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Capacitor vs Expo: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this markdown, we will discuss the key differences between Capacitor and Expo, which are two popular frameworks used for building mobile applications.
Project Structure and Language Support: Capacitor is a framework that allows developers to build mobile apps using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It provides a native container that hosts the web application. On the other hand, Expo is a framework that enables developers to build mobile apps using JavaScript and React. Expo provides a set of pre-built UI components and APIs to simplify the development process.
Native API Access: Capacitor provides direct access to native device functionality through plugins. It allows developers to write custom native code and expose it to their web application. Expo, on the other hand, offers a curated set of APIs that provide access to common device features. If a specific functionality is not available in Expo's API, developers have to eject the Expo project to gain access to the native code.
Device Compatibility: Capacitor is designed to work with any frontend framework and can be used in both new and existing projects. It supports building apps for iOS, Android, and Electron platforms. Expo, on the other hand, is primarily focused on React Native development and is limited to iOS and Android platforms. It provides a seamless development experience for these platforms but may not be suitable for other types of projects.
Development Workflow: With Capacitor, developers have the freedom to choose their own development workflow and tooling. They can use any code editor, build tool, or continuous integration systems. Expo, on the other hand, provides a unified development workflow and toolchain. It offers a command-line interface (CLI) that simplifies the development process by abstracting away the complexities of native app development.
Third-Party Libraries and Code: Capacitor allows developers to use any JavaScript library or npm package in their mobile app. They can easily integrate third-party libraries and leverage the existing web ecosystem. Expo, on the other hand, has a curated set of dependencies and restricts direct access to the underlying native code. Although Expo provides a wide range of pre-built components and APIs, developers may face limitations when it comes to using certain libraries or accessing low-level device features.
Build and Deployment Process: Capacitor provides a flexible and customizable build process, allowing developers to have full control over the app's deployment. It supports native code compilation during the build process to optimize performance. Expo, on the other hand, simplifies the build and deployment process by providing a hosted build service. Developers can easily build and deploy their app using the Expo CLI and don't need to worry about the complexities of native code compilation and signing.
In summary, Capacitor provides more flexibility and customization options in terms of project structure, native API access, device compatibility, development workflow, third-party libraries, and build process. Expo, on the other hand, offers a curated development experience, providing a simplified workflow and a wide range of pre-built components and APIs.
Hello guys, I am new here. So, if I posted without specific guidelines, please ignore.
Basically, I am an iOS developer and developing native apps for the last three years. Recently, I started learning React Native to develop apps for both platforms. If anyone out there knows any useful resources that will become a better react native developer.
#newbie
Well, the first resource I would recommend you is my upcoming book by Packt Publishing, "Professional React Native", but it's due late January next year :) . Now jokes aside (the book's real by the way :) ), the easiest way to build a iOS/Android/Web app with React Native is to do: npm install -g expo-cli expo init some-project cd some-project expo eject
You might have heard of Expo, but trust me, stay away from it. Expo highest value is that it's an already pre-configured 3 platforms environment, but if you don't eject then you're vendor-locked to what Expo has to offer in iOS and Android, which is very poor compared to going full React Native on these platforms, they can't even handle Google Sign In properly and by the way, even if your app is 10 lines of code your app size will be over 40 MB if you don't eject, yep it's that bad, plus the performance is regular and the loading times slow, not to mention that you're stuck with their build service which the free tier makes you wait for hours for a free build slot. It's important to note that when ejecting you don't lose the Web, you simply do expo start --web to start your dev environment and expo build:web to build a static website that you can serve with any web server. Regarding state management, don't bother with "lifting state up" philosophies mixed with Context API to manage your state, lifting state is a great pattern and helps your codebase, Context is great to avoid prop-drilling, but NEVER mix them to achieve app-wide state management, for that, simply go for Redux or MobX, the hype is all about Redux, but I consider MobX far better in many aspects. However, as you're getting new into this I would recommend you start with Redux AND PLEASE grab yourself npm install @manaflair/redux-batch so that you can batch updates and don't bring your app to a crawl. Forget that "connect HOC" thing with React-Redux, don't bother for a second with it, go with Hooks and useSelector and useDispatch and the likes, it will make your code SO much cleaner and smaller. Adopt clean and new Hooks philosophy, avoid writing class components as much as possible and write function components augmented with Hooks.
Pros of Capacitor
- Full compatible with ios1
- Modern1
Pros of Expo
- Free15
- Hot Reload13
- Easy to learn9
- Common ios and android app setup9
- Open Source6
- Streamlined6
- Builds into a React Native app5
- PWA supported2
- Plugins for web use with Next.js1
