The Key Reasons to Use React Native for Mobile App Development

React Native is a JS framework created by the Facebook team. It allows you to write hybrid mobile applications that will run on iOS, Android, Universal Windows Platform platforms and, at the same time, externally will practically not differ from native applications.

Let’s briefly explain the difference between native and hybrid apps: A native application is written separately for each platform, taking into account all its features.

A hybrid application is written once, but for all platforms In fact, apps written in React Native fall somewhere in between native and hybrid. It can be said that this framework represents the future of mobile application development, and makes the line between native and hybrid development more transparent.

Let’s take a closer look at the main reasons for using this framework when developing mobile applications. The team of Boosty Labs, which specializes in React Native development outsourcing and Vue.js development outsourcing, will help us with this.

Cross-platform

React Native applications are written in JavaScript, one of the most popular programming languages. The developer writes the bulk of the code in Javascript, a common language for all platforms, and this code interacts with the native components of operating systems. As a result, we get mobile applications that work on all existing platforms (iOS, Android, Universal Windows Platform). 

Important: individual questions require a specific approach for each platform. For example, designs for iOS and Android are developed separately.

Simplicity and ease of development

In fact, an experienced full-stack developer (a developer who has experience with front-end and back-end components) can start developing mobile applications in React Native without a lot of special training. To get started, you need to have experience writing code in Javascript and know React.

And in any case, for high-quality writing for both Android and iOS, you need a certain experience. The platforms have many similarities and specificities, so the risk of confusion in the development process is quite high. In other words, React Native is simple and convenient if the developer understands what he is doing and what needs to be achieved in the end.

Important: when creating an application for Android, you can work on both Linux and Windows. But when developing an application for iOS, it is assumed that the developer is working in MacOS X.

Time savings

Cross-platform and ease of development reduce the time required to implement a project (when compared to native development). In addition, the support from the developed community of React developers has a positive effect on the timing: there are a large number of plugins (plug-ins) in the public domain that can be used in React Native.

Their use also simplifies the developer’s work. Important: if you have already decided that your future application will be hybrid, but have not yet decided what tools will be used to implement hybrid development, we recommend choosing React Native.

Perhaps, in this case, the project will take a little longer and will cost a little more than using other frameworks used to create mashups. But at the same time, your finished product will look and behave like a native application on all platforms.

Proximity to native apps

Applications developed with React Native are close to native in behavior and appearance. These are real mobile apps, and they meet the expectations of a user who is used to using Android or iOS. In a sense, React Native has its own niche in mobile development: it is ideal for those cases when you need the speed of native applications, but you do not need their complexity (that is, for small and medium applications). 

Important: for all the advantages of React Native for large applications that involve complex video processing and complex calculations or operations with large amounts of data, native development is recommended.

Automatic updates

React Native provides another major benefit: Updates are automatically installed in apps, and there is no need to go through the standard manual installation process through the App Store (for iOS) or Play Store (for Android). The ability to automatically update all applications eliminates the possibility of problems with earlier versions. 

Important: it should be borne in mind that such an update is possible only for the part of the application that is written in Javascript. Any updates related to native components are installed in the traditional way.

Good compatibility with native components

The undoubted advantage of React Native is the ease of combining with the components of the native application code (written in Objective C or Swift for iOS or Java for Android). On the one hand, you can add native components to applications developed with React Native if, for example, you need better performance.

On the other hand, you can use React Native components in native apps too, for example, add specific functionality to both platforms at once (like Instagram). 

Important: The main confirmation that React Native really compares favorably with other mobile development tools is the list of companies that already successfully use apps developed using React Native: Facebook, Instagram, Walmart, etc. 

The reasons that we presented above are enough to get an idea of React Native and understand how suitable it is for developing an application in your particular case. In any case, only you will make the decision. It remains only to remind you that first of all you need to take into account the specifics of the future product, the experience of your development team, and the specific conditions of the project.

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