Support barcode scanning via devices connected over Bluetooth about openboxes-mobile HOT 1 OPEN

@jmiranda I have hit a blockade with bluetooth communication in relation to Expo.

I was looking at this library to capture data sent over Bluetooth only to learn that Expo doesn't support addition of any "native modules".

Because Expo essentially has its own runtime that we are running our app inside of, we can only run code that doesn't require making any changes that are specific to the native side of things i.e. Android or iOS environment. If we wish to make such changes, we would have to make them in the Expo runtime itself, and as such that isn't supported at the moment.

And because Bluetooth access requires adding custom code for Android and iOS environments, and Expo does not have first class support for that usecase in their own runtime, we cannot add the library I mentioned above to our app without ejecting from Expo.

They have been working on a tool called EAS build that would allow one to make changes to their runtime but at the moment it's available as a paid feature only. You can read more about it here

So bottom line, if we wish to use bluetooth libraries in our codebase, we will have to eject the app from Expo and go via the bare bones React Native route. It is what the folks at Expo recommend as well.

from openboxes-mobile.