How to reduce the size of an expo/react-native app on Android

Question

I am developing a small dictionary app by using react native with expo.

As I am compiling to Apk file. The size goes up to 30mb and after having installed on a devi

Answer 1

Make following changes in build.gradle file located at:

./android/app/build.gradle

Remove x86 from abi filters.

splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable true
            universalApk false
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }

Generate different APK's for different architecture

def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = true

Enable ProGuard :

def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = true

Also set minifyEnabled true and shrinkResources true

buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled true
            shrinkResources true
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
        }
    }

Also, you can have different build types for development and release builds(depends on your user base)

buildTypes {
        debug {
            ndk {
                abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
            }
            ....
        }

        release {
            ndk {
                abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "arm64-v8a"
            }
            ....
        }

Also don't forget to remove the unused FONT Files