How Your App Runs
Every AppX project runs in its own hosted environment. It's what powers your live Expo Go preview, holds your project's files, and serves your shareable preview URL. AppX manages all of it — you never touch servers or config.
Always ready when you open it
When you open a project, its environment is up and serving preview almost immediately. Edits you make in chat push to the running app within seconds, so the QR code on your phone always shows your latest work.
Sleeping to stay efficient
If a project sits idle for a while, its environment goes to sleep to free up resources. Nothing is lost — your files, screens, and settings are all saved. The next time you open the project or scan the QR code, it wakes back up on its own in a few seconds.
This keeps things fast for everyone and means you don't pay for idle time you're not using.
Always-on (Premium and Pro)
On Premium and Pro plans you can mark a project always-on so it never sleeps. Preview stays instant, your shareable link is always live, and Expo Go stays connected — handy when a client or your QA team might open the app at any moment.
To turn it on, open the project and look under Project Settings → Container.
How many projects you can run at once
The number of apps you can keep running at the same time depends on your plan:
| Plan | Apps running at once |
|---|---|
| Free | 1 |
| Starter | More |
| Premium | More |
| Pro | More |
If you're on Free and start a new project, just close the one you're done with to free up the slot. See Plans & Pricing for exact limits.
Your files are safe
Your project files persist through sleeps, wake-ups, and restarts — they're stored durably, not just in the running environment. The code AppX generates is yours, always there when you come back.
For data your app needs to remember between sessions (a user's saved items, settings, etc.), store it in the app itself — for example with AsyncStorage — rather than relying on the preview environment.
If something looks stuck
Occasionally a preview can get into a weird state — a blank screen, or an edit that doesn't seem to show up. The quickest fixes:
- Reopen the project so the environment wakes fresh.
- Re-scan the QR code in Expo Go.
- Make one more small edit in chat to trigger a fresh push.
If it still misbehaves, reach out to support.