An over-the-air (OTA) update replaces the JavaScript or web layer of an installed app. It never replaces the native layer. So the rule is short: a change needs an app store release when it touches native code, native dependencies, native configuration or native assets. Everything that lives in your JavaScript bundle or your web build can ship as an OTA update.

The hard part is not the rule. The hard part is knowing which of your everyday changes fall on which side, and catching the native ones before you publish. This post gives you a table for React Native, Expo and Capacitor, the detection tools each ecosystem offers, the exact store policy text, and what happens when you get it wrong.

Which changes can ship as an OTA update, and which need the store?

Change React Native Expo Capacitor Verdict

JavaScript or TypeScript logic bundle bundle web build OTA update

Styles, strings, translations bundle bundle web build OTA update

Images and fonts loaded from JavaScript or HTML bundle assets update assets web…