Expo SDK 53 represents a significant advancement for React Native development, aligning the framework with modern web and mobile paradigms. A core update in this release is the integration of React Native 0.79 with React 19 and React Native Web 0.20.0. For more details, see the official Expo Changelog. This upgrade is particularly notable for React 19's features, such as Suspense for managing loading states and the use() Hook for handling contexts and promises directly within component render logic. These additions streamline asynchronous operations and state management, leading to cleaner code and improved user experiences by making loading states more seamless. You can find more information about the upgrade checklist on the LogRocket blog.
The SDK also introduces a stable expo-audio library, marking a significant improvement over its predecessor, expo-av. This new library offers enhanced reliability, ease of use, performance, and power for audio playback and recording, making it the recommended choice for new implementations and a strong candidate for migration from older modules. Another notable addition is the alpha release of expo-maps, a library designed to provide unified wrappers for platform-standard mapping APIs—Google Maps on Android and Apple Maps for iOS. Built on modern native UI frameworks like Jetpack Compose and SwiftUI, expo-maps focuses on common use cases, though it currently requires iOS 17 or newer. This strategic move towards deeper integration with native platform capabilities, particularly with the default enablement of the New Architecture (Bridgeless/Fabric) in SDK 53, indicates Expo's commitment to reducing the "native versus cross-platform" fidelity gap. The framework is evolving to allow React Native applications to more readily leverage the performance and aesthetic benefits of native components, positioning Expo as a truly "production-grade React Native Framework". As stated on the React Native documentation, Expo is indeed a production-grade framework.
Development workflow enhancements are also a central theme in SDK 53. Android build times have seen a notable improvement, with up to a 25% reduction in local compilation time due to prebuilt Expo Modules. This feature is enabled by default in new project templates and lays the groundwork for more robust caching mechanisms within Expo Application Services (EAS). Furthermore, TestFlight deployment for development builds has been streamlined through the new npx testflight package and specific eas.json configurations, offering an efficient alternative to traditional ad hoc distribution methods. These improvements in developer experience, such as faster builds and simplified distribution, directly impact the speed of iteration and the ability to optimize applications. By reducing friction in the development cycle, Expo implicitly encourages more frequent builds, testing, and performance tuning, ultimately leading to higher quality applications delivered more quickly.
Broader tooling improvements further solidify SDK 53's impact. Expo Atlas, a tool for investigating JavaScript bundles and optimizing app size, has been promoted from experimental to stable. This allows developers to analyze their application's bundle size and identify areas for optimization, which is crucial for improving loading times and user experience. Additionally, eslint-config-expo now supports flat config, aligning with modern ESLint configurations. Experimental support for web workers has been added for web platforms, used in expo-sqlite for multi-threaded web support, and enabling JavaScript execution off the main thread in native apps via native modules and Reanimated worklets. Experimental EAS Update support for DOM components also allows for over-the-air updates for web-based components. Overall, SDK 53 provides a foundational update that significantly enhances performance, developer experience, and native capabilities for React Native applications.
