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Expo SDK 55 gave React Native developers a way to build parts of an app with the platform’s actual UI frameworks: SwiftUI on iOS and Jetpack Compose on Android. It also added iOS-specific navigation capabilities and introduced an alpha package for widgets and Live Activities. The key distinction is that “native” here means using native UI and platform behavior from React code—not replacing the entire app with Swift or Kotlin.
What “actually native” means in Expo SDK 55
React Native apps commonly render interfaces through React Native’s own component system. Expo’s @expo/ui offers another option: compose interface elements using SwiftUI or Jetpack Compose while writing the surrounding app in React. This can be useful when a screen needs platform-framework components or behavior that a team would rather not approximate with a cross-platform component.
That does not make every part of the application native code. A project can continue using JavaScript or TypeScript, React Native components, and shared application logic, while using SwiftUI or Compose for selected interface areas. Expo’s announcement framed the goal as making an app feel “basically native,” but that is an aspiration, not a measured guarantee of identical appearance, behavior, or performance on every device. Expo’s March 4, 2026, Bytes issue 467 introduced the idea; the release details are in Expo SDK 55 release notes.
What SDK 55 added
| Capability | What it does | Platform and SDK 55 status |
|---|---|---|
@expo/ui |
Lets developers build interface elements with SwiftUI or Jetpack Compose from React code. | SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose APIs were beta in SDK 55. The APIs were not available in Expo Go at that time, so trying them required a development build. |
| Expo Router v55 | Added Apple Zoom transitions, Stack.Toolbar, and adaptive or dynamic colors. |
Apple Zoom and Stack.Toolbar were iOS-specific. The release notes described Android support for Stack.Toolbar as future work. |
expo-widgets |
Introduced support for iOS home-screen widgets and Live Activities. | Alpha for iOS in SDK 55. |
SDK 55 shipped on February 25, 2026, with React Native 0.83 and React 19.2. Its release notes described Jetpack Compose as promoted from alpha to beta; the SwiftUI API remained beta and included breaking changes. These labels describe the SDK 55 release state, not necessarily the status of later SDKs. Expo’s SDK 55 release notes provide the dated feature and version details.
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What changed after the SDK 55 launch
Expo later announced that the SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose APIs in Expo UI were stable in SDK 56. That is a meaningful update for teams evaluating those core APIs: they were beta in SDK 55 and stable according to the SDK 56 announcement. It does not establish that every adjacent feature—especially the separately released expo-widgets package—also became stable. Check the documentation and release notes for the exact SDK and package version you plan to use. Expo’s SDK 56 release notes are the source for the later stability announcement.
Choosing between native UI and a shared React Native interface
Expo UI is an option for parts of an app, not a requirement to rebuild its interface. Before adopting it, weigh the feature’s platform needs against the extra implementation and maintenance work of using platform frameworks alongside a shared React Native codebase.
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- Use SwiftUI or Compose when framework-specific UI is important. Consider it for a screen or component that needs a platform UI framework rather than a cross-platform approximation.
- Keep shared components where they meet the need. A native implementation can mean separate platform-specific UI work; it does not automatically make that trade-off worthwhile for every screen.
- Check feature availability by platform. SDK 55’s Apple Zoom transition and
Stack.Toolbarsupport were iOS-specific, so do not assume those features behave the same on Android. - Check the maturity label for the exact SDK. SDK 55’s beta APIs had breaking-change risk, while Expo later marked the core SwiftUI and Compose APIs stable in SDK 56.
- Account for development-build requirements. In SDK 55, Expo UI’s SwiftUI and Compose APIs were unavailable in Expo Go; testing them required a development build.
- Estimate migration and maintenance costs. Teams should account for platform-specific code, upgrades, and the possibility that API details differ across SDK versions.
What the SDK 55 announcement does not establish
Expo’s release notes document the APIs and features, but they do not provide a controlled comparison showing that an app built with them is faster, more consistent, or indistinguishable from a fully native app. Actual results depend on the implementation and device. The defensible claim is narrower: Expo UI lets React developers compose interfaces using SwiftUI or Jetpack Compose, with the maturity and platform boundaries set by the SDK and package version in use.
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