A Guide to Managing React Native Environment Variables

Managing environment variables in React Native is essential for separating configuration from code, supporting multiple environments (development, staging, production), and keeping sensitive or environment-specific data out of your codebase. By using react native environment variables, you can ensure that your app stays secure and flexible, no matter which stage of development you’re in.

With extensive experience in React Native app development, we've seen firsthand how crucial it is to manage configurations properly. React Native developers have to handle configurations securely to prevent disclosing private data because they frequently work in development, staging, and production environments.

As a popular JavaScript framework, React Native offers flexibility and efficiency, but only when you follow best practices, especially when it comes to handling environment variables. In this guide, we'll explore how to set up and manage them effectively to streamline your development process.

Why React Native Environment Variables Matter

Environment variables might seem like a small piece of the puzzle, but they play a major role in building secure and maintainable React Native apps. Thanks to React Native's cross-platform nature, you're often working with a shared codebase for both iOS and Android. Managing environment variables properly helps ensure consistent behavior across platforms while keeping sensitive data secure. Here’s why they matter:

1. Keep sensitive data out of your codebase

Hardcoding things like API keys, server URLs, or access tokens directly into your code is risky. Not only does it make your app vulnerable if the code gets exposed, but it also creates extra work when you need to update or rotate those keys. Environment variables allow you to keep this sensitive data separate from your code, reducing security risks and making updates easier.

2. Make it easier to switch between environments

Whether you’re testing locally or pushing to production, different environments often require different configurations. With environment variables, switching from development to staging or production doesn’t mean digging through your code and manually updating values. Instead, you can define the right variables for each environment and switch with minimal hassle.

3. Improve collaboration across teams

For example, if you are building a React Native app for an enterprise, then sharing your codebase with other developers is unavoidable, but disclosing secrets shouldn't be. In order to allow your teammates to run the application using their own configuration files, environment variables assist you in keeping sensitive values out of version control. This prevents unintentional leaks, simplifies onboarding, and safeguards secrets.

Common Approaches to Managing Environment Variables

React Native Development Tools You’ll Want on Your Side

One of the biggest advantages of React Native is its ecosystem. Before we dive into best practices, let’s list down some of the tools of react native that can help you manage your workflow better. Here are some helpful tools React Native developers often rely on—not just for managing env files, but for improving the overall app development workflow.

1. react-native-config

We’ve already covered this one in depth, but it’s worth reiterating: react-native-config is one of the most popular libraries for managing environment variables in React Native. It lets you load different .env files depending on your build and gives you a way to reference those variables both in JavaScript and in native code (iOS and Android).

Great for: Traditional React Native projects that need platform-level access to env values.

2. Expo CLI

If you're building with Expo, you're in luck—Expo has built-in support for environment variables using .env files. Variables prefixed with EXPO_PUBLIC_ can be accessed in your app code via process.env.

Great for: Simpler projects that don’t need native code customization or secret handling on the frontend.

3. dotenv

While not React Native-specific, the dotenv package is a handy dev tool. It helps you load .env files into process.env during development. Some developers use it in combination with other tools or build scripts.

Great for: Custom tooling and local development environments.

4. react-native-dotenv (deprecated)

You may come across tutorials or older repos using react-native-dotenv. While it was once popular, it’s no longer actively maintained and not recommended for new projects. Stick with react-native-config or Expo’s built-in support instead.

5. Secrets Managers (Optional)

For sensitive configuration (especially in production), it’s best to go beyond .env files. Tools like AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or HashiCorp Vault allow you to store and manage secrets more securely.

Great for: Production apps where you need tight control over access to sensitive data.

6. Visual Studio Code + Extensions

For many React Native developers, VS Code is their preferred editor. Extensions like:

• DotENV (syntax highlighting for .env files)

• React Native Tools (debugging, IntelliSense, etc.)

• Prettier and ESLint (code formatting and linting)

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