can I build an app with Hotwire Native the same way I do with React Native + Expo?

[GengCen-Qin]

Hi everyone—sorry if this sounds naïve. I’m brand-new to mobile development; my background is Rails-only web work.

I’ve been playing with Hotwire Native and love the idea, but the initial env-setup / first-build / debugging cycle felt heavy and introduced a lot of new concepts.

Yesterday I spun up React Native + Expo and was amazed: I just pointed the Expo Go app at a single URL and could instantly preview the app on my phone; one click later I had a distributable build.

Is the same “zero-config, URL-first” workflow possible with Hotwire Native?

In other words: after I finish my Rails/Hotwire web app, can I simply give it a public URL, drop that URL into some “Hotwire Go”-style client, and immediately preview / share / build without touching Xcode/Android Studio?

[williamkennedy]

The short answer is no. There is no equivalent to Expo in the native world, and in many ways, this is a good thing. Hotwire Native uses the native framework from Google and Apple, so you get first-class support on those operating systems compared to just waiting for React Native to update.

The long answer is yes.

You can avoid using those tools such as Xcode and Android Studio and use a template such as Jumpstart.

This template allows you to simply drop in your URL and everything should work. This allows you to get up and running straight away with some minor configuration on the Rails side and native side.

It's not like expo build but it's pretty close.

[janpeterka]

I was thinking if it's possible to have some template for Android/iOS similarly to how Rails has templates - that would allow to have simple way to start, as I would guess you always start with same boilerplate. Maybe with https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter ?
I'm not yet experienced enough for that, but possibly someone is and want to do that 😁