Shipping an Expo app to the App Store: the landmines nobody warns you about

An open-source iOS app built with Expo SDK 52 exposed release issues that the docs do not make obvious.

The main hurdles were configuring an iOS Share Extension in EAS Build, backporting a fix with patch-package without upgrading the SDK, and version-controlling App Store metadata.

The story highlights how React Native’s new architecture and native extensions complicate mobile shipping, making release-management discipline essential.

It also shows the value of reproducible metadata and careful setup of App Store Connect, EAS Metadata, provisioning profiles, and application groups.