HotCodePush
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Codemagic ships binaries. HotCodePush ships what's between them.

Codemagic hosts a CodePush server for the community client. HotCodePush, the over-the-air (OTA) update service for React Native, Expo, Capacitor and Cordova, runs the workflow on an SDK we maintain.

Get started Migration guide

Compared

Where HotCodePush and CodePush by Codemagic differ

Verified on 2026-10-21; Codemagic's hosted CodePush service, from codemagic.io/ota and docs.codemagic.io/rn-codepush.

Feature HotCodePush CodePush by Codemagic
Client SDK @hotcodepush/react-native-code-push, written and maintained by us @code-push-next/react-native-code-push, published under the @code-push-next scope
React Native 0.82 and newer, New Architecture only 0.76 and newer, New Architecture setup documented
Self-hosting No Codemagic Patch, a separate self-hosted product
Frameworks React Native, Expo, Capacitor, Cordova React Native and Capacitor

Last verified 2026-10-21.

The table compares Codemagic's hosted CodePush service. Codemagic Patch is a separate product with CDN checks, fingerprinting and binary diffs.

The Frameworks row was verified on 2026-10-25.

Based on Codemagic's public pricing and documentation pages; names are trademarks of their owners.

Architecture

A static index instead of a server check

Codemagic's hosted CodePush relies on the client checking its server. A HotCodePush device reads a static index and matches its fingerprint.

Codemagic's hosted CodePush service relies on the client SDK in your app checking its server, and a release targets a binary version. A HotCodePush device reads one static index per app, channel and platform from the CDN, takes the newest release that fits the fingerprint of its native layer, and downloads the pack it needs; the promote, rollout and rollback workflow stays. While our control plane is down, your users keep receiving the updates you already published.

How an update reaches a device

Diagram: Codemagic's hosted CodePush server answering an update check beside a HotCodePush device reading the static index from the CDN.

Switch in four steps

  • 1 · Install the SDK

    Add the HotCodePush SDK for your framework, React Native, Expo, Capacitor or Cordova, and remove the previous update client. The SDK is MIT-licensed and replaces the update layer alone; your native code, your plugins and your store listing stay as they are.

  • 2 · Create your channels

    Create one channel per audience you ship to today, production first, then staging or beta. A preview channel lets you test the new path on your own devices before anyone else; whoever holds its link follows it, and nobody else reaches it.

  • 3 · Ship one store release

    Ship one store release with the new SDK inside. The binaries before it keep taking their old updates until their users move, so nothing breaks in the field, and devices on the new binary use HotCodePush from their first start.

  • 4 · Run the release step

    In your pipeline, replace the old release command with hotcodepush release create. It packages the bundle, signs it, works out what changed and releases to the channel you name, so every merge to main reaches devices without a store review.

Full migration guide

Switching from CodePush by Codemagic

No, they are rewritten, and the migration guide gives every command its counterpart: releases, deployments, promotion and rollback. Your signing key pair stays. Migrate from CodePush
React Native 0.82 and newer on the New Architecture, and Expo SDK 55 to 58 in a development build. Codemagic documents its setup from React Native 0.76. Supported versions
Yes, on the device and by default: the first render within ten seconds confirms a release, a miss rolls the device back to its last confirmed bundle and reports why, and a bundle that failed on a device is never retried there. Rollouts that pause themselves
Yes. The switch ships inside a store release; binaries before it keep taking their old updates until their users move. A preview channel lets you test the new path on your own devices first. Preview channels
Nothing native. HotCodePush updates the JavaScript, markup, styles and assets your app already ships; the native layer, the plugins and the store listing stay as they are, and the fingerprint keeps an update off a binary it was not built for. Compatibility
Yes. Every framework gets deltas, built by our delta service when you release, so a device downloads only the files it lacks. React Native and Expo also get a small patch of the main JavaScript bundle inside the pack. How an update reaches a device
Your data is yours. The API lists everything, so a full export is a script, and the usage and audit log pages download CSV. The SDKs are MIT-licensed and the update format stays backward compatible, so an app on an old SDK keeps updating. API reference

A package swap, not a rewrite.

Swap the package in your next store release.

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