React Native has generated a great deal of interest in the world of mobile development in recent years. Developers can now produce applications for both iOS and Android at the same time thanks to its innovative technique, which is completely changing the tech industry. React Native’s potential has been fully realized by prominent players such as Facebook, Uber, and Pinterest, leading to its extensive adoption in a variety of industries.
What is React Native, and why does it differ from others? One of the main reasons for its quick growth has been the capacity to utilize a single codebase across many platforms.
Take a look at our guide to gain a thorough grasp of React Native’s workings before implementing it into your applications. You can use this understanding to determine if it fits with your requirements and goals.
What Is React Native?
React Native is an open-source, popular JavaScript framework crafted to develop apps across various platforms like iOS, Android, and even web applications, all while using the same code. Built on the foundation of React, it brings that same power and versatility to the world of mobile app creation.
Both ReactJS (for the web) and React Native hail from Facebook. React Native emerged from a Facebook Hackathon, aiming to tackle a major headache for the company: managing two separate code bases for their app. The issue? Duplicating work and often solving the same problems in different ways. React Native steps in as a direct solution to these challenges.
Using JavaScript, React Native compiles the app’s user interface while employing native OS views. When dealing with more intricate features, it allows developers to implement code in OS-native languages like Swift and Objective-C for iOS and Java and Kotlin for Android.
Why Use React Native?
React Native is becoming more and more well-liked in the field of development. Here are the top reasons to select React Native app development companies to build an app in 2024.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
One of the standout perks of React Native development is its ability to create apps for both Android and iOS at once, using the same codebase with minor adjustments tailored to each platform.
JavaScript
With React Native, you can sidestep the need to learn specific languages for individual platforms. Instead, it relies solely on JavaScript, widely acknowledged as one of the most popular programming languages today for mobile app development.
Performance Boost
React Native streamlines app development by utilizing similar code across platforms, leading to quicker turnaround times. Its hot reloading feature ensures that even small changes made to the app become instantly visible to developers, enhancing the development process.
Robust Developer Community
A thriving community ensures the timely resolution of queries, providing ample support for the React Native framework. The active community consistently updates React Native with new features and bug fixes, ensuring its growth and reliability.
Promising Career Opportunities
Due to its rising popularity and benefits, React Native for cross-platform development has led to a surge in demand for React Native developers, promising bright career prospects in the field.
What Is Cross-Platform Development?
Cross-platform development involves crafting software that works seamlessly across various platforms or devices using a single codebase. Rather than creating separate versions, developers use one codebase to run on multiple platforms, like making mobile apps for Android and iOS simultaneously. This approach saves time and resources, boosting overall efficiency.
It enables developers to work on platforms they might not typically use, employing their preferred frameworks like JavaScript. From a business standpoint, cross-platform development speeds up the time-to-market and reduces both development and maintenance costs. These advantages make it an immensely sought-after approach, catering to both business and technical needs.
Comparing React vs. React Native
React is a toolkit primarily used for crafting User Interfaces (UIs) for websites. Its strength lies in creating reusable components that boost the functionality and appearance of web pages. A React JS developer focuses on creating a seamless user experience across various platforms, tapping into the versatility offered by React.
Initially developed by Facebook in 2011 to address website performance issues caused by frequent updates, React found success and was adopted by Instagram after Facebook’s acquisition in 2012.
React Native, created by the same team at Facebook, is React’s counterpart tailored for mobile app development. It harnesses React’s capabilities to build applications with performance close to native apps, all powered by JavaScript.
To simplify, React focuses on website development, while React Native, which is not reliant on HTML, specializes in creating sophisticated mobile applications. Both are connected but fulfill different roles in software development. Also, explore the comparison between Flutter vs. React Native in this guide.
How Do React Native Work?
React Native functions as a framework enabling app development through JavaScript threads that interpret code. It establishes a connection, known as the native bridge, between the app and the intended platform. This bridge utilizes a library to transmit the component hierarchy to the mobile device’s view.
When a user interacts with the app, such as pressing a button, this action is converted into an event that JavaScript manages. The native bridge facilitates the translation of these native events into a format compatible with React components. By exchanging messages between native platforms and JavaScript code, React Native ensures that these events are understandable and actionable within the React component environment.
