9 Jan, 2023 | React Native App Development
Why is React Native a great tool for mobile app development?
The Popularity of React Native
The React Native framework is the second most commonly used cross-platform mobile app development, with a 38% market share. It is becoming one of the most popular cost-effective frameworks for building cross-platform mobile apps.
Source: React Native Popularity
Stats like these are fascinating when looking at the most popular apps on the App Store and Play Store. In terms of popularity, React Native is ranked third for top mobile app development services.
Furthermore, React Native is ranked seventh in the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022 with 12.57% of votes. On the professional side, React Native popularity in 2022 classed it as fifth with 13.62% votes.
Giant companies like Walmart, Tesla, Skype, Pinterest, Uber and Bloomberg have already using React Native as their mobile application framework. It will not slow down anytime soon. But do you know what are the benefits of native mobile app development? Let's explore it in the next section!
7 Reasons Why You Should Use React Native To Develop Mobile Apps
In the past, React Native was considered an unusable product due to its inability to be commercially viable. In addition, there were not enough developments or support for React Native to produce "native-like" apps. But now, time has changed, and so does React Native. Today, React Native has grown up in various aspects like its market share, community support, and popularity. Many developers are using it to develop brilliant applications over a short period. Here are some reasons why you should consider React Native when developing your next mobile app. Let’s have a look!#1. Unified Codebase For Two Platforms
Using React Native, developers can develop Android and iOS platforms apps from one codebase. In addition to working, it compiles native Java and Swift code. By bridging web UI components and their native Java/Swift counterparts, React Native fills the gap between web and native app development. For example, typically, developers spend hours inspecting their code and finding errors when they debug it. The task becomes more challenging if silly syntax errors cannot appear clearly. With React, however, there is no need to spend more time finding bugs. A single codebase makes fixing a single bug possible for the entire system. Moreover, the framework comes with debugging tools like Nuclide. Also Read: React Native Tutorials - Learn to Build React Native Apps#2. Growing All The Time
React Native is undergoing a lot of work. In addition to Facebook, the massive React Native community is constantly working on improving the framework. So if a developer faces a specific issue in coding and fails to find any solution on the community platform, he has to put the problem on the forum. The community has tried to solve it for some time. Microsoft even created a fork of React Native for Windows after taking notice of React Native app development services. Their solution simplifies the process of developing Windows 10 apps, Windows 10 mobile apps, and Xbox One apps. These applications focus on increasing the developer's efficiency in less time.#3. Reusable Code And Pre-Built Components
Cross-platform mobile app development allows the same code to be reused on iOS and Android phones. The same principle applies to React Native as well. As a result, it adheres to the notion of "write once, launch everywhere.". In this way, developers can work more conveniently. As a result, they don’t have to make separate platform-specific designs for building the same app. Moreover, an organization can create a mobile app using most of the code from its web application. Also Read: React Native Upgrade Helper : App Upgrades with Ease#4. Gives A native-like experience
With React Native, you can use native elements for your mobile application. You can also combine JavaScript with the native user interface using React Native. And this results in apps looking and working like native apps, enhancing the user experience. As React works the same on iOS and Android, the users will expect a similar look and feel across both platforms. In addition, developers can write React and native code together to get similar functionality. As a result, apps with this feature appear more "native-like.".#5. Build Stable And High-Performing Apps
With React Native, the binding strategy for the codebase gets simplified. As a result, the object's state must get modified before applying updates to one thing. That will make developing a stable and reliable application easier than following other cross-platform development approaches. The React Native framework is one of the best solutions for building a new mobile application. However, it can also be used to add a simple view or user flow to an existing native program. The power to add React Native features, views, and screens to your custom mobile application is now available at your fingertips. It further helps developers to create robust-performing applications using React Native instead of Webview.#6. Develop Apps Faster
Over half a decade after its introduction, React Native is finally thriving with support from online communities. Today, thousands of relevant components are already using React Native to develop their custom mobile apps available from scratch. The applications created through React Native are less likely to contain bugs since they have a single code feature. Enterprises are creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with this software. With MVP, developers can launch an app with the bare minimum functionality and add all the other features later on as their enterprises grow. Thus, you can wait and build additional features per the app's requirement rather than wasting time and resources on constructing detailed interfaces in one go.#7. Code Push: Update Apps Without Going To The App Stores
Sometimes, a developer may realize they need to add a minor feature after deploying the app on the App Store or Play Store and want to tweak it. In Native app development, developers need to repeat the entire building process of applications and then upload the updated versions to the app store. However, to do so, they need to get approval from Apple and Google. Once approved, they have to ask users to install them manually. Developers can deploy mobile updates to end users instantly. But React has a CodePush option. The CodePush server synchronizes JavaScript code with updates released to any app stores, allowing end users not to update their app manually. Many of React Native's growth can be attributed to the reasons mentioned above. Let's see whether this framework fulfills your requirement or not.Is React Native Good For Your Project?
