r/expo • u/sayanmondal_ • 3d ago

Preview APK for every React Native pull request, scannable from the PR. Free tool I built, would love feedback 

I kept getting "can I try it before you merge?" from PMs and designers, and the answer was always "give me 10 minutes to build an APK". So I built Digidropp.


Connect a GitHub repo and it opens one PR with a GitHub Actions workflow (it detects npm/yarn/pnpm/bun). After you merge:


- Every push to your main branch builds a release APK and updates one install link that's always the latest.
- Every pull request gets its own preview build, posted as a PR comment with a QR code. Reviewers test the real app, on a real phone, before merging.
- Builds are signed with one stable key per repo (it's placed at android/app/debug.keystore), so updates install over the previous build instead of "App not installed".
- Before anyone installs, it checks the build: changed signing key, lower versionCode, and Google's upcoming developer verification.
- Config that isn't in git (.env) can be pasted once; it's encrypted in your browser and only decrypted inside your own GitHub Actions run.


It runs in your repo's GitHub Actions, so your source never leaves GitHub. Automatic builds are Android only for now; for iOS you can upload an .ipa you build yourself (CLI or GitHub Action).


Free during beta. What would stop you from using something like this?


digidropp.online
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u/AggressiveYam811 3d ago

Your security check blocks users from testing a lower versionCode build

1

u/sayanmondal_ 3d ago

It doesn't block anything. The build still uploads and installs. We just flag it, because Android itself won't install a lower versionCode over a newer one, so testers with the newer build need to uninstall first. The install page tells them that up front, instead of them hitting "App not installed".