Gradle

Expo · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

Android builds use Gradle inside android/ (after prebuild) or on EAS builders. Expo abstracts most of this; touch Gradle for custom native modules, packaging options, or troubleshooting.

🔧 Core concepts

• Root — android/build.gradle, android/settings.gradle, gradle.properties.
• App module — android/app/build.gradle (applicationId, signing, minSdk).
• Expo autolinking — native modules linked via Expo / RN Gradle plugins.
• Properties — org.gradle.jvmargs, hermesEnabled, architectures.
• EAS — cloud images run Gradle; override via eas.json env / expo-build-properties plugin.

💡 Examples

// app.config.ts — prefer plugin over hand-editing Gradle
plugins: [
  [
    "expo-build-properties",
    {
      android: {
        minSdkVersion: 24,
        compileSdkVersion: 35,
        targetSdkVersion: 35,
        kotlinVersion: "1.9.24",
      },
    },
  ],
],

# android/gradle.properties (generated — customize via plugins when possible)
hermesEnabled=true
newArchEnabled=true

cd android && ./gradlew assembleRelease
# or via Expo
npx expo run:android --variant release

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Manual Gradle edits wiped by expo prebuild --clean unless reflected in config plugins.
• Mismatched JDK / AGP versions vs Expo SDK expectations.
• Enabling New Architecture without compatible libraries.

🔗 Related

• build.md — EAS Android builds
• keystore_sign.md — signing configs
• plugins.md — build-properties plugin
• commands.md — expo run:android