Benefits of React Native
React Native stands out as one of the most sought-after front-end frameworks. If you’re still weighing the possibilities for your project, let’s have a look at some of its key advantages:
1. Code Reusability
React Native excels in enabling efficient development across multiple platforms simultaneously. Leveraging the same code base for different platforms offers several benefits, including expedited app development and quicker time-to-market, simplified and cost-effective maintenance (managing a single code base), and smoother onboarding for new developers joining the project. Furthermore, the same React Native code can be utilized for both web and mobile applications if they’re built using React Native.
2. Cost Efficiency
React Native development provides greater cost efficiency by allowing developers to use identical code for iOS and Android applications. This removes the need to hire separate teams for each platform, reducing the overall cost of app development. Building apps in React Native tends to be more cost-effective compared to languages that lack cross-platform development capabilities.
3. Simplified UI
React Native uses React JavaScript to craft the app’s interface, enhancing responsiveness and reducing load times, resulting in an improved user experience. Its reactive UI and component-based approach make it ideal for developing apps with both straightforward and intricate designs.
4. Hot Reloading
The Hot Reloading feature empowers developers to view real-time changes in their code without the need for manual refreshes. This seemingly small feature significantly enhances the development process by providing immediate feedback on code alterations, boosting productivity. Moreover, it allows reloading specific parts of the code, saving time that would otherwise be spent on complete compilations.
5. Future Proofing
Since its inception, React Native has experienced continuous growth without showing any signs of slowing down. This implies that it’s unlikely to become obsolete in the near future. Opting for React Native ensures you won’t have to worry about switching frameworks anytime soon.
Drawbacks of React Native
Every technology has its downsides, and React Native is no exception. Here are some drawbacks to consider:
1. Incomplete or Absent Custom Modules
Despite its maturity, React Native lacks specific custom modules that either require improvement or are absent. This can necessitate the maintenance of three separate codebases (for React Native, iOS, and Android) instead of consolidating efforts into a single one.
2. Compatibility and Debugging Challenges
Despite being used by leading tech companies, React Native is still in a phase where it might encounter package compatibility issues. If your development team isn’t well-versed in this framework, troubleshooting these problems could consume considerable time and effort.
Famous Apps Built Using React Native
React Native, a versatile framework, has been employed in various high-profile applications. Here’s a glimpse into some of the notable ones:
Facebook stands as the most prominent React Native app developed using React Native. Serving as the birth of this programming language, Facebook adopted React Native to extend web development advantages to mobile platforms, facilitating rapid iterations and unifying the product development team. Their Ads Manager app for both iOS and Android was crafted using React Native, demonstrating its capability to support cross-platform development by a single team.
Skype
Another noteworthy React Native example is Skype, which embraced React Native in 2017 to build a brand-new app. This decision was met with enthusiasm as the previous version encountered various issues. The overhaul brought a complete redesign, revamping everything from icons to the messaging interface, now featuring three distinct conversation sections: find, chat, and capture. Microsoft, the owner of Skype, not only utilized React Native for the mobile app but also incorporated it into the desktop version of the platform.
Instagram made a strategic move by incorporating React Native into its native app, initially implementing it for the Push notification view, which was initially a WebView. Fortunately, due to the simplicity of the UI, there was no need to construct a navigation infrastructure. Using React Native significantly amplified developer velocity for product teams by 85-99%.
Walmart
Walmart offers another compelling instance of React Native implementation in their iOS and Android apps. The retail giant made a bold move by completely rewriting its mobile apps using React Native, aiming to overhaul sections that previously relied on embedded web views, which didn’t meet their and their customers’ standards, according to Walmart Labs. Following the transition to React Native, the performance of both the iOS and Android apps experienced a significant boost, nearly reaching native-level performance.
Choosing React Native for Future-App Development!
React Native simplifies cross-platform app creation, reducing time and costs. It caters to Android and iOS users at the same time, making it a cost-effective choice for budget-conscious companies.
Apps like Skype, Facebook, Pinterest, and UberEats testify to React Native’s effectiveness. While native solutions excel in design and speed, React Native suits budget-focused projects that prioritize a satisfactory user experience.
Would you like to create an app making the best use of the benefits React Native offers? Contact the leading react native app development company to help you with it. At Codment, we specialize in using the React Native framework to build top-notch apps. Let’s talk!
