Beta Test the Companion App

Install Expo Go

Get Expo Go free from the App Store. It is the official app Expo made for running apps that are still in development, and it is what loads our beta. You only do this once.

Expo Go on the App Store

Make a free Expo account

Open Expo Go and sign up — any email works. The email you sign up with is the one we need below, so use one you can get to. This is Expo's account, not your Hideout login.

Sign up on expo.dev

Send us that email

While the app is in beta, Expo only lets people we have added open it. Put your Expo email in the form below and we will add you by hand. You will get an invitation from Expo — accept it, then sign in to Expo Go with that account.

Request access

Open the beta

Once you are in, tap the button below on your iPhone and choose to open it in Expo Go, or scan the QR code further down. The app downloads itself and opens.

Open the beta in Expo Go

Sign in with Discord

Tap Continue with Discord and approve. You need to be in our Discord, and your characters show up automatically. Nothing else to set up.

Join our Discord

Tell us what breaks

That is the whole point of a beta. Open a ticket from the Inbox tab in the app, or post in Discord. Say what you tapped and what happened. Screenshots help more than anything.

Request access

Send us your Expo email.

We add testers by hand, so this is not instant — usually the same day. You only need to do it once.

We use the email only to send the Expo invitation. It is not published anywhere and it is not your Hideout login.

Scan to install

Point your camera here.

Open the Camera app on your iPhone and hold it over this code, then tap the notification that appears. Expo Go must already be installed.

exp://u.expo.dev/ba554ccf-5966-44d5-9c45-55a65ca8a4da?channel-name=preview

This link always loads the newest version, so you never need a new code. Reopening it later picks up whatever we shipped since.

What you can test

Most of the app.

Your characters, cash, job and stats
Tickets, support chat and applications
City apps: bank, garage, market and the rest
Live player count, city status and events

Not in the beta

A few things wait for the App Store.

Home screen widgets and Sign in with Apple cannot run inside Expo Go. They are built and will work in the App Store release, so there is nothing to report there.

This is a beta of a real app against the live city. Your actions count: money moves, tickets are real, and staff see what you send.

If something goes wrong

Common problems.

"Project is incompatible with this version of Expo Go"

Expo Go updated ahead of us. Nothing you can fix, and nothing you broke. Tell us in Discord and we will push a matching build, usually the same day.

It opens an old version

Close Expo Go completely by swiping it away, then open the link again. Expo Go fetches updates in the background and usually applies them on the next launch.

It keeps loading the same old build

Delete The Hideout from the Recently opened list on the Expo Go home screen, then use the link above again. An older entry there can pin you to an older version.

"Bad redirect" when signing in

That is on our side, not yours. Post in Discord and we will switch it back on.

Can I use Android?

Expo Go exists on Android and the beta may load, but the app is built and tested for iPhone. Treat Android as unsupported for now.

Still stuck? Ask in Discord. Say which iPhone and iOS version you are on and what the screen said, word for word.

Open the beta in Expo Go Ask in Discord

Beta test the app.