You will need Node, Watchman, the React Native command line interface, a JDK, and Android Studio.
While you can use any editor of your choice to develop your app, you will need to install Android Studio in order to set up the necessary tooling to build your React Native app for Android.
Node & WatchmanWe recommend installing Node and Watchman using Homebrew. Run the following commands in a Terminal after installing Homebrew:
shellbrew install nodebrew install watchmanIf you he already installed Node on your system, make sure it is Node 20.19.4 or newer.
Watchman is a tool by Facebook for watching changes in the filesystem. It is highly recommended you install it for better performance.
Ja Development KitWe recommend installing the OpenJDK distribution called Azul Zulu using Homebrew. Run the following commands in a Terminal after installing Homebrew:
shellbrew install --cask zulu@17# Get path to where cask was installed to find the JDK installerbrew info --cask zulu@17# ==> zulu@17: # https://www.azul.com/downloads/# Installed# /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/zulu@17/ (185.8MB) (note that the path is /usr/local/Caskroom on non-Apple Silicon Macs)# Installed using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2024-06-06 at 10:00:00# Nigate to the folderopen /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/zulu@17/ # or /usr/local/Caskroom/zulu@17/After opening Finder, double click the Double-Click to Install Azul Zulu JDK 17.pkg package to install the JDK.
After the JDK installation, add or update your JA_HOME environment variable in ~/.zshrc (or in ~/.bash_profile).
If you used above steps, JDK will likely be located at /Library/Ja/JaVirtualMachines/zulu-17.jdk/Contents/Home:
shellexport JA_HOME=/Library/Ja/JaVirtualMachines/zulu-17.jdk/Contents/HomeThe Zulu OpenJDK distribution offers JDKs for both Intel and M1 Macs. This will make sure your builds are faster on M1 Macs compared to using an Intel-based JDK.
If you he already installed JDK on your system, we recommend JDK 17. You may encounter problems using higher JDK versions.
Android development environmentSetting up your development environment can be somewhat tedious if you're new to Android development. If you're already familiar with Android development, there are a few things you may need to configure. In either case, please make sure to carefully follow the next few steps.
1. Install Android StudioDownload and install Android Studio. While on Android Studio installation wizard, make sure the boxes next to all of the following items are checked:
Android SDK Android SDK Platform Android Virtual DeviceThen, click "Next" to install all of these components.
noteIf the checkboxes are grayed out, you will he a chance to install these components later on.
Once setup has finalized and you're presented with the Welcome screen, proceed to the next step.
2. Install the Android SDKAndroid Studio installs the latest Android SDK by default. Building a React Native app with native code, however, requires the Android 15 (VanillaIceCream) SDK in particular. Additional Android SDKs can be installed through the SDK Manager in Android Studio.
To do that, open Android Studio, click on "More Actions" button and select "SDK Manager".
tipThe SDK Manager can also be found within the Android Studio "Settings" dialog, under Languages & Frameworks → Android SDK.
Select the "SDK Platforms" tab from within the SDK Manager, then check the box next to "Show Package Details" in the bottom right corner. Look for and expand the Android 15 (VanillaIceCream) entry, then make sure the following items are checked:
Android SDK Platform 35 Intel x86 Atom_64 System Image or Google APIs Intel x86 Atom System Image or (for Apple M1 Silicon) Google APIs ARM 64 v8a System ImageNext, select the "SDK Tools" tab and check the box next to "Show Package Details" here as well. Look for and expand the "Android SDK Build-Tools" entry, then make sure that 35.0.0 is selected.
Finally, click "Apply" to download and install the Android SDK and related build tools.
3. Configure the ANDROID_HOME environment variableThe React Native tools require some environment variables to be set up in order to build apps with native code.
Add the following lines to your ~/.zprofile or ~/.zshrc (if you are using bash, then ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc) config file:
shellexport ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdkexport PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulatorexport PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-toolsRun source ~/.zprofile (or source ~/.bash_profile for bash) to load the config into your current shell. Verify that ANDROID_HOME has been set by running echo $ANDROID_HOME and the appropriate directories he been added to your path by running echo $PATH.
notePlease make sure you use the correct Android SDK path. You can find the actual location of the SDK in the Android Studio "Settings" dialog, under Languages & Frameworks → Android SDK.
