React Native in 2025 — Is Expo the Right Choice?

## Expo Has Changed a Lot When I started with React Native two years ago, Expo was considered "the training wheels" framework. Serious apps used bare React Native. That perception is outdated. ## What Expo Gives You Now Expo Router (file-based routing like Next.js), EAS Build (cloud builds without Xcode), and the Expo SDK's deep native module support have changed the equation significantly. For 90% of apps, you never need to leave the managed workflow. ## When Bare React Native Still Makes Sense If you need a custom native module that doesn't exist in Expo's ecosystem, you'll need to eject. But this is rare. I've built: - A news app (NewsByte) — fully managed Expo - A mental health app with face detection — managed Expo + expo-face-detector - A vehicle browsing app — managed Expo None required ejecting. ## My Current Mobile Stack - Expo SDK 51 - Expo Router (file-based navigation) - Supabase (auth + database) - React Query (data fetching) - NativeWind (Tailwind for React Native) ## The Verdict Use Expo unless you have a proven, specific reason not to. It saves weeks of setup time and the developer experience is excellent.