As a product manager, you're constantly seeking new ways to enhance and optimize your app development process. One of the most challenging and time-consuming aspects of managing a mobile app is ensuring that it remains up-to-date, often requiring updates to be submitted to the app stores.

Fortunately, there's an alternative to the laborious and time-consuming submission process to the App Store or Play Store. The answer lies in Expo and React Native. These tools simplify the mobile app update process by allowing you to update specific parts of your app without going through the submission process. In this blog post, we'll explain how Expo and React Native can make your life as a non-technical product manager easier and how you can utilize these tools to effectively manage your app.

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The Challenges of App Store and Play Store Submission

Submitting updates to the App Store and Play Store can be a cumbersome and time-consuming procedure. It involves adhering to strict guidelines, ensuring that your app passes various tests, and then waiting for approval from the app stores. The duration of this process can range from several days to even longer periods, depending on the complexity and size of the update.

Moreover, if your app fails the review process or violates any guidelines, you'll need to make the necessary modifications and resubmit the app, leading to further delays. These delays can be frustrating for product managers and can impede the overall development and enhancement of your app.

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Expo and React Native: Simplifying Mobile App Updates

Expo and React Native are powerful tools that offer a solution to bypass the traditional app store submission process, allowing you to update specific parts of your app without undergoing the time-consuming review and approval process. But let's delve into what Expo and React Native are and how they can assist non-technical product managers.

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What is React Native?

React Native is a widely-used open-source framework developed by Facebook for building cross-platform mobile applications using JavaScript and React. It enables developers to create apps for both Android and iOS platforms using a single codebase, eliminating the need to maintain separate codebases for each platform. This not only saves considerable time and effort for your development team but also facilitates keeping your app up-to-date across both platforms.

One of the key advantages of React Native is its incorporation of "hot-reloading," which allows updates to be applied to the app without requiring a full app store submission. This feature is especially beneficial for quickly addressing bugs, making improvements, or implementing small updates that would be time-consuming and inefficient to submit to the app stores.

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What is Expo?

Expo is a free and open-source toolchain built around React Native that simplifies the app development process. It provides a range of tools and services that assist in building, deploying, and rapidly iterating on your React Native app. Expo makes it effortless for developers to create and share their apps with others, without the need for complex setup or configuration.

One of the most valuable features of Expo for non-technical product managers is its over-the-air (OTA) update capability. This means you can send updates to your users without requiring a new app version to be submitted to the app stores. Instead, the app updates are directly delivered to users' devices, allowing them to immediately use the updated version of the app. This saves a significant amount of time and frustration by bypassing the lengthy app store submission process.

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How Expo and React Native Benefit Non-Technical Product Managers

Expo and React Native offer several key benefits for non-technical product managers looking to streamline the mobile app update process:

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  1. Faster Updates: 

Expo and React Native enable you to push updates to your app without submitting them to the app stores, significantly speeding up the update process. This allows you to quickly address bugs, make improvements, or add new features without waiting for the lengthy app store review and approval process.

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  1. Cost Savings: 

Maintaining separate codebases for Android and iOS can be time-consuming and costly. With React Native, you can manage a single codebase for both platforms, reducing development costs and making it easier to keep your app up-to-date on all devices.

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  1. Simplified Development: 

Expo provides a set of tools and services that simplify the app development process, making it easier for developers to create and share their apps without complex setup or configuration. This streamlines the development process and facilitates app management for non-technical product managers.

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  1. Enhanced User Experience: 

By delivering updates directly to users' devices without requiring them to download a new version from the app stores, you can provide a seamless user experience. Users won't miss out on important updates or deal with outdated app versions.

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  1. Greater Flexibility: 

The ability to push updates to your app without submitting them to the app stores gives you more flexibility in managing your app's development. You can choose when and how often to release updates, rather than being constrained by the app store submission process.

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Save Time and Enhance User Experience with Expo and React Native

For product managers seeking to streamline the mobile app update process, Expo and React Native offer a powerful solution. By allowing you to push updates without app store submission, these tools save time, reduce costs, and enhance the overall user experience of your app.

By embracing Expo and React Native in your app development process, you can focus on what truly matters: creating a remarkable product for your users. Consider exploring these tools and their benefits to effectively manage your mobile app and keep it up-to-date without the challenges of app store submissions. 

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