React Native for Cross-Platform Mobile Applications
42% of cross-platform mobile applications built from 2019 to 2021 used React Native development. The platform is a leader in the cross-platform native mobile applications development industry, along with Flutter, followed by Cordova, Ionic, and Xamarin.
There are three primary things that companies consider when they require a mobile application — budget, speed, and quality. Even in that, budget plays a big role as companies try to fit low-quality apps within their limit. But that just leads to poor UI and reduces the expected engagement.
Often, companies want both iOS and Android apps together, along with the web app. This means that it would need to work on three separate codebases. While web and mobile can interact, they can’t share the same codebase. However, iOS and Android — the two major mobile platforms can, and all thanks to React Native app development.
This article will focus on why React Native is one of the most useful cross-platform mobile app development frameworks. We will highlight some of the leading mobile apps that use React Native and conclude with the future prospects of the platform.
Are React Native Apps Cross-Platform?
React is an open-source framework for building cross-platform mobile applications. While the application logic uses JavaScript, the UI looks 100% native. The platform allows developers to use a single codebase for building a React Native mobile app. The best thing is that the best React Native apps are almost inseparable from a totally native app.
Most apps built with React Native are cross-platform. It is because the two platforms can share almost 95% to 98% of the codebase. So even if a company doesn’t want an application for Android, they still have the capabilities to launch one.
The reason cross-platform app development is preferred is that native development comes with a set of challenges. Firstly, it needs two of everything — technology stacks, developers, budget, etc. Secondly, native application development is slow — developers need to recompile the file after each iteration to test the application.
That is why companies providing React Native application development services are in high demand — apps are faster to build and launch.
Is React Native Good for Mobile App Development?
A native application provides a better user experience. They easily interact with the native components, which leads to a high-quality UI. Interacting with platform-specific UI elements and tool sets is essential to keep the application interface smooth.
Here’s where React Native app development services step in. The platform has extensive coding that is powerful enough to provide a native appearance by interacting with platform-specific components.
Here’s why React Native development is perfect for cross-platform mobile applications:
Code Reusability
React Native eliminates the need to build a separate codebase for iOS and Android. Often, companies can reuse up to 98% of the codebase for the second platform. The components are easily modified according to the platform-specific UI without much hassle and iterations in the codebase.
Time & Cost Effectiveness
Two things happen when the code is reused and shared between both the platforms — one, it takes less time to develop the application. Two, since it takes less time, you can quickly let go of the React Native developers and save a lot of money on the hours spent in building the application.
Third-Party Integrations
React Native app development offers a lot of third-party plugins for integrations. It offers flexibility and customizations that allow developers to tailor the mobile application to the exact expectations of the client. There are themes, templates, API, and plugins that simplify adding features to the React Native apps.
Pre-Built Components
Speed is a major factor when it comes to the best React Native apps. Pre-built components multiply the development speed as the code for a lot of components is already written by a developer somewhere, which can be used without any cost. These components help to improve the performance of the applications with ease.
Growing Community
React Native is growing at a rapid pace, and so is its community. The open-source framework has a lot of documentation, which simplifies the development process for all React Native developers. The GitHub React Native community is expanding quickly. Developers share their experiences and improve the framework’s codebase to enhance the development of mobile apps using React Native.
Top Companies Using React Native for Their Mobile Apps
While React Native might be seen as an emerging framework, it has already paved its way to some of the most forward-thinking companies. There are companies that use React Native as the primary technology in their stack and forget to use everything else that they have.
Some of the top companies using React Native for mobile application development include:-
- Facebook — UI development for Facebook Ads
- UberEats — UI elements and push notifications
- Airbnb — Reusing code for both platforms
- Instagram — Pushing faster updates & versions
- Skype — Redesigning of the entire layout
- Salesforce — Programming Salesforce apps
- Pinterest — Sharing codebase among platforms
Apart from these, companies like Discord, Bloomberg, Baidu, and Wix use the framework to manage their mobile applications. Walmart has one of the best React Native mobile apps to help customers purchase products through mobile devices. It was also one of the first users of the framework for cross-platform native mobile application development.
The Future of React Native Development
React Native is a FUTURISTIC technology — and for proper reasons. No, it doesn’t help to build flying cars as of now — but who knows? On a rational and practical level, React Native speeds up the process of mobile application development and gives companies a competitive advantage in terms of providing more time to market.
In today’s world, competition is tough, and companies want to stay ahead in their industry. React Native is perfect for startups that want to target both iOS and Android audiences from the beginning. A React Native app development company can build apps that ensure companies get the required leverage for becoming mobile leaders in their industry.
There are a lot of React Native developers who are choosing the framework because it is easy to learn as well. In essence, it is a win-win situation for companies and developers alike. To stay relevant in the future, React Native is the perfect technology to build mobile applications and take advantage of its simplicity to achieve higher performance.
Originally published at https://topdigital.agency on September 15, 2021.
