SDK 55 Breaking Changes¶

React Native 0.83, React 19.2. Full changelog: https://expo.dev/changelog/sdk-55

Removed APIs & Config Fields¶

`notification` field removed from app.json¶

Specifying a notification entry in app.json will throw an error during prebuild. Migrate to the expo-notifications config plugin:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "expo-notifications",
        {
          "icon": "./assets/notification-icon.png",
          "color": "#ffffff"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

`newArchEnabled` config option removed¶

Legacy Architecture is no longer available. Remove the field from app.json entirely.

`edgeToEdgeEnabled` removed from app.json¶

Edge-to-edge is mandatory on Android 16+. The config option no longer has any effect.

`experiments.reactCanary` flag removed¶

React 19 is the baseline. The flag is no longer necessary.

`EXPO_USE_FAST_RESOLVER` removed¶

The fast resolver is the only resolver implementation. No env variable needed.

`expo-av` removed from Expo Go¶

expo-av no longer receives patches. Migrate to expo-audio and expo-video.

Renames & API Changes¶

Old	New
`expo-blur` `experimentalBlurMethod`	`blurMethod`
`expo-router` headless tabs `reset` prop	`resetOnFocus`
`expo-video` `allowsFullscreen` prop	`fullscreenOptions.enable`
`expo-router` `ExpoRequest`/`ExpoResponse`	Standard `Request`/`Response`
`expo-video` `bitrate` track field	`averageBitrate` and `peakBitrate`

Removed Deprecated APIs¶

expo-clipboard: content property removed from event listeners — use getStringAsync()
expo-cellular: carrier-related constants removed (iOS methods return null)
expo-notifications: push notifications in Expo Go on Android now throws (was warning)

Deprecations (will be removed later)¶

removeSubscription functions from several modules → use subscription.remove() instead
expo-video-thumbnails → use generateThumbnailsAsync from expo-video (removal in SDK 56)
expo-navigation-bar: most methods deprecated and no-op (edge-to-edge mandatory). Use config plugin.
expo-status-bar: backgroundColor, translucent, networkActivityIndicatorVisible deprecated. Use config plugin.
androidNavigationBar app.json config deprecated → use expo-navigation-bar config plugin
androidStatusBar.backgroundColor / androidStatusBar.translucent deprecated → use expo-status-bar config plugin

CLI & EAS Changes¶

`eas update` requires `--environment` flag¶

This flag is now mandatory. Update CI scripts:

# Before
eas update --branch production --message "Fix bug"

# After
eas update --branch production --message "Fix bug" --environment production

App config evaluation changed¶

app.config.ts files are now transpiled with your project's TypeScript installation, not a separate internal tool. Test your dynamic config after upgrading.

Native Tabs Import Changes¶

Icon, Label, Badge, VectorIcon are now static properties on NativeTabs.Trigger. See ./native-tabs.md reference.

Autolinking Changes¶

expo.experiments.autolinkingModuleResolution is now enabled by default in monorepos. If having dependency issues, verify with:

npx expo-modules-autolinking verify -v

Tool Requirements¶

Xcode 26 required (EAS Build defaults to 26.2)
Node.js: ^20.19.4, ^22.13.0, ^24.3.0, or ^25.0.0
iOS minimum stays 15.1 (bump to 16.4 planned for SDK 56)

Migration Checklist¶

[ ] Remove newArchEnabled from app.json
[ ] Remove edgeToEdgeEnabled from app.json
[ ] Remove notification from app.json, use config plugin
[ ] Remove experiments.reactCanary from app.json
[ ] Migrate expo-av to expo-audio / expo-video
[ ] Rename experimentalBlurMethod → blurMethod in expo-blur usage
[ ] Rename headless tabs reset → resetOnFocus
[ ] Replace ExpoRequest/ExpoResponse with standard Request/Response
[ ] Update eas update commands with --environment flag
[ ] Update Xcode to version 26
[ ] Review expo-navigation-bar and expo-status-bar usage for deprecated APIs
[ ] Check native tabs imports (see native-tabs.md reference)
[ ] Review expo.install.exclude and patches for outdated workarounds