make sure in app.json

{
  "expo": {
    "name": "your app name",
    "description": "your app desc",
    ....,
    "ios": {
      "supportsTablet": true
    },
    
    "android": {
      "package": "com.yourcompany.yourappname"
    }
  }
}

then run expo build:android or expo ba

after that

run expo build:status you'll find, something like this, the Apk's is hosted on amazon aws

[exp] Android:
[exp] APK: https://HOST/yourapp.apk

Follow the below steps to create an apk using expo cli

Install expo CLI To check if you have expo CLI install run

expo -V

you need the eas build tools

npm install --global expo-cli eas-cli

First requirement for generating the apk file is creating an expo account. Create an account here

Login to expo CLI

• Open cmd

• Login to expo account using the command :

• expo login

By default the eas build tool will give you a playstore build file.

If you want a .apk file you need to create a eas.json file and add a buildType as apk

 {
  "build": {
    "preview": {
      "android": {
        "buildType": "apk"
      }
    },
    "preview2": {
      "android": {
        "gradleCommand": ":app:assembleRelease"
      }
    },
    "preview3": {
      "developmentClient": true
    },
    "production": {}
  }
}

You can check out more about the eas build tool here.

Build

Open cmd in your app directory.

Run the build command

eas build -p android --profile preview

Download apk

After the build is complete you can go to the builds section in your expo dashboard and download the apk.

https://expo.dev/accounts/username/projects/projectname/builds/0cecd3ee-41aa-4a5a-9cc7-6f7b3ea6fc52

I finally got it to work. The funny part is that I got the answer from the AI that is now banned here. But I just tested this solution on a real android device and it works. Anyway there are two changes needed:

1. REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES must be added to app.json file.
2. Uri for intent must be a content uri so: localUri = await FileSystem.getContentUriAsync(localUri)

Change production key in eas.json to this

"production": {
    "android": {
       "buildType": "apk"
    }
}

So now your eas.json like this

{
  "cli": {
    "version": ">= 0.52.0"
  },
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "developmentClient": true,
      "distribution": "internal"
    },
    "preview": {
      "distribution": "internal"
    },
    "production": {
      "android": {
        "buildType": "apk"
      }
    }
  },
  "submit": {
    "production": {}
  }
}

To build into .apk file, you can build using production profile. The command like this eas build --profile production --platform android

I use EAS as well and i find it quite handy. Let me explain the profiles quickly.

All profiles can be found in eas.json

Development

This type is for developing, it makes it possible to see live reloads, live changes in the application when you change it. You can even pass env. variables if needed.

eas build --profile development --platform android

OR

To make a local build so the Expo Application Service is skipped

npx expo run:android

    "development": {
      "developmentClient": true,
      "distribution": "internal",
      "env": {
        "API_URL": "X",
      }

Preview

This creates a .apk file that you can install on your device or emulator. Note the the env. variable does not need to be the same as development

eas build --profile preview --platform android

    "preview": {
      "distribution": "internal",
      "env": {
        "API_URL": "Y",
      }
    },

Production

This creates a .aab file which you can upload on to Google Developer Console, if you want to set your app on the app store.

eas build --profile production --platform android

    "production": {
      "env": {
        "API_URL": "X",
      }
    },

If you do not need the env values, you can safely delete them.

After executing on of the commands in your terminal, a link should appear to expo.dev where you can download and install your development or preview .apk file