expo-updates

expo-updates fetches and manages updates to your app stored on a remote server.

API documentation

• Documentation for the main branch
• Documentation for the latest stable release

Additionally, for an introduction to this module and tooling around OTA updates, you can watch this talk by @esamelson from ReactEurope 2020. Note: expo eject (mentioned @9:10) is no longer needed to implement native code. See Development Builds.

Compatibility

This module requires expo-cli@3.17.6 or later; make sure your global installation is at least this version before proceeding.

Additionally, this module is only compatible with Expo SDK 37 or later. For bare workflow projects, if the expo package is installed, it must be version 37.0.2 or later.

Finally, this module is not compatible with ExpoKit. Make sure you do not have expokit listed as a dependency in package.json before adding this module.

Upgrading

If you're upgrading from expo-updates@0.1.x, you can opt into the no-publish workflow. In this workflow, release builds of both iOS and Android apps will create and embed a new update at build-time from the JS code currently on disk, rather than embedding a copy of the most recently published update. For instructions and more information, see the CHANGELOG. (For new projects, the no-publish workflow is enabled by default.)

Installation in managed Expo projects

For managed Expo projects, please follow the installation instructions in the API documentation for the latest stable release.

Installation in bare React Native projects

Learn how to install expo-updates in your project in the Installing expo-updates documentation page.

Embedded Assets

In certain situations, assets that are required by your JavaScript are embedded into your application binary by Xcode/Android Studio. This allows these assets to load when the packager server running locally on your machine is not available.

Debug builds of Android apps do not, by default, have any assets bundled into the APK; they are always loaded at runtime from the Metro packager.

Debug builds of iOS apps built for the iOS simulator also do not have assets bundled into the app. They are loaded at runtime from Metro. Debug builds of iOS apps built for a real device do have assets bundled into the app binary, so they can be loaded from disk if they cannot be loaded from the packager at runtime.

Release builds of both iOS and Android apps include a full embedded update, including manifest, JavaScript bundle, and all imported assets. This is critical to ensure that your app can load for all users immediately upon installation, without needing to talk to a server first.

Configuration

Some build-time configuration options are available to configure the behavior of expo-updates. On iOS, these properties are set as keys in Expo.plist and on Android as meta-data tags in AndroidManifest.xml adjacent to the tags added during installation. On Android, you may also define these properties at runtime by passing a Map as the second parameter of UpdatesController.initialize(), and when provided the values will override any values specified in AndroidManifest.xml. On iOS, you may set these properties at runtime by calling [UpdatesController.sharedInstance setConfiguration:] at any point before calling start or startAndShowLaunchScreen and the values in this dictionary will override any values specified in Expo.plist.

Whether updates are enabled. Setting this to false disables all update functionality, all module methods, and forces the app to load with the manifest and assets bundled into the app binary.

The URL to the remote server where the app should check for updates. A request to this URL should return a valid manifest object for the latest available update and tells expo-updates how to fetch the JS bundle and other assets that comprise the update. (Example: for apps published with expo publish, this URL would be https://exp.host/@username/slug.)

Extra HTTP headers to include in HTTP requests made by expo-updates. These may override preset headers. On iOS this is specified as a plist dictionary. On Android this is JSON object string.

The SDK version string to send under the Expo-SDK-Version header in the manifest request. Required for apps hosted on Expo's server.

The Runtime Version string to send under the Expo-Runtime-Version header in the manifest request.

The release channel string to send under the Expo-Release-Channel header in the manifest request.

The condition under which expo-updates should automatically check for (and download, if one exists) an update upon app launch. Possible values are ALWAYS, NEVER (if you want to exclusively control updates via this module's JS API), WIFI_ONLY (if you want the app to automatically download updates only if the device is on an unmetered Wi-Fi connection when it launches), or ERROR_RECOVERY_ONLY (if you want the app to automatically download updates only if it encounters a fatal error when launching).

Regardless of the value of this setting, as long as updates are enabled, your app can always use the JS API to manually check for and download updates in the background while your app is running.

The number of milliseconds expo-updates should delay the app launch and stay on the splash screen while trying to download an update, before falling back to a previously downloaded version. Setting this to 0 will cause the app to always launch with a previously downloaded update and will result in the fastest app launch possible.

If codeSigningCertificate is present, expo-updates will enforce manifest code signing using the certificate and any metadata associated with it.

• codeSigningCertificate must be a valid PEM formatted X.509 certificate with code signing extended key usage.
• codeSigningMetadata (optional) must be a JSON object containing:
  • alg - Algorithm used to generate manifest signature. Only rsa-v1_5-sha256 is currently supported.
  • keyid - Identifier for the key in codeSigningCertificate. Used to instruct signing mechanisms when signing or verifying signatures.
• codeSigningIncludeManifestResponseCertificateChain (optional) instructs expo-updates to evaluate certificates included in a multipart manifest response (under the certificate_chain multipart part) as part of the code signing certificate chain with the embedded codeSigningCertificate as the implicitly trusted root certificate of the chain. The leaf certificate in the chain must be valid for code signing.
• codeSigningAllowUnsignedManifests (optional) instructs expo-updates to treat a missing signature in the response as if code signing weren't enabled rather than as invalid as it normally would.

Customizing automatic setup

In expo-updates@0.9.0 and above, we support automatic installation of the module in the iOS AppDelegate.m and Android MainApplication.java classes. If you want to customize the installation, e.g. to enable updates only in some build variants, you can add custom logic in AppDelegate/MainApplication and set the following keys to false in order to disable the automatic setup.

Removing pre-installed expo-updates

Projects created by expo init and expo prebuild come with expo-updates pre-installed, because we anticipate most users will want this functionality. However, if you do not intend to use OTA updates, you can disable or uninstall the module.

