How to deploy in development

You probably want to test your app before uploading to the app stores. Here I will explain how to test the app on your local machine (laptop or desktop)

Here, I'm going to take you through the steps that will let you install and test the application on your local machine (laptop or desktop) using iOS Simulator and/or Android Emulator.

Skip (Step 1 and Step 2) if you already have node and npm or yarn installed.

Step 1: Install Homebrew (MacOS only)

Homebrew is "The missing package manager for macOS". Open terminal and type the following command.

$ /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

This will install Homebrew on your Mac. To check the version type the following command:

$ brew -v

Step 2a: Install Node via Homebrew

In the terminal type the following command to install Node:

$ brew install node

or

$ brew install yarn         # this will install node and yarn

If everything installed successfully then you can type in the following command in the terminal to check the Node and NPM version.

$ node -v

$ npm -v

Step 2b: Install Node on Windows

Are you using a Windows machine? De Windows documentation provides detailed step-by-step instructions on how to install Node on your Windows operating system.

Step 3: Install and test the app

Still inside your command line prompt, cd into your app folder and run the the following series of commands:

$ cd yourAppFolder // USE THE ACTUAL NAME OF YOUR APP FOLDER

$ yarn install

$ cd ios

$ pod install

$ cd ..

// AFTER RUNNING THIS COMMAND, IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO BUILD THE
// APP BEFORE IT WILL RUN (TRY TO PRESS RELOAD SEVERAL TIMES IN CASE 
// BUILDING IS COMPLETED BUT AN ERROR APPEARS)
$ yarn run ios
  or
$ yarn run android

Test on your laptop/desktop

When running the above commands, it is important that you have the iOS Simulator or Android Emulator running on your screen.

If you'd like to test your app on your laptop / desktop with iOS simulator, then follow these installation instructions.

If you'd like to test your app on your laptop / desktop with android emulator, then follow these installation instructions.

Note: notifications cannot be received when testing in development / iOS Simulator / Android Emulator.