Expo

Our SDK requires native code and is not available on Expo Go. Use expo-dev-client for development builds.

Best Practices

• Use development builds - Expo Go doesn't support native modules required by this SDK
• Run prebuild after config changes - Execute npx expo prebuild --clean when modifying config plugins
• Use minimum SDK version 24 - Required for Android compatibility
• Test on real devices - iOS simulators don't support audio/video; Android emulators have limited support
• Wrap with GestureHandlerRootView - Required if using react-native-gesture-handler

Development Build

Prepare your project for expo development builds.

SDK Installation

Install the SDK and required dependencies:

npx expo install @stream-io/video-react-native-sdk \
  @stream-io/react-native-webrtc \
  @config-plugins/react-native-webrtc \
  react-native-svg \
  @react-native-community/netinfo \
  expo-build-properties

Installed packages:

• @stream-io/video-react-native-sdk - Stream's Video SDK with UI components, hooks, and utilities for audio/video calls
• @stream-io/react-native-webrtc - WebRTC module for rendering audio/video tracks and media device interaction
• @config-plugins/react-native-webrtc - Config plugin for auto-configuring WebRTC on npx expo prebuild
• react-native-svg - SVG support for SDK components and icons
• @react-native-community/netinfo - Detects device connectivity state, type, and quality
• expo-build-properties - Config plugin for native build properties

Android Specific installation

Update the minSdk version

In your app.json file add the following to the expo-build-properties plugin:

{
  "expo": {
    ...
    "plugins": [
      "expo-build-properties",
      {
        "android": {
          "minSdkVersion": 24
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Add config plugin

Add the config plugin for @stream-io/video-react-native-sdk and react-native-webrtc to your app.json file:

{
  "expo": {
    ...
    "plugins": [
      "@stream-io/video-react-native-sdk",
      [
        "@config-plugins/react-native-webrtc",
        {
          // add your explanations for camera and microphone
          "cameraPermission": "$(PRODUCT_NAME) requires camera access in order to capture and transmit video",
          "microphonePermission": "$(PRODUCT_NAME) requires microphone access in order to capture and transmit audio"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

If Expo EAS build is not used, please do npx expo prebuild --clean to generate the native directories again after adding the config plugins.

Hardware requirement on Android

Video/audio calling apps require video and audio hardware. Use these utility methods to detect hardware presence:

import { StreamVideoRN } from "@stream-io/video-react-native-sdk";

const hasCameraHardware = await StreamVideoRN.androidHasCameraHardware();
const hasAudioOutputHardware =
  await StreamVideoRN.androidHasAudioOutputHardware();
const hasMicrophoneHardware =
  await StreamVideoRN.androidHasMicrophoneHardware();

Disable camera features or SDK usage when hardware is absent.

Run on device

iOS

iOS simulators don't support audio/video recording. Always test on actual devices.

Android

Android emulators can send static video streams for basic testing, but actual devices provide the best experience.

New Architecture (Fabric)

The SDK's native modules and views are compatible with the New Architecture and Bridgeless mode through the New Renderer Interop Layers. These layers are automatically enabled when you turn on the New Architecture in React Native 0.74 and above. We recommend that you use React Native 0.74+ if you are using the New Architecture with the SDK.

Troubleshooting

Google Play's Android 15+ 16KB page size requirement warning

Ensure that the following libraries satisfy the versioning mentioned below, these are compliant with the Android 16 KB page size requirement.

@stream-io/video-react-native-sdk >= 1.21.1
@stream-io/noise-cancellation-react-native >= 0.3.0
@stream-io/video-filters-react-native >= 0.7.0

GestureDetector must be used as a descendant of GestureHandlerRootView

The SDK uses react-native-gesture-handler for smooth gestures when installed. Wrap your entry point with <GestureHandlerRootView> or gestureHandlerRootHOC:

import { GestureHandlerRootView } from "react-native-gesture-handler";

export default function App() {
  return <GestureHandlerRootView>{/* content */}</GestureHandlerRootView>;
}

Error: Super expression must either be null or a function

This was a known issue in @stream-io/react-native-webrtc library.

It has been fixed on version 118.1.0 of the @stream-io/react-native-webrtc library.

Android Only Error: Could not find any matches for app.notifee:core:+ as no versions of app.notifee:core are available

This occurs on Expo 49+ with a monorepo configuration. Notifee is unable to find the compiled AAR android library. You can do the following workaround in your app.json to mitigate this:

const config = {
  expo: {
    // ...
    plugins: [
      [
        "expo-build-properties",
        {
          android: {
            extraMavenRepos: [
              "$rootDir/../../../node_modules/@notifee/react-native/android/libs",
            ],
          },
        },
      ],
    ],
  },
};

This will add the Notifee library to the list of repositories that Gradle will search for dependencies. Please note that the exact path for extraMavenRepos will vary depending on your project's structure.

Reference: https://github.com/invertase/notifee/issues/808