Hey notJust Developer,

Based on the State of React Native survey, the second biggest pain point in developing React Native apps is - Debugging. Expo team took notes and invested in solving this problem. Today we will talk about the new Expo tools.

On another note, if you missed this year’s WWDC, continue reading for a short summary of what new was announced and how that relates to you as a React Native developer.

🐛 Debugging Expo apps is getting a bit easier

Vscode-expo-tools comes to replace the vscode-expo extensions and brings exciting new features.

How can it help you?

1. IntelliSense for Expo configs

Expo tools will help you easier manage the configuration files for Expo and EAS by providing autocomplete suggestions and docs when you need them the most.

It applies to app.json for the expo app configuration, and also for eas.json and store.config.json for EAS to configure your Build → Submit → Update pipeline.

2. Debug Expo apps

Starting with Expo SDK 49 (coming soon), you can easily debug your Expo apps, right inside VSCode. The experience is very similar to how you would debug a web app.

You can dive into the call stacks, add breakpoints directly in your editor and also get access to the Debug Console that will allow you to execute code directly on your phone while the app is frozen.

Learn more about the new debugging experience from Cedric himself during this announcement.

3. Live previews for native files

Have a peek into the native files like Info.plist and AndroidManifest.xml that will be generated when modifying your app.json configurations.

🍎 WWDC

Previous week Apple held its annual Dev conference - WWDC. There were quite a lot of new features and apps announced for the next major releases of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and iPadOS.

If you haven’t watched it, here is a very short summary.

New in iOS 17

• Improved Airdrop experience and background transfers
• A new app: Journal - for daily journaling based on location, people, photos, etc.
• StandBy mode turns your iPhone into a digital night clock

New in macOS Sonoma

• Desktop widgets are kinda cool
• Game mode - what? 🤔
• Improved video conferencing with additional screen-sharing features

New hardware - M2 for everyone

• MacBook Air With 15.3-inch Display and M2 Chip Starting at $1,299
• Mac Studio With M2 Max and M2 Ultra Chips
• Mac Pro With M2 Ultra Chip and More

Vision Pro Headsets

The most exciting announcement this year - is Apple’s first mixed-reality headset device.

With just $3,499 🌝 you can build your virtual office and move applications around your space.

It looks really revolutionary. I recommend watching the demo to get a better understanding of the immersive experience.

This announcement made me wonder how long until we can use React Native to build apps for VisionOS.

On another note, I had the opportunity to test an earlier prototype version, and it was solid 🔥

🔴 Join me live

This Friday we will build Health Application in React Native. It's going to be a tutorial packed with value, so set a reminder and don't miss it out 👇

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🔁 In case you missed it

Stackoverflow Clone Let's build a mobile client of StackOverflow using their API, GraphQL and urql ​ Watch now

MacOS app with React Native React Native is not only powerful for building mobile apps. You can also build native macOS apps with it Watch now

🔥 Press worthy

⚙️ TypeScript 5.1 was announced and it brings better typing of JSX and support for Server Components where the component returns a promise

⌨️ There’s still much confusion about keyboard handling with React-Native/Expo; let’s fix it 🧵

🤿 If you plan to develop apps for Vision Pro, check out this article for what to consider.

Did you learn something new today?

If you found this email valuable, forward it to one friend or coworker that can benefit from it as well. That would be much appreciated 🙏

Vadim Savin Helping you become a better developer together with the notJust.dev team