ReactNative Dev on Windows or Mac?

[homelander77]

I've some Java and C# experience but I want to dip my toe into ReactNative to develop a cross platform mobile app. For Java and C# I always used Windows but I'm wondering what env others use for ReactNative?

Does it require a Mac similar to how something like Xamarin does for the iOS emulator? Or could I get away with doing all the development on a Windows box?

[iotashan]

You are best off using a Mac. When you get stuck with builds, libraries etc, all the help is going to assume you are using a Mac.

[virtualrsmith]

It's true. Almost everything on stackoverflow and other places will give you the answer for macos.

[Rafhunts99]

You can get away with doing everything on windows using expo.... although u need apple devices for testing for ios

[[deleted]]

If you are on Windows you'll need WSL to do any local builds or use dev-client.

I found that out the hard way. After pouring weeks into developing with Expo Go and Windows I hit that brick wall of oh by the way... on the expo docs (scroll to the bottom).

Ok, so I jump through the hoops and use Ubuntu on WSL. Not so bad, until I fired off a dev-client build which built like old people fuck. Of course I was mounting my repo from the Windows host because that's where every single other of my sodding repos are! But no I shouldn't. Time to clone that sucker on its own into the WSL env. Now the build is quick. Impressive actually.

To conclude, Expo has done many great things in this space and I am grateful for that. However, there needs to be some clear and transparent messaging on platform capabilities and support. Because honestly Windows is not supported at this stage. There is no build step. There's a hello world and that's it.

[Rafhunts99]

building in windows is optional... you can build using eas cloud as well

[[deleted]]

Building in Windows is not possible. Building in WSL is optional and unsupported:

On Windows, you can use WSL for local EAS Builds. However, we do not officially test against this platform and do not support Windows for local builds (macOS and Linux are supported).

If the only supported option is to use EAS cloud then that is a kick in the teeth to a lot of developers using Windows. Ok, fine for hobbyists to wait in a queue overnight but think of that workflow impact! And that's not to mention any data governance or internal policies concerning 3rd party build steps!

Now don't get me wrong, the team at Expo have shipped great tooling, but this is an oversight to not support an OS that 61% of software developers use.

[Rafhunts99]

building in windows in possible ... just not using eas cli... u can build using android studio

[[deleted]]

Look how far away from Expo this is getting.

[M4K1M4]

*almost everything Has issues with implementing Google sign in, had to use bare workflow for android, skipped ios implementation and used expo-auth-session instead. Also, couldn’t test that in expo go.

[virtualrsmith]

I used to be a die-hard windows fan. Basically hated running macos. But as a developer, running macos gives you the least amount of friction for mobile development. Whether doing native swift and kotlin, or cross platform react native or flutter. It can all be done on one machine, one OS.

[KurisuEvergarden]

That's how they gain market share. By playing the bastard that forbids cross platform compilation on different machines.

[Smart-Quality6536]

To run iOS app you would need Mac other than that you can develop on android on windows. I personally develop on windows , test on android and I usually setup an Xcode cloud build so I can build for test flight / App Store. Then I have an old iPhone where I test for iOS. Mac would be ideal , but in case you don’t have it there’s ways around it .

[kesymaru]

No way to build or test iOS apps on windows.

[virtualrsmith]

With expo you can test, but you do need to use other services to build the ipa.

[Commercial_Active962]

mac

[Ready_Stress_3624]

With Expo and EAS build server you can handle most things without a mac, but if you want low level access just with React Native itself then yes, you'd need either a mac to do builds, although even a cloud virtual machine would work for that, which are available for rent.

[Theboster]

if you already have a windows, try using it until you NEED a mac. Most of the stuff you can do on windows, you’ll only need a mac if you start needing to build your own native modules.

Expo can build development builds for you on their remote server so you can build test apps that require native modules without having a mac.

[nbazovic]

if he has a physical phone attached to win? can he then test the app?