need to do following
Download expo client from App store
Scan the QR code expo generate when you run your app using terminal (npm run start in terminal )
Note: Both Laptop and your phone should be on the same network
According to this thread, You can't use expo with react-native-init but alternatively you can create an expo project using create-react-native-app and then copy, paste files from your init project
For Android
For running your App on Android, You can directly generate/build an apk, send it to your device and just open it to see how it works (In Android you don't need a console or developer account to run your app)
Again, Open this link https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/running-on-device
And click on Android Tab to see how you can generate an Apk

React native code update

I published my first app to AppStore last night.
I just want to know if there is code change in my app,
Should I have to re-build and upload .ipa file to itunes connect again?
(Currently, I do not use CodePush and I build app with exp)
Thanks.
Expo comes with a built in CodePush equivalent.
Whenever you publish to expo (using exp publish, the XDE etc), expo builds new JS bundles and uploads them to their servers.
Users who downloaded the app from the stores will get those updates - while iOS users will get them as soon as they open the app, Android users will get them in the second time (iOS is does this syncly while Android asyncly).
Note that this does not apply to changes in the app config (app.json), including sdk upgrades or any other configuration changes.
Yes, you will need to rebuild the release version of your app and upload to the App Store as a new version.

React-Native Expo Built App Doesn't Get the Latest Javascript

Ok, I have a problem with expo build. Please let me know if you need more details. Basically, the project I am working on is NOT detached. It is just using Expo.
So I publish it. Let's say the javascript bundle version is 0.17, and I am publishing a breaking change to 0.18.
When I load the app from Hockey App, the javascript bundle is clearly not 0.18 because I don't see my breaking changes. Then, I close the app and re-open it, and the JS bundle is updated.
The build script is:
exp build:android
[exp] Android:
[exp] APK: [AWS LINK] apk has been generated, it took 0 seconds
Then, I get an AWS link to the APK, which I download and upload to Hockey Apps.
How should I diagnose this problem?
Exp version is 44.0.0
It is the way it works in Android. First time you open your app after you publish, the code is downloaded in background. Next time it will run the new code.
Quoting the documentation:
Updates are handled differently on iOS and Android. On Android, updates are downloaded in the background. This means that the first time a user opens your app after an update they will get the old version while the new version is downloaded in the background. The second time they open the app they’ll get the new version. On iOS, updates are downloaded synchronously, so users will get the new version the first time they open your app after an update.