The React Native JavaScript framework is perfect for designing iOS and Android apps. This platform lets you write a program once and display it in both operating systems. Code shared between iOS and Android still maintains the apps' indigenous appearance and functionality.
What is React Native?
React Native enables building mobile apps with JavaScript, utilizing React's declarative components to construct an elegant mobile UI. It adopts React's design for composing views, bringing React's power to native app development.
Here are some key things to know about React Native:
- React Native combines the best of both worlds - native app development and React. React is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
- You don't need to build separate native apps for iOS and Android. With React Native, you can build cross-platform mobile apps with one codebase.
- Instead of web components, React Native uses native UI components as building blocks. This allows it to use native code to render UI and access platform APIs.
- The framework lets you create mobile apps with the native look, feel, and performance of Objective-C or Java apps.
- React Native uses plain JavaScript to access native platform APIs. No need to use Swift/Objective-C or Java/Kotlin.
- You get near-instant to reload for faster development. See code changes immediately without full rebuild or redeployment.
- Write the UI once with React Native, and reuse it across platforms. No need to rebuild UI for each platform.
React Native allows you to build high-quality native apps for multiple platforms while maximizing code reuse. The framework is perfect for teams that want fast development cycles and apps that feel native.
Key Benefits of Using React Native
Here are some of the major benefits of using React Native for mobile development:
Faster Development
React Native enables faster mobile development thanks to:
- Live Reloading: View changes instantly without rebuilding the app. Tweaks are reflected in the simulator immediately.
- Cross-Platform: Share 90% of code between iOS and Android versions. Write components once and use them across platforms.
- Reusable Components: Compose UIs using reusable, declarative components. Easily build new features and screens.
- JavaScript Development: Use JavaScript end-to-end without context switching. No need to use Swift/Kotlin or Objective C/Java.
- Hot Reloading: Push code changes instantly while retaining the app state. Develop faster without full recompiles.
- Developer Productivity: Experience the React developer workflow while building for mobile. Features like fast refresh make you productive.
Native Performance
React Native provides the performance of a native app because:
- It uses native components instead of web components as UI building blocks.
- The UI is translated to native views before rendering. So the look, feel, and performance matches native apps.
- React Native communicates with native code via a JavaScript bridge for accessing device capabilities like camera, location, etc.
- The framework uses multiple threads to handle operations like image processing and text measurement without blocking the UI.
So React Native apps perform smooth animations, scrolling, and responding to gestures like native apps. Users get the best performance experience.
Code Reuse & Maintainability
You can maximize code reuse with React Native since:
- Most UI code is typically shared between iOS and Android.
- The framework uses React's component architecture, making it easy to write reusable UI code.
- You can reuse business logic across platforms by writing shared JavaScript modules.
- Updating shared code automatically updates the iOS and Android apps. No need to update platforms separately.
- Components have well-defined interfaces, making them easy to reuse.
This makes it easier to develop new features and maintain your codebase in the long run.
Large Community & Ecosystem
React Native offers:
- A vibrant open-source community with over 1800 contributors
- Strong ecosystem of third-party libraries, tools, and integrations
- Backing from industry leaders like Facebook, Microsoft, Shopify, Tesla, and more
- Constant improvements and new features added through monthly releases
So you can easily find solutions, plugins, and developers to build any custom functionality your app needs.
Native Look and Feel
React Native apps look, feel, and function like native mobile apps because:
- The framework uses native UI building blocks, not web components.
- Components are translated to the native platform UI before rendering.
- Users interact with high-performance native UI elements and views.
- The app can access all native device capabilities like a standard native app built using Swift or Java.
This means your users get the fully native mobile app experience they expect. So, hire React native developer and get your business app up and running quickly. It's a great option if you need a fast-moving MVP or want to prototype the user experience before investing in native development.
When Should You Use React Native?
React Native is a great choice for building mobile apps if:
You Need Cross-Platform Apps
Building the app using native tools requires developing it twice - once on iOS and again on Android.
With React Native, you can write cross-platform mobile apps more quickly. It allows you to reuse the majority of your code on both platforms.
This saves significant development and maintenance costs compared to building native apps separately.
You Need Fast Development Cycles
React Native is great when you must iterate and rapidly develop features frequently.
Its hot reloading lets you view changes instantly without recompiling or re-running the app.
And sharing most code between iOS and Android means you can add new features only once for both platforms.
This enables much faster build-modify-test cycles compared to pure native development.
Your App is UI Focused
React Native works best for mobile apps that are UI intensive - such as social apps, news readers, messaging apps, shopping apps, etc.
It makes building smooth, high-quality UIs easy by composing declarative components and reusing them.
The framework is less suited for complex apps dealing with graphics, games, or device hardware at a low level.
You Use React for Web Development
If your team already uses React for web development, React Native can be a natural extension.
It allows the reuse of concepts like components, props, and states across the web and mobile. And there is no need to context switch between vastly different technologies.
Developers skilled in React can easily transfer their knowledge to build mobile apps.
Your App Needs High Code Reuse Across iOS and Android
We know React Native allows you to reuse up to 90% or more of your app code across iOS and Android.
So if your app's code reuse is a priority, React Native can accelerate development significantly compared to pure native.
It eliminates redundancy in business logic, utility code, data access, state management, etc.
You Have Limited Mobile Development Resources
If your team has more web developers than mobile developers, React Native allows your team to leverage their web skills to build mobile apps more easily.
Or if you have a limited budget for resourcing separate iOS and Android teams, React Native needs a smaller team to build cross-platform.
A single React Native dev can build for both platforms instead of having dedicated native devs.
When You May Not Want to Use React Native
React Native has some tradeoffs to consider before choosing it. You may be better off using native languages in cases like:
Your App is a Game or Graphic Intensive
For apps with complex visuals, animations, physics, and graphics like games, React Native may not provide the level of control needed compared to native.
Native languages like Swift and Kotlin are better suited for building this category of apps.
You Need Very High Performance
For certain apps like trading platforms that need ultra-high performance and optimization, native development can be better suited than React Native.
If your app needs to extract the maximum possible performance, native development provides more low-level control.
You Require Extensive Hardware or OS Integration
If your app needs deep integration with device hardware or operating system capabilities, native development can provide better control than React Native.
Although React Native does provide JavaScript APIs for hardware access, they may not provide the customization needed.
Your Team Only Knows Native Languages
If your developers are skilled in native platforms like Objective-C/Swift or Java/Kotlin but lack JavaScript or web skills, React Native may have a steeper learning curve.
In some cases, it may be easier to stick to fully native development using their existing expertise.
You Need Many Platform-Specific Features
If your app requires many customized features specific to each platform that don't share code, the benefits of code reuse with React Native diminish.
Frequent use of platform-specific modules can reduce shared code and increase maintenance overhead.
Final Words
In conclusion, React Native is an excellent cross-platform framework for building mobile apps that feel native while maximizing code reuse. It brings the benefits of React to mobile development and is a great choice for UI-focused apps that don't require extensive platform customization or ultra-high performance.
