I’ m working on a react-expo project it needs Bluetooth printing facility. how should i achieve this? which libraries work with expo?
I don’t have any Bluetooth printer hardware, so I haven’t tried this myself.
I would search for React Native libraries that support your printer.
If the installation instructions mention Expo (without talking about ejecting) then it should work.
If they do not specifically mention Expo, or refer to ejecting, then there’s still a good chance you can get it to work with Expo.
If the installation instructions mention pod install, you shouldn’t need to worry about it, because that is done automatically on the build server for Managed Expo apps.
If the installation instructions talk about making changes to AndroidManifest.xml or other stuff under ios or android, you will probably need to write a Config Plugin. This is a way to make the necessary changes during the build process on Expo’s build servers.
If there are native libraries/SDKs for the printer, but no React Native wrapper libraries, you could write an Expo Module to call the native SDK.
So I think start by searching for React Native libraries that have preferably been updated in the last year. Try installing it/them and create a development build. Let us know if you get stuck.
I am not sure if you need to add a library to support BLE separately from the printer library. If so, have a look at the following. I have also seen some posts implying that this library is all you need:
A quick search turns up the following:
- GitHub - januslo/react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer: React-Native plugin for the bluetooth ESC/POS & TSC printers. (a bit old)
- Baskaryabase / react-native-ble-escpos-printer · GitLab (looks like a fork of the above)
- react-native-zebra-bt-printer - npm (old)
- GitHub - GeekyAnts/react-native-zebra-bluetooth-printer (recent commits)
- GitHub - HeligPfleigh/react-native-thermal-receipt-printer: A RN library for thermal printer
The following Stack Overflow posts might also help: