React Native Build APK Generate release mode APK for React-Native project to publish on PlayStore

Good Day All! I hope you are doing Good.

From last couple of days, Me and my friends were doing comparative study of ionic3 and react-native. During that period, we were struggling to generate release mode APK for React-Native project.

Finally, we came across following solution:

Create and then copy a keystore file to android/app

keytool -genkey -v -keystore mykeystore.keystore -alias mykeyalias -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

Setup your gradle variables in android/gradle.properties

MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE=mykeystore.keystore
MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS=mykeyalias
MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD=*****
MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD=*****

Add signing config to android/app/build.gradle

android {
signingConfigs {
release {
storeFile file(MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE)
storePassword MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD
keyAlias MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS
keyPassword MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD
}
}
buildTypes {
release {
signingConfig signingConfigs.release
}
}
}

Generate your release APK:

cd android && ./gradlew assembleRelease

Your APK will get generated at: android/app/build/outputs/apk/app-release.apk

Special Thanks to Tyler Buchea : http://blog.tylerbuchea.com/react-native-publishing-an-android-app/

Comments

[mrcflorian]

Thanks for the tutorial! I've put up an article containing several errors that I encounter when building a release APK for React Native pretty frequently.

[Anaga Uche]

I love your article, thanks

[Zilu Ramkrishna Rane]

Thanks mrcflorian

[Rostyslav]

Hi Zilu. Follow your instructions, obtain error:

Unable to load script. Make sure you're either running a Metro server (run 'react-native start') or that your bundle 'index.android.bundle' is packaged correctly for release.

[Egi ESEM]

don't run debug version, to create apk release version first you must run:
npx react-native run-android --variant=release
or
react-native run-android --variant=release

Then APK can be found in android/app/build/outputs/apk/release

[Zilu Ramkrishna Rane]

You get this error after running which command?
Could you please provide more details.

[Thelaptopsguide]

Thanks for the very helpful tips. I’ve been using colored pencils for a few years now and been really happy with them, and yet there are still so many things you suggest that never occurred to me. If you want asnwer of your question then you can visit areteitech.net, for sure you will find eveything you are asking for I go through white pencils like crazy, too. Blending, all kinds of things–yet it didn’t occur to me that I should be using the white pencil first to get those nice bright spots. Such a simple thing, and yet…I didn’t catch on to what I’d been doing wrong till now. Thank you so much!

[Jhone Pterbok]

To publish a React Native project on PlayStore, generate a release mode APK using the command line or Android Studio. Then, sign and align like Notion APK before uploading it.

[Robin]

Thanks for the information Jhone Pterbok. I was facing this problem when trying to build a project like Easy Talk Global Calling Mod apk.

[Jamktro Plando]

Hello, I have enabled ProGuard, resulting in the generation of four distinct APKs. Could you please guide me on how to publish them on the Google Play Store Like SnapTik MOD APK?

[jbernibe]

Hello my friend, i did the procedure above, but dont work, it show me the next message :
"Deprecated Gradle features were used in this build, making it incompatible with Gradle 6.0"
Could you Please help me whit that.

[Ayesh Nipun]

Thanks for the article. The app was built without errors. But when I install it on my device and run the app, App keeps stopping with the message "App keeps stooping"

[القرآن الكريم]

Hi Zilu. Follow your instructions, obtain error:

Unable to load script. Make sure you're either running a Metro server (run 'react-native start') or that your bundle 'index.android.bundle' is packaged correctly for release.

[Jamedo Kokalena]

To publish a React-Native project on the PlayStore, you need to generate a release mode APK (Android Package Kit). This can be done by running the command "react-native run-android --variant=release" in the project directory, which will create a signed APK file. You can then upload this file to the PlayStore Console to release your app like Snapseed MOD APK. It is important to note that you will need to have a valid keystore file and signing key for this process.

[Max Programming]

I am using Expo to build my app so is there an easy way to do so in Expo? Because I don't have an android folder in my directory structure