Expo SDK 58 beta opens with iOS 27 support and a faster build pipeline
You update your simulators, iOS 27 drops, and every app you haven't rebuilt yet either misbehaves or just looks wrong on the new scene-based life cycle. That's the situation SDK 58 is built to get ahead of. The SDK 58 beta starts today and runs three to four weeks. It's your window to test the new release against your app's specific configuration before it goes stable, and the Expo team will be…
The Expo SDK 58 beta has launched, bringing support for the new iOS 27 operating system and a more efficient build pipeline. This beta period spans three to four weeks, giving developers ample time to test the new release against their specific app configurations before the final stable version is released. Throughout the beta, the Expo team will be rolling out fixes and enhancements.
The SDK targets iOS 27 and includes React Native 0.88 (Release Candidate), although 0.88 has not yet been officially released as stable. Full release notes will be available alongside the stable release, and all changes will be merged into the main CHANGELOG.md file upon the conclusion of the beta.
Expo Go on the new SDK is accessible through Expo CLI for Android devices/emulators and iOS simulators, as well as through eas go for physical iOS devices. The App Store and Google Play versions of Expo Go will also incorporate the SDK 58 once the stable version is released, allowing developers time to migrate their apps before the older SDK 57 is dropped.
The beta includes several key improvements and new features. With iOS 27 support, Expo apps now utilize the scene-based life cycle, ensuring proper launch behavior. If custom AppDelegate.swift files are present, developers are advised to review the scene life cycle migration guide to account for the differences in app delegate callbacks.
Expo packages have been updated to use scene-aware helpers in expo-modules-core instead of relying on geometry from UIScreen.main. Two notable behavior changes include the fact that requireFullScreen no longer disables resizing on iOS 27, and ScreenOrientation.lockAsync may not function while the app is resizable. Additionally, expo-glass-effect reports isLiquidGlassAvailable as true for apps built with the iOS 27 SDK.
EAS Build images with Xcode 27 will be available soon, replacing the current Xcode 26.6 image. In the meantime, the latest EAS Build image continues to use Xcode 26.6. Device Hub support has been enhanced, providing a live stream of every iOS simulator and Android emulator, along with device control options, performance metrics, and accessibility toggles. The new dev tools plugin can be installed via npx expo install expo-device-hub, allowing live streaming and interaction with the simulators.
App Intents, which enable integration with Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, and Apple Intelligence, have been introduced in Expo SDK 58. This alpha feature allows developers to declare intent types in Swift inline modules within an app-intents directory. By routing these invocations to JavaScript, developers can execute specific tasks without needing to keep the app foregrounded.
The SDK also introduces native navigation components for SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose, such as NavigationStack, Toolbar, NavigationLink, NavigationDestination, and NavigationSplitView, among others. These components now support more flexible styling options, enabling developers to create visually appealing and interactive user interfaces.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
