Is it possible to create an iOS app (.ipa) with Windows 10 & React Native?

Question

As a Windows 10 user I've built an app with React Native. I am using EXPO package which runs under npm.

Anyway, if I hit "exp build:ios", I was getting a bunch of errors and this one is the last one:

 Input is required, but exp is in non-interactive mode.

I did a lot of reading and it seems there is no way to actually export React Native as .ipa file so I can have it as stand-alone app.

Is that correct?

Answer 1

Nope.

Here's the explanation courtesy of Facebook :

The process is the same as any other native iOS app, with some additional considerations to take into account.

XCode is required to deploy to the app store.

You can look into finding a deployment service, but that it another can of worms. You can Google those since this is not a place to recommend services.

Answer 2

@CodeBender is correct that you would need access to a Mac to deploy it to the App Store. However, you can do the build from your machine. The issue that you're encountering is likely due to using Git Bash as your terminal. If you instead use cmd.exe, PowerShell, bash.exe (WSL), or you reinstall Git Bash and follow the instructions here then you should be able to complete the build.