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Creating a React Native App without Expo

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Madeline Watts
Software Engineer
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Hello! I'm Madeline, the founder of AppHelion and full time app developer. I have developed and published several apps using a variety of frameworks and I started AppHelion to share what I've learned!
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Last updated: May 2025

Assuming Xcode and Android Studios are already installed and properly configured, these are the steps to creating a React Native app without using Expo:

For IOS​

  1. Remove existing Cli (only if previously installed)
npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli
  1. Install the react native community cli

I've named my project ProjectName, change this to your project name (see note below on naming convention).

warning

Dashes are not permitted in React Native names. If you run into this error: error "project-name" is not a valid name for a project, rename your project.

npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init ProjectName

Type y for any questions that you're asked.

tip

If you get this error: No podspec found for ReactAppDependencyProvider in build/generated/ios, CLICK HERE.

  1. Run npx react-native run-ios

This should bring up the IOS simulator.

Welcome to React Native IOS

For Android​

  1. Launch the Android Emulator, this has to be done first

  2. Run npx react-native run-android

This should run the app on the Android emulator:

Welcome to React Native Android

Now you’re ready to develop your React Native app without Expo! Check out our other React Native guides!