diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactDelegate.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactDelegate.java
index 720131283887..2cd1dab1e732 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactDelegate.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactDelegate.java
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ public boolean shouldShowDevMenuOrReload(int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
           Assertions.assertNotNull(mDoubleTapReloadRecognizer)
               .didDoubleTapR(keyCode, mActivity.getCurrentFocus());
       if (didDoubleTapR) {
-        getReactNativeHost().getReactInstanceManager().getDevSupportManager().handleReloadJS();
+        getReactNativeHost().getReactInstanceManager().getDevSupportManager().reloadExpoApp();
         return true;
       }
     }
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
index 1bf470d1478f..e05977894d6f 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ private enum ErrorType {
   private static final String EXOPACKAGE_LOCATION_FORMAT =
       "/data/local/tmp/exopackage/%s//secondary-dex";
 
-  public static final String EMOJI_HUNDRED_POINTS_SYMBOL = " \uD83D\uDCAF";
-  public static final String EMOJI_FACE_WITH_NO_GOOD_GESTURE = " \uD83D\uDE45";
+  public static String EMOJI_HUNDRED_POINTS_SYMBOL = " 💯";
+  public static String EMOJI_FACE_WITH_NO_GOOD_GESTURE = " 🙅";
 
   private final List<ExceptionLogger> mExceptionLoggers = new ArrayList<>();
 
@@ -424,6 +424,26 @@ public void run() {
         });
   }
 
+  private int getExponentActivityId() {
+    return -1;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void reloadExpoApp() {
+    try {
+      Class.forName("host.exp.exponent.ReactNativeStaticHelpers").getMethod("reloadFromManifest", int.class).invoke(null, getExponentActivityId());
+    } catch (Exception expoHandleErrorException) {
+      expoHandleErrorException.printStackTrace();
+
+      // reloadExpoApp replaces handleReloadJS in some places
+      // where in Expo we would like to reload from manifest.
+      // If so, if anything goes wrong here, we can fall back
+      // to plain JS reload.
+      handleReloadJS();
+    }
+  }
+
+
   @Override
   public void showDevOptionsDialog() {
     if (mDevOptionsDialog != null || !mIsDevSupportEnabled || ActivityManager.isUserAMonkey()) {
@@ -445,7 +465,10 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
                   .show();
               mDevSettings.setHotModuleReplacementEnabled(false);
             }
-            handleReloadJS();
+
+            // NOTE(brentvatne): rather than reload just JS we need to reload the entire project from manifest
+            // handleReloadJS();
+            reloadExpoApp();
           }
         });
     options.put(
@@ -463,7 +486,7 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
             handleReloadJS();
           }
         });
-    if (mDevSettings.isNuclideJSDebugEnabled()) {
+    expo_transformer_remove: if (mDevSettings.isNuclideJSDebugEnabled()) {
       options.put(
           mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_debug_nuclide),
           new DevOptionHandler() {
@@ -473,7 +496,8 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
             }
           });
     }
-    options.put(
+    // NOTE(brentvatne): This option does not make sense for Expo
+    expo_transformer_remove: options.put(
         mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_change_bundle_location),
         new DevOptionHandler() {
           @Override
@@ -537,7 +561,7 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
                 mCurrentContext.getJSModule(HMRClient.class).disable();
               }
             }
-            if (nextEnabled && !mDevSettings.isJSDevModeEnabled()) {
+            expo_transformer_remove: if (nextEnabled && !mDevSettings.isJSDevModeEnabled()) {
               Toast.makeText(
                       mApplicationContext,
                       mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_hot_reloading_auto_enable),
@@ -549,7 +573,7 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
           }
         });
 
-    options.put(
+    expo_transformer_remove: options.put(
         mIsSamplingProfilerEnabled
             ? mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_sample_profiler_disable)
             : mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_sample_profiler_enable),
@@ -579,7 +603,7 @@ public void onOptionSelected() {
             mDevSettings.setFpsDebugEnabled(!mDevSettings.isFpsDebugEnabled());
           }
         });
-    options.put(
+    expo_transformer_remove: options.put(
         mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.reactandroid_catalyst_settings),
         new DevOptionHandler() {
           @Override
@@ -838,6 +862,7 @@ public void onInternalSettingsChanged() {
     reloadSettings();
   }
 
+  // NOTE(brentvatne): this is confusingly called the first time the app loads!
   @Override
   public void handleReloadJS() {
 
@@ -1180,6 +1205,7 @@ public void run() {
         });
   }
 
+  // NOTE(brentvatne): this is confusingly called the first time the app loads!
   private void reload() {
     UiThreadUtil.assertOnUiThread();
 
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DisabledDevSupportManager.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DisabledDevSupportManager.java
index 09de892ecdf8..b2f6a704d672 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DisabledDevSupportManager.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DisabledDevSupportManager.java
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ public void reloadSettings() {}
   @Override
   public void handleReloadJS() {}
 
+
+  @Override
+  public void reloadExpoApp() {}
+
   @Override
   public void reloadJSFromServer(String bundleURL) {}
 
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/RedBoxDialog.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/RedBoxDialog.java
index d44574972b52..5cba5343fdd5 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/RedBoxDialog.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/RedBoxDialog.java
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ protected RedBoxDialog(
         new View.OnClickListener() {
           @Override
           public void onClick(View v) {
-            mDevSupportManager.handleReloadJS();
+            mDevSupportManager.reloadExpoApp();
           }
         });
     mDismissButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.rn_redbox_dismiss_button);
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ public boolean onKeyUp(int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
       return true;
     }
     if (mDoubleTapReloadRecognizer.didDoubleTapR(keyCode, getCurrentFocus())) {
-      mDevSupportManager.handleReloadJS();
+      mDevSupportManager.reloadExpoApp();
     }
     return super.onKeyUp(keyCode, event);
   }
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/interfaces/DevSupportManager.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/interfaces/DevSupportManager.java
index 360b76c04e7e..b5d3295966ab 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/interfaces/DevSupportManager.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/interfaces/DevSupportManager.java
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ public interface DevSupportManager extends NativeModuleCallExceptionHandler {
 
   void handleReloadJS();
 
+  void reloadExpoApp();
+
   void reloadJSFromServer(final String bundleURL);
 
   void isPackagerRunning(PackagerStatusCallback callback);