Submit to App Stores

EasyStarter's mobile app uses EAS (Expo Application Services) for cloud builds and app store submissions. EAS handles code signing, bundling, and automated submission — no local certificate setup required.

Before submitting, make sure the Server is deployed and RevenueCat and auth callbacks are correctly configured.

Prerequisites

Platform	Required
iOS	Apple Developer account ($99/year), App created in App Store Connect
Android	Google Play Console account ($25 one-time), App created in Google Play
General	EAS CLI installed, logged into your Expo account

npm install -g eas-cli
eas login

Update `eas.json` config

Before building, update the production profile's environment variables to point to your live URLs:

apps/native/eas.json

{
  "build": {
    "production": {
      "autoIncrement": true,
      "channel": "production",
      "environment": "production",
      "env": {
        "EXPO_PUBLIC_SERVER_API_URL": "https://your-server.workers.dev",  // Server production URL
        "EXPO_PUBLIC_WEB_APP_URL": "https://your-app.com",                // Web production URL
        "EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_IOS_API_KEY": "appl_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_ANDROID_API_KEY": "goog_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_ENTITLEMENT_ID": "pro"
      }
    }
  }
}

Update `app.json` identifiers

Confirm the bundle identifier and package name in apps/native/app.json match your app store accounts:

apps/native/app.json

{
  "expo": {
    "name": "Your App Name",
    "slug": "your-app-slug",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "ios": {
      "bundleIdentifier": "com.yourcompany.yourapp",  // Must match App Store Connect
      "appleTeamId": "YOUR_TEAM_ID"                   // Found in your Apple Developer account
    },
    "android": {
      "package": "com.yourcompany.yourapp"            // Must match Google Play package name
    },
    "extra": {
      "eas": {
        "projectId": "your-eas-project-id"            // Auto-generated by eas init
      }
    }
  }
}

If you haven't initialized the EAS project yet:

cd apps/native
eas init

Build the iOS production binary

pnpm -F native eas:build:ios:production

Equivalent to eas build --platform ios --profile production. EAS builds the .ipa file in the cloud.

On first build, EAS will guide you through:

Creating or reusing an Apple Distribution Certificate
Creating or reusing a Provisioning Profile

Check build status and download artifacts on the Expo Dashboard.

For a local build (requires macOS + Xcode), use eas:build:ios:production:local.

Build the Android production binary

pnpm -F native eas:build:android:production

Equivalent to eas build --platform android --profile production. EAS builds an .aab file (Google Play's recommended format).

On first build, EAS will prompt you to upload or auto-generate an Android Keystore. Keep the Keystore safe — you must use the same Keystore to sign all future updates.

Submit to the App Store

pnpm -F native eas:submit:ios:production

Equivalent to eas submit --platform ios --profile production. EAS automatically uploads the build artifact to App Store Connect.

After upload:

Sign in to App Store Connect
Go to your App → TestFlight to verify the build
Switch to the App Store tab and create a new version
Fill in release notes, screenshots, keywords, and other metadata
Submit for review (typically 1–3 business days)

Submit to Google Play

pnpm -F native eas:submit:android:production

Equivalent to eas submit --platform android --profile production.

After upload:

Sign in to Google Play Console
Go to your App → Release → Production
Review the new build upload and fill in release notes
Submit for review (typically a few hours to a few days)

OTA updates (no app store review required)

EasyStarter integrates Expo Updates, allowing you to push JavaScript-layer changes to installed apps without going through the app store review process.

Suitable for bug fixes, UI adjustments, and copy changes that don't touch native code:

# Push to the production channel
pnpm -F native eas:update:production

OTA updates can only update JavaScript/TypeScript code and static assets. They cannot update native modules (e.g. adding Expo plugins, modifying native fields in app.json). Native changes still require a full build and store submission.

Version management

"autoIncrement": true in eas.json automatically increments the Build Number (iOS) and Version Code (Android) on every build — no manual changes to app.json needed.

Field	Description
`version` (in `app.json`)	User-visible version string, e.g. `1.2.0` — update manually
Build Number / Version Code	Internal store version — managed automatically by `autoIncrement`
`runtimeVersion`	Controls OTA compatibility — defaults to `appVersion` policy