Expo is wonderful; it's the complete opposite of vendor lock-in.
You can add the package to your bare workflow, you can build locally, you can set up your own update server... Expo is a blessing!
It streamlines development, but still, you need to be cautious about npm package compatibilities. Sometimes it's a more robust approach to go with React Native CLI, than Expo CLI.
The Expo library has uplifted the DX of building the React-Native application. It's not a toy project anymore. The expo community is doing a fantastic job by continuously improving the OG Expo SDK and all the tooling that it provides. I've been using it since 2020 and it's come a long long way. Also, a long to go as well.