With community support and market share, React Native has become a popular tool. In addition, React Native allows developers to build excellent mobile apps. Here are a few things that help understand the benefits of React Native:#1. One Codebase For Two Platforms: Savings In Time And Money
React Native is the best tool if one needs to create both iOS and Android apps. A study found that mobile app development companies can be more efficient and productive by reducing time and money spent on codebase by 95%. Additionally, React Native offers several open-source libraries of prebuilt components that can help the developer to speed up the project development.#2. Create Great Mobile Apps: Great Development Speed
The React Native framework is excellent for mobile apps. Its slick, smooth, and responsive user interface significantly reduces loading times. Additionally, React Native allows developers to build apps much faster and cheaper than native ones without compromising functionality or quality. So when are you adopting React native as a tool to develop your customized mobile applications?#3. Hot And Live Reloading: Better Debugging Experience
React Native provides live reloading as part of its core functionality. It enables developers to fix code changes as they get loaded in real-time. Hot reloads only reload specific areas, while live reloads automatically reload the entire application after every change. As a result, the development and testing process gets simplified, and so does the deployment of applications on different platforms.#4. Native Apps And Views: Rich And Fluid User Interface
React Native provides pre-built declarative components, like buttons, pickers, sliders, switches, and more, to help developers build engaging and creative UIs. In addition, developers can create their components using TouchableNativeFeedback and TouchableOpacity. The application works efficiently on iOS and Android mobile devices thanks to various Android and iOS-specific components. An example would be:- For iOS devices: The developer can use SegmentedControliOS, UIImagePickerController iOS, and DatePickeriOS.
- For Android devices: The developer can choose DrawerLayoutAndroid, DatePickerAndroid, and ViewPageAndroid.
#5. Future-Orientation
We can expect React Native to be around for a long time. With the help of these file extensions, platforms can identify the operating system on which the apps are running. It is flexible since any developer can understand the application's code. Accessing the app requires no core development. Instead, app developers strive to provide millennials with quick information and excellent mobile app experiences. With every passing moment, it becomes more future-oriented by minimizing its complexity. The continuous bug fixing and exciting features make React Native the first choice for cross-platform apps. Compared to its competitors, it has a lightweight architecture, pre-built components, and an easy learning curve.Conclusion
React Native is in the top 5 for the most preferred cross-platform technology. Many apps use React Native, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bloomberg, Salesforce, and Walmart. Also, React Native mobile apps help enable you to adopt a hybrid mobile app development framework. In light of all these advantages, choosing the right React Native app development services is important to grow and market your products, services, and business modules. Read more about React Native vs Swift: Will React Native Replace Swift? and Hybrid Mobile App Framework: The Future of App DevelopmentFrequently Asked Questions
As a development platform for building apps, React Native is becoming increasingly popular. The reason is that it lets users write code in JavaScript and share it across iOS and Android, so they don't have to maintain two different code bases with two separate development teams and save time and money.
