Understanding Expo in React Native Development

Expo is a framework and platform for universal React applications. It simplifies the process of developing, building, and deploying React Native apps across iOS and Android platforms.

While React Native CLI provides a bare workflow with full control, Expo offers a managed workflow with pre-configured elements, reducing the need for native code configuration.

Expo boasts features like OTA updates, easier setup, and maintenance. It includes a rich set of APIs and components that accelerate development, especially for beginners.

Developers can 'eject' to the bare workflow if they require custom native code, allowing the project to be used with React Native CLI while retaining Expo's advantages.

Expo provides Over-the-Air (OTA) updates, enabling developers to publish updates directly to users without going through app stores, a feature not natively present in React Native.

Expo Snack is an online playground that lets developers write and share React Native code in the cloud, useful for quick prototyping and sharing examples.

Expo is consistently evolving, with plans to support more native APIs, improve performance, and streamline the developer experience for both managed and bare workflows.