NativeModules is always empty. Visual Studio Code + Windows for iOS?

Question

I am wondering if there are any developers who develop for iOS using react-native using Windows. I have a burning suspicion that there are none. The reason I think that is that I could not find a single example where someone can access the file system of the iOS device with the following development setup:

• Windows 10
• Visual Studio Code
• Expo app
• iOS (iPhone/iPad)

There are similar questions, but there are no answers that actually work for Windows + VSCode:

• require('react-native').NativeModules is an empty object

• Add object in NativeModules

Can someone, please explain if it's possible to use NativeModules, for example when using react-native-fs with Visual Studio Code + Windows? I've seen dozens examples with MacOs or XCode, but I'm not using either of these. I've got VSCode + Windows 10 + Expo app.

Details:

• The app is for iOS only.
• I'm only starting with the react-native development.
• We are using an Expo app for development.
• Created an app using create-react-app-native. react-native link and react-native link react-native-fs don't not seem to do anything:

> react-native link react-native-fs

Scanning folders for symlinks in D:\Delete\o365app\nodemodules (65ms)_

For some reason, require('react-native').NativeModules contains an empty {} object:

• RNFSManager is undefined

  

More info:

• "expo": "^27.0.1",
• "react": "16.3.1",
• "react-native": "~0.55.2",
• "react-native-action-button": "^2.8.4",
• "react-native-fs": "^2.10.14",
• "react-navigation": "^2.5.5",

I'm probably missing something basic or obvious, but what is it? Can someone point me to an article or to the example that actually works with Windows+VSCode+Expo app, please?

Answer 1

Sad news for those using Windows and react-native.

We cannot develop iOS apps using Windows. I mean none of the native modules are available when using Windows. Basically, you can toy around a little bit on Windows, but you can't develop any real apps.

When you eject react-native app using yarn run --> eject there is no way to eject the app for iOS. This is what I get when ejecting on Windows:

Skipping iOS because you are not running macOS.