How to create a release APK using development env

[josmmv]

Hello.

I have created a couple of .env files in my project:

.env.development
.env.production

I have set two different values for the API_BASE_URL since I need to connect to the backend according to the environment.
I currently these scripts in my package.json:

"apk-dev": "ENVFILE=.env.development react-native run-android --mode=release",
"bundle-prod": "cd android && ENVFILE=.env.production ./gradlew bundleRelease",
"start:dev": "NODE_ENV=development react-native start",

My problem is that when I create a release APK using the apk-dev script, it is generated using the .env.production file. I've even used this script "apk-dev": "NODE_ENV=development ENVFILE=.env.development react-native run-android --mode=release" but it still uses the .env.production file.

Adding more details: both .env.production and .env.development files have a variable called DEV, which has value "true" or "false" depending on the case. Additionally, I have this line of code in my build.gradle file: println 'THIS IS THE DEV VALUE: ' + project.env.get("DEV"), and during APK generation it prints "true", which means, during compilation it does use the .env.development file, but the final APK uses .env.production, which is the original problem.

[goatandsheep]

Mode release will default to development unless you overwrite with APP_ENV