Reload a React Native app on an Android device manually via command line

Just posting it here in case you didn't know this trick

long press the menu button in your android device. Then you'll get this menu

tap the reload option and you are good to go

Using the cmd line you can send a command to the Android device.

adb shell input text "RR"

This command tells the Android device to type the character "R" twice which is the React Native command to Reload on Android.

The adb shell command has many useful features many of which are described here:

ADB Shell Input Events

To open the developer menu:

adb shell input keyevent 82

Add the following script to your package.json:

    "android-shake": "adb shell input keyevent 82"

Then you will be able to call

yarn android-shake

If you are looking for ios then checkout my answer on this link

I use the following command. It doesn't reload the app, but it brings up the developper menu on the device, so I can then press the "Reload" option:

adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_MENU

I develop with a real device (not the emulator) and sending the "double-R" through adb doesn't work (it just shows the keyboard and types 2 Rs).