Android Builds with Expo, Gradle, and EAS

Android Builds with Expo, Gradle, and EAS

Building an Android app involves compiling your JavaScript code and native code into an APK or AAB file. APK is the traditional Android package format, while AAB is the newer format required for Google Play distribution. With Expo, you can build both formats using EAS Build, which handles the complexity of the Android build system for you.

Gradle is the build system used by Android. It is a powerful and flexible tool that automates the compilation, packaging, and signing of your Android app. When you build with Expo, Gradle is configured automatically. However, if you need custom build configurations, you can add them to the android/app/build.gradle file in the native project generated by expo prebuild.

Expo provides several options for Android builds. The managed workflow uses Expo's default configuration, which works for most apps. If you need more control, you can use the bare workflow, which gives you access to the native Android project. With EAS Build, you can run builds in the cloud, which is much faster than building locally and does not require you to have Android Studio installed.

To build with EAS, you run eas build --platform android. This compiles your code, runs Gradle, and produces an APK or AAB file. You can configure the build output in eas.json, choosing between APK for direct installation and AAB for Google Play distribution. EAS Build also supports build variants, allowing you to create different builds for development, staging, and production.