Expo vs Bare React Native Comparison

// Expo — adding a native permission via app.config.ts + a local config plugin (TypeScript)

// plugins/withCameraUsage.ts — config plugin that adds camera permission to Info.plist
import { ConfigPlugin, withInfoPlist } from "expo/config-plugins";

const withCameraUsage: ConfigPlugin = (config) =>
  withInfoPlist(config, (config) => {
    config.modResults.NSCameraUsageDescription =
      "We need camera access to take a profile photo";
    return config;
  });

export default withCameraUsage;

// app.config.ts — the plugin is referenced by file PATH (requires npm i -D tsx)
import "tsx/cjs";
import { ExpoConfig, ConfigContext } from "expo/config";

export default ({ config }: ConfigContext): ExpoConfig => ({
  ...config,
  name: "MyApp",
  slug: "my-app",
  version: "1.0.0",
  plugins: [["./plugins/withCameraUsage.ts"], "expo-router", "expo-updates"],
  updates: { url: "https://u.expo.dev/your-project-id" },
  runtimeVersion: { policy: "appVersion" },
});

// Terminal: generate the native folders (CNG) and apply them
// npx expo prebuild --clean

// Run EAS Build and publish an OTA update
// eas build --platform all --profile production
// eas update --branch production --message "Bug fix: login crash"

// Bare React Native — package installation + manual native configuration (TypeScript)

// 1) Install the package: autolinking links it, fetch pods, rebuild
// $ npm install react-native-vision-camera react-native-nitro-modules react-native-nitro-image
// $ npx pod-install
// $ npm run ios     # Android: npm run android

// 2) Add permissions MANUALLY — this step is not part of autolinking
// ios/MyApp/Info.plist:
// <key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
// <string>We need camera access to take a profile photo</string>
// android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:
// <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />

// 3) Usage on the JS side (shared code)
import React, { useEffect } from "react";
import { Camera, useCameraPermission } from "react-native-vision-camera";

function ProfileCamera() {
  const { hasPermission, requestPermission } = useCameraPermission();

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!hasPermission) requestPermission();
  }, [hasPermission, requestPermission]);

  return <Camera style={{ flex: 1 }} isActive={true} device="back" />;
}

export default ProfileCamera;

// 4) Upgrading (0.86 -> 0.87): there is NO CLI command for this
// Upgrade Helper (web): https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/
// -> apply the diff manually to Podfile.lock, build.gradle, AppDelegate.swift

// 5) Your own CI pipeline (GitHub Actions, summary)
// - run: npx pod-install
// - run: xcodebuild -workspace ios/MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme MyApp -configuration Release