Certain things just make your life easier.
Nonstick cooking pans. Fast stain removers. Motorized vacuums.
And if you’re an app developer, you know the idea of being able to only write code exactly one time for both iOS and Android apps definitely makes your life easier. And that’s possible thanks to React Native.
React Native (RN) is a JavaScript-based mobile app framework that allows users to build natively-rendered mobile apps on iOS and Android with the same codebase.
React Native was first developed as a mobile development framework in 2015 when Facebook released it as an open-source project. It was initially developed for iOS apps only, but quickly evolved to Android support before being introduced to the public.
In just a few short years, RN became one of the top-used solutions for mobile development since it isn’t platform-specific and is used on some of the most popular mobile apps available.
It’s easy to confuse React Native with a “newer” version of React; however, differences exist.
React, also known as ReactJS, is a JavaScript library used to build a website's frontend. Like React Native, it was also developed by the Facebook engineering team.
React Native, powered by React, allows developers to use a set of user interface (UI) elements to create and launch iOS and Android apps.
Both use a combination of JavaScript and the special markup language JSX. But React uses HTML and CSS, whereas React Native development allows the use of native mobile UI elements and native code. As a cross-platform development solution, RN doesn’t render WebViews within its code, but instead runs on native views and components.
React | React Native |
Used for front-end web development | Used for mobile application development |
JavaScript library | JavaScript-based framework |
Developed by Facebook engineers | Developed by Facebook engineers |
The UI renders to the browser’s programming interface, also known as a virtual document object model (VDOM). | The UI renders to the native platform’s programming interface instead of creating a web-based view. |
Code written with RN is a mixture of JavaScript and JXL. The framework can communicate with both JavaScript-based code and existent, native app language. This communication is done using a so-called “bridge”, which allows for asynchronous communication between JavaScript and Native components.
Even though JavaScript and Native threads are written in different languages, the bridge feature of RN makes communication possible. So if your brand already has a native Android or iOS app, you can still use the components of the code or shift to RN, making it a cross-platform app development.
Choosing React Native for your mobile app can lead to many benefits. Some to keep in mind are:
If you’re considering React Native for your mobile app, don’t forget to consider the potential drawbacks!
It’s likely that some of your favorites are actually React Native mobile apps. Some of the most popular apps built with RN are:
RN is an ideal framework if your app is consumer-facing with a straightforward use. React Native gets iOS and Android versions of your app to your audience fast.
Once your mobile app is complete, learn how to generate revenue through app monetization.
Learn more about React Native by comparing it to other mobile development frameworks for applications.
Mara Calvello is a Content Marketing Manager at G2. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Elmhurst College (now Elmhurst University). Mara's expertise lies within writing for HR, Design, SaaS Management, Social Media, and Technology categories. In her spare time, Mara is either at the gym, exploring the great outdoors with her rescue dog Zeke, enjoying Italian food, or right in the middle of a Harry Potter binge.
Learn more about React Native by comparing it to other mobile development frameworks for applications.
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