To create a React Native mobile application, follow these steps:
- To begin, you need to launch an emulator (Android Emulator).
- Creating a directory (ReactNative) on your desktop is the next step.
- Open "Command Prompt" and navigate to your ReactNative directory.
- Then use the react-native init FirstApp command to initialize the app "FirstApp."
- It will start the Node server and launch the application in a virtual device emulator after running the command react-native run-android in the directory "FirstApp."
React Native is a great platform for developing mobile apps. This framework offers a smooth, responsive, and slick user interface while significantly reducing loading times. Furthermore, React Native mobile apps are faster and cheaper to build than native ones without compromising quality or functionality.
React Native is a framework that simplifies mobile app development by allowing developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android. This is because React Native uses a single code base and allows developers to reuse components. This means that they don't have to write separate code for each platform, which can save them a lot of time and effort. Additionally, React Native's hot reloading feature allows developers to see changes in real-time, which also speeds up the development process. Overall, React Native makes mobile app development simpler and more efficient, allowing developers to focus on creating high-quality apps rather than worrying about the technical details.
React Native enables developers to use the same code for building native Android and iOS apps, saving time and resources in development. It offers a faster development cycle, immediate live updates, and a simplified maintenance process. React Native also offers a wealth of ready-to-use components, making it easier for developers to build high-performance apps without starting from scratch. Additionally, it offers a seamless user experience and access to native APIs, allowing developers to build apps with native functionalities. Overall, React Native empowers developers to create powerful, high-quality apps that can run on both Android and iOS platforms.
React Native improves app performance and user experience in several ways. First, it allows for faster development time by using a single codebase for both iOS and Android platforms. React Native also uses a virtual DOM, which reduces the amount of time and resources needed to render changes to the UI. Additionally, React Native supports hot reloading, which allows developers to see changes made to the app in real-time without having to rebuild the entire app. For user experience, React Native provides a seamless and native-like experience to users, with a smooth and responsive UI. It also allows for faster app loading times due to its lightweight architecture. Moreover, React Native allows for the integration of native components, ensuring an even more native feel to the app.
React Native is a popular framework for mobile app development, and there are several reasons why it's a great tool. First, it allows developers to write code once and use it across multiple platforms, which is a significant cost-saving advantage. Second, React Native has a modular architecture and a large library of pre-built components, making it easy to develop complex apps quickly. Moreover, it provides a live update feature that allows for updates to be made to the app without the need for recompiling or redeploying. Lastly, React Native provides a great developer experience with features like hot reloading and debugging tools, which makes coding even easier and more efficient.
React Native helps developers save time and resources by allowing them to write code once and deploy it natively on both iOS and Android platforms. This means that developers can use the same set of skills and tools to build and maintain apps for both platforms, without having to learn two separate languages or frameworks. Additionally, React Native comes with a wide range of pre-built components and libraries, making it easier for developers to create fully-functional and polished apps in a shorter amount of time. These components are reusable and customizable, so they can be easily adapted to different use cases and requirements. Finally, React Native also supports hot reloading, which means that developers can see the changes they make to the code immediately, without having to wait for a full build and deployment cycle. This feature can dramatically reduce turnaround times and make the development process much more efficient.
The main limitation of using React Native for mobile app development is that it may not offer the same level of performance and functionality as native app development. This is because React Native uses JavaScript and relies on the performance of the underlying mobile device. Additionally, there may be compatibility issues with certain native APIs and libraries, and debugging can be more challenging due to the complexity of integrating different technologies. Other considerations include the size of the app and the potential for slower loading times, as well as the need for ongoing updates and maintenance to keep up with changing app and device requirements.
Ketan Patel holds the position of Digital Marketing Manager at WeDoWebApps, a company that offers a wide range of web and mobile application development services including for platforms like iOS, Android, as well as web technologies like Node and Vue.
