If you're using Expo, you should NOT manually edit AndroidManifest.xml in the android/ folder.

Why? Because the android/ folder is generated automatically by Expo, and any manual changes will be overwritten the next time you run npx expo prebuild

✅ Correct Way to Add Google Maps API Key in Expo

Instead, you should update your app.json or app.config.js like this

{
  "expo": {
    "android": {
      "config": {
        "googleMaps": {
          "apiKey": "YOUR_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then run. (Don't ignore this step)

npx expo prebuild

after that

npx expo run:android

This will regenerate the native project files (including AndroidManifest.xml) with the correct meta-data tag.

🔴 Do Not Manually Edit android/AndroidManifest.xml

Because

• Expo manages native code for you.

• Your manual edits will be lost after the next npx expo prebuild.

• The correct and future-proof way is via app.json / app.config.js.