A guide to native routing in Expo for React Native

Expo is an open-source platform that streamlines the development, deployment, and maintenance of React Native applications, enabling developers to build cross-platform mobile apps using JavaScript without extensive native code. The Expo Router, akin to the Next.js router, facilitates a file-based routing system, enhancing navigation by treating each file in the app directory as a route. This approach simplifies app development by eliminating complex native configurations, making it particularly intuitive for those familiar with Next.js. The platform's core features include offline-first capabilities, error handling, and dynamic and static routing, although its opinionated nature may limit customization for some developers. In contrast to React Navigation, which offers more advanced customization and requires native setup, Expo Router provides a simpler developer experience, automatically handling deep linking and URL-based navigation. The article demonstrates these concepts by building a React Native contacts app using Expo Router, AWS Amplify for backend services, and Expo's tools for a seamless development experience.