My mobile and web app has identical functionalities and UI. There is obvious that some SDK will not be available for desktop.
I got three options
Android and IOS with react native and expo
Next.js or any web framework for web apps or
RN Expo for both web and mobile
#1 and #2 what I always preferred but I have to duplicate or redo same things twice.
How was your experience to build both mobile and web apps with single code base with Expo?
Would you mind sharing your experiences?
Videos
Long story short, my client and I used both used the word "app" very differently. He thought I was building a web app, I thought he wanted me to make a mobile app. Now I have a fully built React Native Expo app and he wants a website. Around how much time will it take to convert this to a fully-functional website? From what I could find on the Internet, most of the logic can remain the same and only my visual designs (which are fairly simplistic) have to change. If that's true, how do I go about it? Any help is extremely appreciated as I'm 16 and potentially in some deep shit.
One of my clients is looking for a cross platform app and I suggested react native but later on I got to know that he expected web platform as well in the same codebase.
I researched a bit on expo and it seems it has an option to build app on web as well. Just curious how mature it is and should I move forward with it given major component I’m going to use is google maps.
Long story short, my client and I used both used the word "app" very differently. He thought I was building a web app, I thought he wanted me to make a mobile app. Now I have a fully built React Native Expo app and he wants a website. Around how much time will it take to convert this to a fully-functional website? From what I could find on the Internet, most of the logic can remain the same and only my visual designs (which are fairly simplistic) have to change. If that's true, how do I go about it? Any help is extremely appreciated as I'm 16 and potentially in some deep shit.
Are React Native Developers really asking for expo dom components & ssr on the mobile platform?
Personally, I prefer keeping the native platforms' code as far as possible from the web's.
I’ve been building a journaling tool where people can write with history’s greatest thinkers to become wiser and calmer every day. After a bunch of users asked for a mobile version, I chose React Native + Expo.
No regrets — but it wasn’t all roses. Here’s what went well, and what to watch out for:
✅ What worked well
Expo + Windsurf + Monorepo = cheat code Sharing a codebase between web and mobile is so powerful. With AI code editors now, I can ask it to align endpoints or sync logic across platforms in seconds.
Over-the-air (OTA) updates feel like web dev This is a game changer. Push updates without going through the app store — totally worth using Expo just for this.
⚠️ What to watch out for
OAuth (Apple + Google login) is nuanced. Expect some setup pain. With Expo, there are lots of config variables (builds, environment, physical devices). It takes trial and error to get it stable.
Build confusion is real Understanding
app.json,eas.json, dev builds vs simulator builds, and how they impact your workflow takes some learning. As a beginner, I spent ~$96 for the first few builds before figuring out how to stay within the free tier.App review times can vary a lot Apple took ~2 weeks. Google took almost a month! If you're on a timeline, definitely account for that.
iOS vs Android still behave differently Layout, spacing, interactions — they don’t always match. Always double check both platforms before you ship.
At last, give Life Note a try! I've built this for myself and as an entrepreneur I've been journaling with Steve Jobs and it helps a lot with my journey. Love to hear your feedback!
Web: https://www.mylifenote.ai/
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/tw/app/life-note-journal-with-greats/id6740916037?l=en-GB
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lifenote.app
I had some React (web) experience, and jumped directly into building the app with Expo React Native with Cursor. In two months, I managed to build in my free time an app with authentication (Supabase), notifications (Expo Notifications), subscriptions (RevenueCat), and connection to APIs (built with NodeJS on my server).
It is called Trend To Grow, and it focuses on giving content ideas to influencers, marketing teams, and content creators.
If you already know how to code, building React Native apps with Cursor is super straightforward. However, I feel you still need coding knowledge to be able to create a production-ready app. The biggest pain for me was handling the RevenueCat integration, and testing the local notifications.
Other parts like building the UI and Sign In With Apple were way easier to build than I anticipated.
Let me know if you have any questions! 😊
You can check it out here: https://apps.apple.com/es/app/trend-to-grow-ai-post-ideas/id6741577892?l=en-GB
I am curious if expo development build supports web also ?
I am new to expo environment and I don’t have much info about what the expo go builds and development builds. I want to build a project in which all the three platforms are supported and i also can install any 3rd party package outside of expo sdk, also i want to get hands on native modules as well
New to react native, and was curious. Is everyone just using Expo to use react native?
I’ve never used React Native before but I’ve made some projects using Next.js and I want to get into mobile development without webview. Expo seems like something I wanted to get started on but I’m confused on alot of things regarding workflow. Let’s say I’m going to start working on a Mobile + Web app.
• What are the advantages of using solely Expo for the web part apart from SEO and Server-side rendering? Is it worth using it solely over the hassle of managing two separate codebases for web and mobile?
• If I were to use two separate codebases what’s the best way to do so, so that I avoid repeating myself?
• If I make a feature in one codebase do I next focus on implementing the same feature in other? I want to know best practices regarding this.
• Where do I start developing first as my primary codebase Expo or Next.js?
I realize that some of these questions are probably stupid but would appreciate any clarity on best practices for doing something like this. Thanks for taking the time to go through this :)
Hi guys,
I am creating a fairly complex application that will have majority of its functionality on web and a separate set of functionality for mobile (bar a few features). For example most of the web features will not be available on mobile, except for the likes of in-app messaging which should be available on both. Mobile app will have a smaller subset of features that are not available (but may be in the future) on web.
I have been thinking of using react native for the mobile side and rn-web for the web app. But I am new to react native and still learning. I have just come across Expo and am thinking of using that instead but have seen some gripes about how the user experience of an Expo built app vs a RN app is worse.
What do you guys think? What are the pros and cons? I see the developer experience is easier with Expo but is the tradeoff of a worse user experience worth it? The app is complex but not extremely complex. I essentially want a fairly easy development experience with a good user experience. Not sure if the tradeoff is worth it for my customers.
Me and my friend discussing pros and cons. So I'm looking for experiences. Our app is the number one priority, website doesn't matter that much.
i want to deploy my web app on a cloud provider (likely to digital ocean). i have configured app.json as
"web": {
"output": "server",
"bundler": "metro",
"favicon": "./assets/images/favicon.png"
}i have generated the web build but what is the best way to host it?
the documentation mentions "Creates client and server directories. Client files are output as separate HTML files. API routes as separate JavaScript files for hosting with a custom Node.js server." but how to do that exactly?
Hi, I'm reading the official docs to rebuild the app on React Native after a few months.
It used to be recommended to use expo only when building relatively lightweight projects, but in the official documentation for version 0.74, the setting for CLI builds is gone and only expo is listed.
Even if I searched, I couldn't find anything about clearly, why do you officially recommend expo, so I'm asking this question.
Certainly, is there a trend to recommend building with expo over CLI now?
My new app will require users to verify their identity (by sending a text message). Also, the app will not be lightweight by any means. Do you still recommend starting with expo?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Tubiee is my first full-stack web app.
The landing page is built with Next.js, while the app itself is developed using Expo, leveraging React Native Web support.
I separated the sign-up website and app into two codebases mainly to utilize the React Native code for mobile development later.
I am more comfortable with mobile development than web development, which is why I chose to build a web app with Expo. (Because my web dev skill is subpar.)
This approach allows me to apply my mobile development mindset to the web, which I find it easier.
The stack is Expo, NextJS, ExpressJS, Supabase, Stripe.
Learnt a lot.
Please let me know your thoughts, I appreciate it very much!