Automating Local Builds and Deployment for React Native Expo Without EAS

[gotoenchanter]

Developers using React Native Expo often face delays with EAS builds, especially on the free tier. To streamline production workflows, it’s important to automate local builds and deployments.

How can we achieve this for both Android and iOS without relying on EAS?

• What tools or scripts can be used to automate Gradle builds for Android and Xcode builds for iOS?
• How can we handle code signing, provisioning profiles, and certificates automatically for iOS builds?
• What are best practices for integrating CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Fastlane) in Expo bare workflow projects?
• How can this automation improve release management, testing, and deployment speed compared to manual builds?

[codingwizard0831]

Automation is possible by combining the bare workflow, Gradle/Xcode CLI tools, and CI/CD pipelines like Fastlane or GitHub Actions.

---

1. Android Automation

• Use Gradle CLI to automate builds locally.
• Create a script to increment versions, build release APKs, and deploy to testers or Play Store.

Example: Bash script for local Android build

#!/bin/bash
cd android
# Increment versionCode and versionName automatically
./gradlew assembleRelease

# Path to the APK
APK_PATH=app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

# Optional: deploy to connected device
adb install -r $APK_PATH

echo "Android build complete: $APK_PATH"

• Can be integrated into GitHub Actions for CI/CD: automatically build APK on commit and upload to internal testers.

---

2. iOS Automation

• Use Xcode CLI to automate IPA builds.
• Combine with Fastlane to handle certificates and provisioning automatically.

Fastlane Example:

# Fastfile
platform :ios do
  desc "Build and distribute iOS app"
  lane :beta do
    match(type: "appstore") # Automatically fetch provisioning profiles and certificates
    build_app(scheme: "YourApp", export_method: "app-store")
    upload_to_testflight
  end
end

• Run Fastlane from CLI:

fastlane ios beta

• Handles signing, building, and TestFlight deployment automatically.

---

3. CI/CD Integration

• Use GitHub Actions, Bitrise, or Jenkins to automate both Android and iOS builds:

  • Trigger builds on commits to main or release branches.
  • Automatically generate APK/IPA files.
  • Deploy to internal testers (Firebase App Distribution / TestFlight) or production stores.

GitHub Actions Example (Android)

name: Android Build
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Setup JDK
        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
        with:
          java-version: '11'
      - name: Build APK
        run: |
          cd android
          ./gradlew assembleRelease
      - name: Upload APK
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: app-release.apk
          path: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

---

4. Best Practices

• Separate build configs for dev/staging/production.
• Environment variables for API keys and endpoints.
• Version management automation to avoid manual errors.
• Combine with unit tests to ensure stability before release.
• Maintain local build environments consistent with CI/CD servers to prevent unexpected errors.

---

Summary

Platform	Tool	Automation Capability
Android	Gradle CLI + Scripts	Build APK, increment version, deploy to device/store
iOS	Xcode CLI + Fastlane	Build IPA, automatic signing, TestFlight/App Store deploy
CI/CD	GitHub Actions / Bitrise / Jenkins	Trigger builds, artifacts upload, automated deployments

Conclusion:
Automating local builds for Expo bare workflow projects without EAS reduces build delays, enables faster testing, and ensures consistent release pipelines. Combining Gradle/Xcode CLI, Fastlane, and CI/CD tools allows teams to maintain professional DevOps practices even without the premium EAS service.