EAS Build (Compiling)

To test your app on real devices without Expo Go, or to prepare it for the stores, you need to compile it. Launch-Native uses EAS Build (Expo Application Services) to do this in the cloud.

1. Initial Setup

First, install the EAS CLI globally on your machine and log in to your Expo account:

npm install -g eas-cli
eas login

Next, initialize your project for EAS (this will generate an eas.json configuration file at the root of your project):

eas build:configure

2. Building for Testing (Preview)

Before sending your app to the public stores, you should create a "preview" build to test on your own device.

To build for both iOS and Android simultaneously:

eas build --profile preview --platform all

⚠️ Note: Building for iOS requires an active Apple Developer account ($99/year). EAS will guide you through setting up your certificates automatically.

Once the build is complete, your terminal will display a QR code. Just scan it with your phone's camera to install the app!