Expo support for React Native 0.78

Expo SDK 52 currently supports React Native 0.76 (default), released October 23, 2024, and 0.77 (opt-in), released January 21, 2025. When React Native 0.78 is released, Expo will provide a canary release from our main branch that will allow early adopters to use it right away. This is not intended to be a stable release, but if you are particularly adventurous and have a good motivation to use it today, you certainly can (provided that other non-Expo libraries you depend on are also compatible).

Canary releases represent a snapshot of the state of the main branch at the time they are published. Canary package versions include -canary in the name, along with the date and commit hash, such as 51.0.0-canary-20240418-8d74597. (Source)

As of the time of writing, expo@canary  does not yet support React Native 0.78. This post will be updated when it does, shortly after its release. Additionally, react-native-screens does not yet support 0.78.

• Create a new project with the canary release: npx create-expo-app my-app --template blank@canary
• Install a canary release in an existing project: npx expo install expo@canary --fix

When using a canary release, you should be aware that:

• It is not stable and may contain bugs
• It may have breaking changes
• It should only be used for testing and evaluation
• It may not have all features fully implemented
• It could have compatibility issues with some third-party libraries
• It will not support Expo Go

React Native 0.78 includes a number of changes that would make supporting it in Expo SDK 52 unfeasible. The most significant of these is the React version: React Native 0.78 bumps React to 19, while 0.76 and 0.77 use 18.

New Expo SDK versions are released three times each year. Between these releases, we publish pre-release versions of the expo package and all of the Expo SDK packages. Pre-releases are not considered stable and should only be used if you are comfortable with the risk of encountering bugs or other issues. (Source)

At Expo, we have found that releasing three major version provides a good balance of stability and innovation for developers depending on our open source tools. Following this schedule, the timing that works out better for releasing SDK 53 coincides with the time when React Native 0.79 is likely to be released.

Expo and Meta work closely together on releases, and we will keep improving our processes to get the latest Expo and React Native features to you as quickly as possible. With the current release cadences, ideally there will be a dedicated Expo SDK release for each second React Native release, with the in between version being supported by the previous Expo SDK release.

Expo SDK 53 is intended for release this spring, in advance of App.js Conf (get your ticket now if you haven't already!). It is intended to support React Native 0.79. Keep an eye out for a beta release in late March or April.