Disabling expo-updates

If you disable updates, the module will stay installed in case you ever want to use it in the future, but none of the OTA-updating code paths will ever be executed in your builds. To disable OTA updates, add the EXUpdatesEnabled key to Expo.plist with a boolean value of NO, and add the following line to AndroidManifest.xml:

<meta-data android:name="expo.modules.updates.ENABLED" android:value="false"/>

Uninstalling expo-updates (for expo-updates >= 0.9.0)

Uninstalling the module will entirely remove all expo-updates related code from your codebase. To do so, complete the following steps:

• Remove expo-updates from your package.json and reinstall your node modules.
• Delete Expo.plist from your Xcode project and file system.
• Remove all meta-data tags with expo.modules.updates in the android:name field from AndroidManifest.xml.

Uninstalling expo-updates (for expo-updates < 0.9.0)

Uninstalling the module will entirely remove all expo-updates related code from your codebase. To do so, complete the following steps:

• Remove expo-updates from your package.json and reinstall your node modules.
• Remove the line ../node_modules/expo-updates/scripts/create-manifest-ios.sh from the "Bundle React Native code and images" Build Phase in Xcode.
• Delete Expo.plist from your Xcode project and file system.
• Remove the line apply from: "../../node_modules/expo-updates/scripts/create-manifest-android.gradle" from android/app/build.gradle.
• Remove all meta-data tags with expo.modules.updates in the android:name field from AndroidManifest.xml.
• Apply the following three diffs:

AppDelegate.h

RemoveEXUpdatesAppControllerDelegate as a protocol of your AppDelegate.

-#import <EXUpdates/EXUpdatesAppController.h>
 #import <React/RCTBridgeDelegate.h>
 #import <UMCore/UMAppDelegateWrapper.h>

-@interface AppDelegate : UMAppDelegateWrapper <RCTBridgeDelegate, EXUpdatesAppControllerDelegate>
+@interface AppDelegate : UMAppDelegateWrapper <RCTBridgeDelegate>

 @property (nonatomic, strong) UMModuleRegistryAdapter *moduleRegistryAdapter;
 @property (nonatomic, strong) UIWindow *window;

AppDelegate.m

 #import <UMReactNativeAdapter/UMNativeModulesProxy.h>
 #import <UMReactNativeAdapter/UMModuleRegistryAdapter.h>

-@interface AppDelegate ()
-
-@property (nonatomic, strong) NSDictionary *launchOptions;
-
-@end
-
 @implementation AppDelegate

...

 - (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
 {
   self.moduleRegistryAdapter = [[UMModuleRegistryAdapter alloc] initWithModuleRegistryProvider:[[UMModuleRegistryProvider alloc] init]];
-  self.launchOptions = launchOptions;
-
-  self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[UIScreen mainScreen].bounds];
-#ifdef DEBUG
-  [self initializeReactNativeApp];
-#else
-  EXUpdatesAppController *controller = [EXUpdatesAppController sharedInstance];
-  controller.delegate = self;
-  [controller startAndShowLaunchScreen:self.window];
-#endif
-
-  [super application:application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:launchOptions];
-
-  return YES;
-}
-
-- (RCTBridge *)initializeReactNativeApp
-{
-  RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:self.launchOptions];
+  RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:launchOptions];
   RCTRootView *rootView = [[RCTRootView alloc] initWithBridge:bridge moduleName:@"YOUR-APP-NAME" initialProperties:nil];
   rootView.backgroundColor = [[UIColor alloc] initWithRed:1.0f green:1.0f blue:1.0f alpha:1];

+  self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[UIScreen mainScreen].bounds];
   UIViewController *rootViewController = [UIViewController new];
   rootViewController.view = rootView;
   self.window.rootViewController = rootViewController;
   [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];

-  return bridge;
+  [super application:application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:launchOptions];
+
+  return YES;
 }

...

 #ifdef DEBUG
   return [[RCTBundleURLProvider sharedSettings] jsBundleURLForBundleRoot:@"index" fallbackResource:nil];
 #else
-  return [[EXUpdatesAppController sharedInstance] launchAssetUrl];
+  return [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"main" withExtension:@"jsbundle"];
 #endif
 }

-- (void)appController:(EXUpdatesAppController *)appController didStartWithSuccess:(BOOL)success
-{
-  appController.bridge = [self initializeReactNativeApp];
-}
-
 @end

MainApplication.java

-import android.net.Uri;
-import expo.modules.updates.UpdatesController;
-import javax.annotation.Nullable;
-
 public class MainApplication extends Application implements ReactApplication {
   private final ReactModuleRegistryProvider mModuleRegistryProvider = new ReactModuleRegistryProvider(
     new BasePackageList().getPackageList(),

...

     protected String getJSMainModuleName() {
       return "index";
     }
-
-    @Override
-    protected @Nullable String getJSBundleFile() {
-      if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
-        return super.getJSBundleFile();
-      } else {
-        return UpdatesController.getInstance().getLaunchAssetFile();
-      }
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected @Nullable String getBundleAssetName() {
-      if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
-        return super.getBundleAssetName();
-      } else {
-        return UpdatesController.getInstance().getBundleAssetName();
-      }
-    }
   };

...

   public void onCreate() {
     super.onCreate();
     SoLoader.init(this, /* native exopackage */ false);
-
-    if (!BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
-      UpdatesController.initialize(this);
-    }
-
     initializeFlipper(this, getReactNativeHost().getReactInstanceManager());
   }
 }

Remove Pods Target EXUpdates (Optional)

If, after following above steps, your npm run ios or yarn ios fails and you see EXUpdates in logs, follow the steps below:

• Open the iOS directory in Xcode
• Go to Pods module on right side
• In the targets, find EXUpdates, right click and delete