Announcing the 2026 π Expo App Awards π
The talent, the care, and the craft we see in the Expo community is staggering. There are powerful, beautiful, important apps getting built with Expo tools and services every day.
The π Expo App Awards is a celebration of the apps and the people who build them.
Last year we had over 1,200 submissions and winners from big enterprises, solo devs (we hired one of them @DaehyeonMun!), and tiny startups that have grown and been acquired.
The award categories are:
π Expo App of the Year
π Most Creative
π Community's Choice
π Largest Scale
π Most Innovative
Submission criteria is simple: if your app uses Expo you should submit it.
We encourage you to explain what is special about your app in the submission form. For example, if you have unique haptics, or clever Live Activities, or a super nuanced onboarding experience please share that in your submission.
Submissions begin today and go through the end of the month. Then we'll begin evaluating and announcing nominees/winners.
expo.dev/awards/2026
Try it here: apps.apple.com/ua/app/kharkiβ¦
Kharkiv Metro Helper threw its name in for the Expo App Awards. Your turn. Entries close Oct 31: expo.dev/awards/2026
If your agent shipped a fix over the air and something looks off...you can roll it back in one step.
Your users go back to the last good update.
Here's how rollbacks work: docs.expo.dev/eas-update/rolβ¦
π
@doodrawapp went from first commit in May to 120k installs in October, with two people and no ad budget. The drawing engine is Rust and the rest is Expo.
π Their Expo App Award submission caught our eye so we asked if they wanted to write a blog about building with Expo and growing their user base organically: expo.dev/blog/doodraw-rust-gβ¦
Today is the day to fold your apps π
We wrote a guide you can give to your agents to get started.
On iPhone Duo your status bar and tab bar move into a rail on the side, so ππππππ.πππ is 0 now. This guide from @huntie, @__ubax__, and @chrfalch will help you adjust your apps for the fold:
expo.dev/blog/supporting-iphβ¦
Try it here: apps.apple.com/us/app/floopyβ¦
Spotted in the Expo App Awards submissions. If you've shipped something with Expo, throw your hat in by Oct 31: expo.dev/awards/2026
Checkout our walkthrough here:
expo.dev/blog/introducing-exβ¦
Here's the loop we see modern apps run on:
build β verify β deploy β observe β update β build again...
We're (very) close to shipping some services that will make this fast, safe, and flexible.
If the last year has been wild, the next year will be science fiction.
The quickest way from SDK 57 to 58 is to hand the upgrade to your coding agent.
Once the Expo skills are installed, commit and tell it βUpgrade this project to the latest Expo SDKβ
Or you can do it by hand! Details for both approaches in the blog from @entiendoNULL and @llamaluvr: expo.dev/blog/how-to-upgradeβ¦
Xcode 27 removed Simulator.app, and we know that pressing π in Expo CLI stopped working for a lot of you.
It works again now.
We also put your simulators in a browser tab. Check out the full blog about ππ‘ππ-ππππππ-πππ from @krystofwoldrich: expo.dev/blog/xcode-27-devicβ¦
Try it here: apps.apple.com/app/neko-healβ¦
Neko Health is in the running for the Expo App Awards. Got an Expo app you're proud of? You've got until Oct 31: expo.dev/awards/2026
We wrote a walkthrough for ππ‘ππ-πππ-πππππππ. It starts with a counter you can bump from Siri and ends with mail drafts that show up in Spotlight: expo.dev/blog/introducing-exβ¦
βοΈ @WojciechDrozdz0












