rn-update — React Native & Expo OTA Updates

Ship the fix. Keep moving.

Ship React Native and Expo OTA updates with Pakta. Looking for a CodePush alternative or comparing EAS Update? rn-update is an open-source SDK with differential downloads, staged rollouts and crash rollback for iOS, Android and HarmonyOS.

Keep your existing project, integrate the SDK and ship a new app build. Then deliver JavaScript and asset updates over the air to users on that build.

简体中文 · Pakta · Quick start · Code integration guide · CLI · Pricing

Your update. Your rollout.

| Capability | What it brings to your app | | --- | --- | | Differential downloads | Transfer patches instead of repeating unchanged content; savings depend on the build | | Staged rollouts | Target channels, native versions and rollout percentages through the service | | Flexible activation | Download silently, activate later, or prompt your users | | Crash recovery | Health checks, rollback and a native cold-start repair path | | Observability | Update state, download progress and Sentry / Crashlytics integration |

CodePush alternative: move to Pakta

Bring your existing React Native app to Pakta for differential updates, controlled rollouts and crash recovery. Integrate rn-update, configure your channels and publish with the pakta CLI. Ship a new app build containing the SDK to start delivering Pakta OTA updates to your users.

CodePush migration guide →

Expo Updates / EAS Update alternative

Use Pakta for Expo OTA updates in development and production builds. Manage React Native, Expo and HarmonyOS updates from one platform, with differential delivery and clear annual plans.

Compare the SDK integration, update workflow and bandwidth costs before choosing your setup. Pakta uses rn-update and the pakta CLI; migrating from expo-updates includes native integration and a new app build.

Expo Updates vs Pakta: integration and costs → · Pakta plans and bandwidth comparison →

Quick start

1. Install and configure native integration

npm install rn-update

On iOS, also run pod install in the ios directory. Configure native bundle loading and build metadata using the examples below, then rebuild your app.

| Platform | Integration example | | --- | --- | | Android / iOS | React Native | | Expo | Development / production build | | HarmonyOS | RNOH |

Expo requires a development or production build containing this native module; Expo Go is not supported. Native code or dependency changes require a new native binary.

Expo apps can also declare the config plugin to pin the distribution channel into the native package:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [["rn-update", { "channel": "staging" }]]
  }
}

channel is the only value this plugin writes to the native project — appKey and server endpoints stay in the JS client, so configuration has a single source of truth. Omit channel to keep the default channel.

2. Connect Pakta at the root

Get your platform-specific appKey from the dashboard and create the client outside the component:

import { Pakta, PaktaProvider } from 'rn-update';
import App from './App';

const client = new Pakta({
  appKey: 'YOUR_PLATFORM_APP_KEY',
  updateStrategy: 'silentAndLater',
});

export default function Root() {
  return (
    <PaktaProvider client={client}>
      <App />
    </PaktaProvider>
  );
}

By default, the client uses https://pakta.yoghourt.space/api and checks at startup and on resume. Use the public appKey in the app; keep personal access tokens in CLI / CI.

3. Publish your first update

Configure native integration → install a release build → register it with the CLI → bundle and roll out.

→ Follow the CLI publishing guide

Verify download, activation and health confirmation on a device before widening rollout. Channel identity comes from native package metadata.

Update policies

| Setting | Behavior | | --- | --- | | updateStrategy: 'silentAndLater' | Downloads silently for a later launch | | updateStrategy: 'silentAndNow' | Switches after download and can interrupt active work | | updateStrategy: 'alertUpdateAndIgnoreError' | Prompts for updates and suppresses check errors; production default | | updateStrategy: 'alwaysAlert' | Shows update and error alerts | | checkStrategy: 'both' | Checks at startup and on resume; default | | checkStrategy: null | Disables automatic JS checks; native checks can still download without normal automatic activation |

The exported ClientOptions covers hooks, retries, localization and logging. Change options with client.setOptions(...). Use useUpdate() for update state and actions, or useUpdateProgress() for a separate progress subscription.

Advanced configuration

• The Provider marks success after 1000 ms by default. Use autoMarkSuccessDelayMs and healthCheck for delayed critical initialization; returning false keeps crash protection armed.
• Native cold-start checks can fetch a fix when JavaScript cannot start. Setting disableNativeCheck: true disables this recovery path. Recovery still requires connectivity, valid configuration and an available fix.
• getUpdateMetadata(), attachToSentry() and attachToCrashlytics() associate crashes with update identity. Use client.captureException() to report JavaScript errors manually.
• disableTelemetry disables telemetry and JS error transport; disableErrorReporting disables only JS error transport. Keep tokens and personal information out of error context.

When using another deployment, configure its service and endpoint discovery URLs explicitly:

const client = new Pakta({
  appKey: 'YOUR_PLATFORM_APP_KEY',
  server: {
    main: ['https://YOUR_HOST/api'],
    queryUrls: ['https://YOUR_CDN/endpoints.json'],
  },
  updateStrategy: 'silentAndLater',
});

queryUrls must provide an endpoint list for your deployment. See the default endpoint list; keep the repository-root and SDK copies synchronized when maintaining the default service.

Peer dependencies declare React ≥16.8 and React Native ≥0.59. This is not a test guarantee for every version and architecture combination. Validate your target platform, architecture and React Native version in a release build.

Documentation & license

• Native checks and activation protocol
• Public API exports
• License: MIT

Copyright (c) 2026 Yoghourt Technology(BeiJing) Company Limited.