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iOS Capabilities

Learn about built-in iOS capabilities supported in EAS Build and how to enable or disable them.


When you make a change to your iOS entitlements, this change needs to be updated remotely on Apple's servers before making a production build. EAS Build automatically synchronizes capabilities on the Apple Developer Console with your local entitlements configuration when you run eas build. Capabilities are web services provided by Apple, think of them like AWS or Firebase services.

This feature can be disabled with EXPO_NO_CAPABILITY_SYNC=1 eas build

Entitlements

In the managed workflow, the entitlements are read from the introspected app config. To edit them, see the ios.entitlements field in your app config file. You can see your introspected config by running npx expo config --type introspect in your project and then look for the ios.entitlements object for the results.

In bare workflow apps, the entitlements are read from your ios/**/*.entitlements file.

Enabling

If a supported entitlement is present in the entitlements file, then running eas build will enable it on Apple Developer Console. If the capability is already enabled, then EAS Build will skip it.

Disabling

If a capability is enabled for your app remotely, but not present in the native entitlements file, then running eas build will automatically disable it.

Supported capabilities

EAS Build will only enable capabilities that it has built-in support for, any unsupported entitlements must be manually enabled via Apple Developer Console.

SupportCapabilityEntitlement string
Access Wi-Fi Informationcom.apple.developer.networking.wifi-info
App Attestcom.apple.developer.devicecheck.appattest-environment
App Groupscom.apple.security.application-groups
Apple Pay Later Merchandisingcom.apple.developer.pay-later-merchandising
Apple Pay Payment Processingcom.apple.developer.in-app-payments
Associated Domainscom.apple.developer.associated-domains
AutoFill Credential Providercom.apple.developer.authentication-services.autofill-credential-provider
ClassKitcom.apple.developer.ClassKit-environment
Communicates with Driverscom.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers
Communication Notificationscom.apple.developer.usernotifications.communication
Custom Network Protocolcom.apple.developer.networking.custom-protocol
Data Protectioncom.apple.developer.default-data-protection
DriverKit Allow Third Party UserClientscom.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-third-party-userclients
DriverKit Family Audio (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.audio
DriverKit Family HID Device (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.hid.device
DriverKit Family HID EventService (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.hid.eventservice
DriverKit Family Networking (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.networking
DriverKit Family SCSIController (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.scsicontroller
DriverKit Family Serial (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.serial
DriverKit Transport HID (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.hid
DriverKit USB Transport (development)com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb
DriverKit for Developmentcom.apple.developer.driverkit
Extended Virtual Address Spacecom.apple.developer.kernel.extended-virtual-addressing
Family Controlscom.apple.developer.family-controls
FileProvider TestingModecom.apple.developer.fileprovider.testing-mode
Fontscom.apple.developer.user-fonts
Group Activitiescom.apple.developer.group-session
HealthKitcom.apple.developer.healthkit
HomeKitcom.apple.developer.homekit
Hotspotcom.apple.developer.networking.HotspotConfiguration
Increased Memory Limitcom.apple.developer.kernel.increased-memory-limit
Inter-App Audiointer-app-audio
Low Latency HLScom.apple.developer.coremedia.hls.low-latency
MDM Managed Associated Domainscom.apple.developer.associated-domains.mdm-managed
Mapscom.apple.developer.maps
Matter Allow Setup Payloadcom.apple.developer.matter.allow-setup-payload
Media Device Discoverycom.apple.developer.media-device-discovery-extension
Messages Collaborationcom.apple.developer.shared-with-you.collaboration
Multipathcom.apple.developer.networking.multipath
NFC Tag Readingcom.apple.developer.nfc.readersession.formats
Network Extensionscom.apple.developer.networking.networkextension
On Demand Install Capable for App Clip Extensionscom.apple.developer.on-demand-install-capable
Personal VPNcom.apple.developer.networking.vpn.api
Push Notificationsaps-environment
Push to Talkcom.apple.developer.push-to-talk
Recalibrate Estimatescom.apple.developer.healthkit.recalibrate-estimates
Sensitive Content Analysiscom.apple.developer.sensitivecontentanalysis.client
Shallow Depth and Pressurecom.apple.developer.submerged-shallow-depth-and-pressure
Shared with Youcom.apple.developer.shared-with-you
Sign In with Applecom.apple.developer.applesignin
SiriKitcom.apple.developer.siri
System Extensioncom.apple.developer.system-extension.install
Tap to Pay on iPhonecom.apple.developer.proximity-reader.payment.acceptance
Tap to Present ID on iPhone (Display Only)com.apple.developer.proximity-reader.identity.display
TV Servicescom.apple.developer.user-management
Time Sensitive Notificationscom.apple.developer.usernotifications.time-sensitive
Walletcom.apple.developer.pass-type-identifiers
WeatherKitcom.apple.developer.weatherkit
Wireless Accessory Configurationcom.apple.external-accessory.wireless-configuration
iCloudcom.apple.developer.icloud-container-identifiers
HLS Interstitial PreviewsUnknown

The unsupported capabilities either don't support iOS, or they don't have a corresponding entitlement value. Here is a list of all of the official Apple capabilities.

Capability identifiers

Merchant IDs, App Groups, and CloudKit Containers can all be automatically registered and assigned to your app. These assignments require Apple cookies authentication (running locally) as the official App Store Connect API does not support these operations.

Debugging iOS capabilities

You can run EXPO_DEBUG=1 eas build to get more detailed logs regarding the capability syncing.

If you have trouble using this feature, you can disable it with the environment variable EXPO_NO_CAPABILITY_SYNC=1.

To see all of the currently enabled capabilities, visit Apple Developer Console, and find the bundle identifier matching your app, if you click on it you should see a list of all the currently enabled capabilities.

Manual setup

There are two ways to manually enable Apple capabilities, both systems will require any existing Apple provisioning profiles to be regenerated.

Xcode

Preferred method for bare workflow or projects that do not use Expo Prebuild to continuously generate the native android and ios directories.

  1. Open the ios directory in Xcode with xed ios. If you don't have an ios/ directory, run npx expo prebuild -p ios to generate one.
  2. Then follow the steps mentioned in Add a capability.

Apple Developer Console

First step is to add the respective key/value pairs to your ios/[app]/[app].entitlements (or more specific entitlements file for multi-target apps). You can refer to Supported Capabilities to determine which entitlements keys should be added.

  1. Log into Apple Developer Console. Click on "Certificates, IDs & Profiles", then navigate to "Identifiers" page.
  2. Choose the bundle identifier that matches your app's bundle identifier.
  3. Scroll down and enable a capability, some capabilities may require extra setup.
  4. Scroll to the top and press "Save". You will see a dialog that says "Modify App Capabilities", press "Confirm" to continue. You will need to regenerate any provisioning profiles that use this bundle identifier before they'll be valid for building a code signed production .ipa.

If adding capabilities process has not been done correctly then your iOS native build will fail with an error similar to:

❌  error: Provisioning profile "*[expo] app.bacon.hello AppStore ..." doesn't support the Associated Domains capability.

❌  error: Provisioning profile "*[expo] app.bacon.hello AppStore ..." doesn't include the com.apple.developer.associated-domains entitlement.