Preparing the Android deviceYou will need an Android device to run your React Native Android app. This can be either a physical Android device, or more commonly, you can use an Android Virtual Device which allows you to emulate an Android device on your computer.
Either way, you will need to prepare the device to run Android apps for development.
Using a physical deviceIf you he a physical Android device, you can use it for development in place of an D by plugging it in to your computer using a USB cable and following the instructions here.
Using a virtual deviceIf you use Android Studio to open ./AwesomeProject/android, you can see the list of ailable Android Virtual Devices (Ds) by opening the "D Manager" from within Android Studio. Look for an icon that looks like this:
If you he recently installed Android Studio, you will likely need to create a new D. Select "Create Virtual Device...", then pick any Phone from the list and click "Next", then select the VanillaIceCream API Level 35 image.
Click "Next" then "Finish" to create your D. At this point you should be able to click on the green triangle button next to your D to launch it.
That's it!Congratulations! You successfully set up your development environment.
Now what? If you want to add this new React Native code to an existing application, check out the Integration guide. If you're curious to learn more about React Native, check out the Introduction to React Native. Installing dependenciesYou will need Node, Watchman, the React Native command line interface, Xcode and CocoaPods.
While you can use any editor of your choice to develop your app, you will need to install Xcode in order to set up the necessary tooling to build your React Native app for iOS.
Node & WatchmanWe recommend installing Node and Watchman using Homebrew. Run the following commands in a Terminal after installing Homebrew:
shellbrew install nodebrew install watchmanIf you he already installed Node on your system, make sure it is Node 20.19.4 or newer.
Watchman is a tool by Facebook for watching changes in the filesystem. It is highly recommended you install it for better performance.
XcodePlease use the latest version of Xcode.
The easiest way to install Xcode is via the Mac App Store. Installing Xcode will also install the iOS Simulator and all the necessary tools to build your iOS app.
Command Line ToolsYou will also need to install the Xcode Command Line Tools. Open Xcode, then choose Settings... (or Preferences...) from the Xcode menu. Go to the Locations panel and install the tools by selecting the most recent version in the Command Line Tools dropdown.
Installing an iOS Simulator in XcodeTo install a simulator, open Xcode > Settings... (or Preferences...) and select the Platforms (or Components) tab. Select a simulator with the corresponding version of iOS you wish to use.
If you are using Xcode version 14.0 or greater to install a simulator, open Xcode > Settings > Platforms tab, then click "+" icon and select iOS… option.
CocoaPodsCocoaPods is one of the dependency management system ailable for iOS. CocoaPods is a Ruby gem. You can install CocoaPods using the version of Ruby that ships with the latest version of macOS.
For more information, please visit CocoaPods Getting Started guide.
[Optional] Configuring your environmentStarting from React Native version 0.69, it is possible to configure the Xcode environment using the .xcode.env file provided by the template.
The .xcode.env file contains an environment variable to export the path to the node executable in the NODE_BINARY variable. This is the suggested approach to decouple the build infrastructure from the system version of node. You should customize this variable with your own path or your own node version manager, if it differs from the default.
On top of this, it's possible to add any other environment variable and to source the .xcode.env file in your build script phases. If you need to run script that requires some specific environment, this is the suggested approach: it allows to decouple the build phases from a specific environment.
infoIf you are already using NVM (a command which helps you install and switch between versions of Node.js) and zsh, you might want to move the code that initialize NVM from your ~/.zshrc into a ~/.zshenv file to help Xcode find your Node executable:
zshexport NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvmYou might also want to ensure that all "shell script build phase" of your Xcode project, is using /bin/zsh as its shell.
That's it!Congratulations! You successfully set up your development environment.
Now what? If you want to add this new React Native code to an existing application, check out the Integration guide. If you're curious to learn more about React Native, check out the Introduction to React Native.