7 Benefits of Using React Native for Mobile App Development

The mobile app development space has grown tremendously in recent years.

As per reports^[1], the worldwide annual app downloads are estimated to increase from 194 billion in 2018 to 299 billion by 2023.

Building a mobile app is a sure-fire way to leverage this exponential growth for your business.

Are you wondering which app to build and which technology to choose from?

While this varies from business to business, a mobile app development framework that is user-friendly, economical, and compatible with both iOS and Android platforms is always a great bet.

In this blog post, we will discuss one of the most effective development solutions- React Native and the reasons why it is an ideal framework for business mobile app development.

Let’s get started!

What Is React Native?

First launched in 2015, React Native is a popular open source mobile application development framework created by Facebook. It uses JavaScript to create cross-platform mobile applications with true native capabilities. This means you can develop natively-rendered mobile apps for both iOS and Android simultaneously using a single codebase.

This capability has made React Native one of the most popular app development frameworks in the industry. According to the Stack Overflow Survey 2021^[2], 58.08% of developers preferred working on React Native in the past year and would continue to do so in the future.

Why Choose React Native?

React Native is mostly based on JavaScript, a website development technology. So, developers who work on JavaScript can easily develop mobile apps using React Native. This not only saves time but also eliminates the need for developers to learn complex languages like Objective-C and Java to develop an app.

Furthermore, as JavaScript components are built on iOS and Android components, developers don’t have to create the same app again for another platform. All in all, React Native mobile app development framework is a win-win for businesses when it comes to saving time, effort, and money.

How React Native Works?

React Native works on three threads-

UI Thread- The main application thread that has access to the UI of the application

Shadow Thread- The background thread that uses React library to calculate the layout of the application

JavaScript Thread- The execution thread that contains the React (JavaScript) code

First of all, a layout is created using the codes in the JavaScript thread. This layout calculation is then offloaded to the shadow thread which constructs a tree of this layout using a layout engine called Yoga.

The communication between the two threads happens through a React Native bridge which serializes the data in JSON format and transfers it to the UI (main) thread after receiving the rendered markup from Yoga.

The main thread then renders the UI after deserialization and completes the mapping from the browser to React Native.

Benefits of Using React Native for Mobile App Development

Now that you know the basics of React Native, let’s move on to the advantages of React Native and why businesses should use it for their mobile app development.

1. Code Reusability

The biggest advantage of React Native is that developers don’t need to create separate codes for different platforms (Android and iOS). In fact, around 90%^[3] of the code can be reused between the two platforms which helps increase development speed and efficiency considerably. As a result, you get faster time-to-market and require lesser maintenance efforts.

2. Native Look and Feel

React Native components map 1:1 with native development components. It combines the building blocks from the native user interface with its own JavaScript which gives the app a native-like appearance. Moreover, as the building blocks are the same for Android and iOS, the look and feel of the app is also similar across the two platforms.

3. Live Reload

The live reload feature of React Native allows you to see and work with changes in real-time. You can make fixes in the code while the app is loading and it will be reflected in the app with an automatic reload. You can also reload a particular area of change to save time on the compilation.

4. UI Focused

React Native uses the React JavaScript library to build app interfaces that are fast and responsive. It has great rendering abilities and uses a component-based approach which makes it easy to create both simple and complex UI designs.

5. Cost-Efficiency

As the code is reusable in React Native, it helps you save development costs upto 40%^[4]. You don’t have to hire two different Android and iOS dev teams to create the app. On top of it, there are many pre-built components in React Native that further fasten the development process.

6. Third-Party Plugins

Since building an app from scratch can be expensive, React Native offers a number of third-party plugin options including JavaScript-based and native modules. The third-party plugins eliminate the need for specific web view functions and help enhance the app’s functionality and performance.

7. Large Community Support

The development of React Native actually began as a response to the need of the developer community. As a result, it has a community-driven approach with over 50,000^[5] active contributors. The engineers at Facebook are always developing and updating the platform and the availability of such enthusiasts makes it easier to get expert support.

Apps Built With React Native

Owing to the popularity and multiple benefits of React Native, many popular brands use it as their mobile app development framework, including:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Uber Eats
• Skype
• Pinterest
• AirBnB
• Discord

And more!

To Wrap Up

Within a few years of its release, React Native has become a hot favorite of the mobile app development industry, and rightly so. It is an efficient framework for developers, a profitable technology for businesses, and a satisfactory solution for end-users. So, if you are planning to develop a cross-platform mobile app, then look no further than React Native.