How to Publish a React Native App to the App Store using Expo

Prerequisites

• Apple Developer Account ($99/year)
• Xcode installed on a Mac
• Use EAS Build (Expo’s recommended way for production)

Create Apple Developer Account

• Create an Apple Developer Account: https://developer.apple.com/
• Enroll in the Apple Developer Program ($99/year)
• Set up your developer account details

Prepare Your App

Update App Metadata

• Update the app metadata in the app.json file.
• Update the app icon and splash screen: https://www.appicon.co/
• Update version and build number.

{
  "expo": {
    "name": "YourAppName",
    "slug": "your-app-slug",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "orientation": "portrait",
    "icon": "./assets/icon.png",
    "splash": {
      "image": "./assets/splash.png",
      "resizeMode": "contain",
      "backgroundColor": "#ffffff"
    },
    "ios": {
      "bundleIdentifier": "com.yourcompany.yourapp",
      "buildNumber": "1.0.0"
    },
    ...
  }
}

Build the App

• Build using Expo:

expo build # build app for both platforms
expo build:android # build app for android
expo build:ios # build app for ios

• Build using EAS:

eas build

Configure XCode for Release

Publish the App

• Publish using Expo:

expo publish

• Publish using EAS:

eas submit

References

• Screenshots: https://mockuphone.com/