The Benefits of Using React Native for Mobile Development

Don’t just select React Native if you are looking for a cross-platform mobile app development framework that is fast, cost-effective, and easy to learn!

10 years on, React Native that once started as an internal project to Facebook, was released to public after 2 years. And the rest is history. It is one of the premier JavaScript based framework for developing applications across platforms. Used for building frontend app interfaces, it often cites references to React Swift.

But RN is not just used for building mobile apps but the websites as well. It works across platforms and can be used to develop web applications as well. It is a multi-purpose library that handles frontend of any application. This is evident from the fact that it is based on JavaScript. It allows developers to create responsive web pages and applications. Also it can be incrementally adopted by existing React Web apps and integrated with existing React Native apps. React Native is written in JavaScript, Java, C++, Objective - C, and Python. It is platform agnostic as RN Apps can run over Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, tvOS, Web, Windows, UWP, and VR.

How big or small can React applications can be?

React Native is being used to develop applications for both startups and enterprises. It makes use of DOM to render React components to native mobile app. But for this you need to understand the usage of different API's for iOS and Android. You also need to test your app on multiple devices (operating systems). Additionally, you may need to debug your app on multiple devices and operating systems.

Why is RN used for mobile app development?

Its applicability across platforms is the only reason why react native is used to build mobile applications. One code can run on any number of platforms. RN code is highly performant and the development cost is relatively low. This seasoned technology combines the best parts of native development, and a best in class JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

What are the benefits of using React Native Framework for mobile app development?

React Native features cross platform compatibility. Code once written can be tweaked, and combined with third party API’s to make the application run on a different operating system. Plus the app formed in this way does not lag in performance or speed. It is as fast and responsive, has a large user base, and opens up for many job opportunities every year. Moreover, React Native is being used by almost 38% of web development companies and mobile app developers globally. And it is easy to use and open-source.

What steps do RN developers follow?

Important steps in the process of react app development include creating a react native project, writing code in JavaScript, using React Native components, and deploying the app to the app store or the Play Store.

There are two specific ways to write code specific to platform in React Native:

By making use of platform module:

import { Platform } from 'react-native';

const MyComponent = () => {

if (Platform.OS === 'ios') {

return <IOSComponent />;

} else {

return <AndroidComponent />;

}

};

By using platform-specific extensions:

import MyComponent from './MyComponent';

React Native developers need to have an understanding of NodeJS version greater than 8 and understanding of NPM/Yarn, ES6 JavaScript, and ReactJS.

What is React for Web Development?

React Native for web acts as a compatibility layer in between React DOM and React Native. It can be used to create apps from scratch as well as can be embedded into legacy applications. It makes use of react DOM to accurately render React Native compatible JavaScript Code in a web browser. It makes developers write a single React native App to run natively on Android and iOS, as well as on a web browser using standard web technologies.

Why is React Native in news when better alternative mobile app development frameworks are available?

Accessibility, interactions, localization, rendering, styling make React Native unique. Besides that RN component based architecture is formed by ActivityIndicator, CheckBox, Image, ImageBackground, Lists, Modal, Picker, Pressable, ProgressBar, ScrollView, Switch, Text, TextInput, View components. It is adorned by animated, appregistry, appstate, appearance, clipboard, dimensions, linking, panresponder, pixelratio, platform, stylesheet, vibration APIs; and useColorScheme, useLocaleContext, useWindowDimensions hooks; it is reliable and thouroughly unit and production tested.

Challenges that React Native Will Face in 2024

Here’s a list of differences along with some issues faced by React Native app development companies:

React Native vs. Flutter

React Native for mobile development is more popular than Flutter or Kotlin for mobile app development which implies that it features more benefits. It holds a strong future as a promising framework for mobile app development with a number of advantages, cross platform support, ease of use and high performance.

React Native vs. Kotlin

Kotlin Multiplatform resembles React Native in a way that if your app makes use of a lot of native features that require writing a lot of native code on React Native and you prioritize native performance, then you should go for Kotlin Multiplatform technology. This technology has evolved over past 4 years and is becoming a serious contender to much older and more mature cross platform frameworks like RN.

React Native vs. Xamarin

Both Xamarin and React Native deliver high performance apps; Xamarin is preferable for computationally intensive tasks while React Native features live reloading feature for faster development iteration.

React Native vs. JavaScript

React Native is a mobile app development framework but JavaScript is a programming language. RN allows developers to make use of ReactJS to create native mobile apps. RN does not support all the operating systems and devices that traditional native apps do.

Why is React Native still in demand?

There has been steady demand of RN developers within top app development companies, but it is estimated to scale up in coming times. Businesses find it conducive for mobile app development due to its hybrid and cross platform capabilities and efficiency. Although React Native popularity is still, but the popularity of Flutter is high and has been winning. It is considered easier to work with. GitHub of Flutter features a lot more solutions than React Native.