Expo Setup#

If you use Expo with Continuous Native Generation (expo prebuild / dev client), react-native-nitro-device-info ships config plugins so you can adopt it without editing ios/ or android/ by hand.

The library is a Nitro module, so it requires the New Architecture. New Architecture is enabled by default on Expo SDK 52 and later, so no extra step is needed there.

Install#

npx expo install react-native-nitro-device-info react-native-nitro-modules

Autolinking registers the native module — for most APIs that is all you need, and you can run npx expo prebuild without listing any plugin.

When you need the config plugin#

A few APIs read native capabilities that require a permission or an entitlement. Those are opt-in: the plugin only adds them when you ask, because requesting permissions you do not use can get an app rejected from the stores. Add the plugin to the plugins array in app.json (or app.config.js) and enable what you need:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "react-native-nitro-device-info",
        {
          "enableSerialNumber": true
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

Then regenerate the native projects:

npx expo prebuild --clean

Plugin options#

READ_PHONE_STATE is a sensitive permission. Enable it only if you read serialNumber, and declare it in your Play Console Data Safety form.

What is NOT injected (by design)#

• getInstallReferrer(), getHasGms() — the Play Install Referrer and Google Play Services dependencies are bundled in the library's Gradle build, so the consuming app needs no manifest or Gradle change.
• Location and carrier APIs — getIsLocationEnabled() and the carrier getters read global system state without requesting authorization, so they need no Info.plist usage-description keys.
• isSideLoadingEnabled() — see below.

isSideLoadingEnabled() requires manual setup#

isSideLoadingEnabled() calls canRequestPackageInstalls(), which only returns true when the app declares the Android REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission. The plugin does not add this permission, because Google Play classifies it as a restricted permission: it is only an acceptable use when your app actually installs packages with user-initiated flows. Declaring it just to query sideloading status can fail Play review.

If your app genuinely qualifies, add the permission yourself with the expo-build-properties plugin or a small custom plugin, and be ready to justify it in the Play Console permissions declaration. Without the permission, isSideLoadingEnabled() simply returns false.

Device attestation (App Attest / Play Integrity)#

The optional react-native-nitro-device-integrity package has its own config plugin.

npx expo install react-native-nitro-device-integrity

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "react-native-nitro-device-integrity",
        {
          "appAttest": true
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

The entitlement value is always written as development. iOS ignores it on builds distributed through TestFlight or the App Store and uses the production environment automatically, so a single value is correct for both.

Play Integrity (Android) and DeviceCheck (iOS) need no entitlement or permission — only a runtime cloudProjectNumber for Play Integrity — so they require no config plugin.

Verifying the result#

After npx expo prebuild --clean, you can confirm the injected settings:

• android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml contains <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" /> when enableSerialNumber is on.
• ios/<app>/<app>.entitlements contains the appattest-environment key when appAttest is on.

Running prebuild again does not duplicate these entries — the plugins are idempotent.