Since its emergence in 2015, the React Native framework has become increasingly popular among top-tier companies. For example, Microsoft has been using this mobile development framework for six years already and is currently planning to expand its use. The Tesla company also utilizes React Native for mobile apps and in-vehicle computer systems.
This article highlights key reasons for considering React Native for your project. It additionally provides three best practices to help you streamline React Native app development.
Why use React Native over other frameworks?
Developer teams can use React Native to build robust iOS and Android applications as well as cross-platform mobile apps compatible with both mobile operating systems. Here are the key distinctive features of this framework:
Code reusability
As a cross-platform technology, React Native enables developers to build apps for Android and iOS with a single code base and reuse the same code between both platforms seamlessly. Although it is not the only app development framework facilitating code reusability (Flutter widgets, for instance, can also be reused), React Native can provide unique advantages.
The reason is that React Native’s architecture is component-based, with each component representing a separate JavaScript function, which is very flexible by nature (they can make network requests, handle different data types, and more). Developers can utilize JavaScript functions to encapsulate different types of business logic and run it across both Android and iOS platforms seamlessly.
Extensive component selection
React Native is a rather mature framework that has existed for ten years already. It provides a rich set of components, enabling developers to work faster and more efficiently. React Native offers a wide range of ready-made and customizable components, plugins, and tools for creating app functionality and UI, which can minimize the time developers spend coding and further accelerate mobile development.
Vitaly Statsura, a React-Native developer at Itransition, says: “The ability to use pre-made components developed by an active community has made React Native a true game-changer for mobile app development. With the continuous growth of available components, development teams can achieve faster turnaround times without compromising software quality, which allows them to focus on creating tailored functionality without dealing with common platform-specific nuances.”
Vast developer community
The React Native framework has a large developer community (on GitHub, for instance, the number of React Native contributors surpassed 2,700 in 2024). This advantage enables companies to seek out skilled React Native developers easily, for instance, when scaling a mobile app development project and extending its scope is necessary.
What are the best practices for React Native app development?
To leverage these and other React Native’s advantages, a company should implement and use the framework properly. Here are some key recommendations that can help you embrace the full potential of this technology:
Keeping reusability in focus when creating custom React Native components
As mentioned above, the React Native ecosystem includes many ready-to-use components, such as Maps, Video, Reanimated, each with different functionalities and application areas. In addition, mobile developers can create custom React Native components to tailor mobile apps’ look and feel to the unique business needs and requirements. Nonetheless, it is critical to develop and implement custom components properly to ensure their reusability across different app instances or apps.
For instance, development teams should keep their components smaller, as it helps make them more manageable. Developers should also document their components thoroughly (describing their characteristics and use cases), making it easier for both the developers themselves and others to understand and use the components in the future. Additionally, teams should test components with integration and unit tests to ensure they operate correctly.
Using React Native component composition
To build richer and more compelling user interfaces, development teams can combine small individual components into larger components using the component composition approach. Applying component composition helps increase code reuse and facilitates overall software maintenance.
To compose components efficiently, developer teams can implement Atomic Design, a proven UI design methodology. Atomic Design implies breaking down an application’s entire UI design into smaller, reusable components called “atoms.” These atoms are then combined into larger groups to form “molecules,” “organisms,” “templates,” and “pages.” A company can foster component reusability and increase application scalability by implementing this structured design approach.
Setting up the right React Native performance optimization tools
To ensure consistent React Native app performance in the long run, it is critical to implement suitable performance monitoring and optimization software. Tools such as React Native Performance Profiler Suite from Shopify, LogRocket, and Firebase Performance Monitoring can be particularly useful here. These solutions help developers detect app performance bottlenecks and address them promptly.
To be more specific, performance optimization tools can provide automated event-tracking capabilities, enabling developers to identify different types of caching, data synchronization, and load distribution issues in real-time. Tools offering automated root-cause analysis functionality can also provide AI-generated recommendations for developers on troubleshooting issues more efficiently. For instance, such a tool can suggest developers improve image caching to increase the speed at which an app loads, enhancing user experience.
Final thoughts
React Native, a popular mobile app development framework based on JavaScript, enables companies to create iOS, Android apps, and cross-platform solutions. The most notable advantages of this framework include advanced core reusability and extensive component selection, which enable developers to build apps with less time and effort and thus ensure improved time-to-market for companies. Additionally, due to React Native’s popularity, companies can find skilled developers more easily.
For companies planning to adopt React Native, following best practices is recommended. Some of them imply creating reusable custom React Native components, composing React Native components, and monitoring and optimizing app performance continuously. To gain professional guidance and learn more valuable recommendations, a company can outsource an experienced React Native development consultancy. If needed, React Native experts can also help your business build a robust mobile app while ensuring its security and scalability.
