🔄 Updates & Maintenance

After your app is live on the stores, you'll need to publish updates periodically — bug fixes, new features, or menu changes. This page explains the different update strategies and how to use them.

📋 Update Types

There are two ways to update your app:

Method	What Changes	Review Required	Speed
🏗️ Full build (EAS Build)	Native code, dependencies, app config	Yes (store review)	1-7 days
⚡ OTA update (EAS Update)	JavaScript code, assets	No	Instant

🤔 When to Use Each

Full build (store update):

• 📦 Adding or updating native dependencies
• ⚙️ Changing app.json configuration
• ⬆️ Updating the Expo SDK version
• 🔧 Adding new native modules

OTA update (over-the-air):

• 🐛 Bug fixes in JavaScript code
• 🎨 UI changes (colors, layouts, text)
• 📱 New screens or features (JS-only)
• 🌍 Translation updates
• 🔗 Updating the API base URL

⚡ OTA Updates with EAS Update

Over-the-air updates let you push changes to users instantly without going through app store review. When users open the app, it downloads the latest JavaScript bundle in the background.

🔧 Setup

# Install expo-updates
cd packages/mobile
npx expo install expo-updates

# Configure EAS Update
eas update:configure

This adds the required configuration to app.json.

🚀 Publishing an OTA Update

After making changes to JavaScript code:

# Publish an update to the production channel
eas update --branch production --message "Fix checkout button alignment"

The update is available to users immediately. The next time they open the app, it downloads in the background and applies on the following launch.

📡 Update Channels

Channel	Purpose
🚀 production	Live app on the stores
👀 preview	Internal testing builds
🧪 development	Development builds

⏪ Rollback

If an OTA update introduces a bug:

# List recent updates
eas update:list

# Roll back by republishing the previous good version
eas update --branch production --message "Rollback: revert checkout fix"

🏗️ Full Store Updates

For changes that require a new native build:

🤖 Android

# Build
eas build --profile production --platform android

# Submit to Google Play
eas submit --platform android --latest

In Google Play Console, the new version appears in your releases. Add release notes and roll it out.

🍎 iOS

# Build
eas build --profile production --platform ios

# Submit to App Store Connect
eas submit --platform ios --latest

In App Store Connect:

1. 🔢 Create a new version (increment the version number)
2. 📦 Select the new build
3. 📝 Fill in "What's New in This Version"
4. 📤 Submit for review

🔢 Version Numbering

Follow semantic versioning:

Change Type	Version Bump	Example
🐛 Bug fixes	Patch	1.0.0 → 1.0.1
✨ New features	Minor	1.0.1 → 1.1.0
💥 Breaking changes	Major	1.1.0 → 2.0.0

Update the version in packages/mobile/app.json:

{
  "expo": {
    "version": "1.1.0"
  }
}

The buildNumber (iOS) and versionCode (Android) are auto-incremented by EAS when you have "autoIncrement": true in eas.json.

📊 Monitoring App Health

💥 Crash Reporting

After publishing, monitor for crashes:

• 🤖 Google Play Console → Android Vitals → Crashes & ANRs
• 🍎 App Store Connect → App Analytics → Metrics → Crashes
• 📦 Expo Dashboard → Your project → Updates (shows update adoption)

💬 User Feedback

• ⭐ Respond to app store reviews promptly (see Store Listings)
• 📧 Add an in-app feedback mechanism (email link in the Account tab)

📦 Keeping Dependencies Updated

Periodically update Expo SDK and dependencies:

# Check for Expo SDK updates
npx expo install --check

# Update to latest compatible versions
npx expo install --fix

Major Expo SDK upgrades (e.g., SDK 52 → 53) should be tested thoroughly:

1. 📖 Read the Expo changelog for breaking changes
2. 🧪 Update locally and test all app flows
3. 👀 Build a preview version for testing
4. 🚀 Submit to stores after verification

🤖 Automating Builds with GitHub Actions

You can automate builds when you push to main:

Create .github/workflows/mobile-build.yml:

name: Mobile Build

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'packages/mobile/**'
      - 'packages/shared/**'

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 22

      - uses: expo/expo-github-action@v8
        with:
          eas-version: latest
          token: ${{ secrets.EXPO_TOKEN }}

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Build Android
        run: cd packages/mobile && eas build --profile production --platform android --non-interactive

      - name: Build iOS
        run: cd packages/mobile && eas build --profile production --platform ios --non-interactive

Add your EXPO_TOKEN to GitHub repository secrets:

1. 🔑 Get your token: eas login then go to expo.dev/settings/access-tokens
2. ⚙️ Add it to GitHub: Repository → Settings → Secrets → New repository secret

✅ Checklist for Each Update

• [ ] 🧪 Make and test changes locally
• [ ] 🤔 Determine if this is an OTA update or full build
• [ ] ⚡ For OTA: eas update --branch production --message "description"
• [ ] 🏗️ For full build: eas build then eas submit for each platform
• [ ] 🔢 Update version number in app.json for store updates
• [ ] 📝 Write release notes / "What's New"
• [ ] 📊 Monitor crash reports after release
• [ ] ⭐ Respond to any new reviews