The increasing popularity of iOS and Android has raised the bar for app developers, making mobile app development more challenging. Being in this field for almost 4 years now and having experienced the ups and downs of the industry, I have realized a few things:
- Trends in mobile application development keep changing.
- Users are equally concerned about the UI as they are about the functionality.
- From fast to fastest, mobile application development must be speedy.
- Last but not least, we are living in a HYBRID world.
Hence, having a good app development platform is what brings out the difference. Now, if you ask me which platform is best for mobile app development, this is what I believe:
Out of several platforms like Xamarin and Ionic I have developed hybrid apps in, I’d say React Native has become my preference. It has greatly changed the way apps were built earlier. Be the UI or the functionality, React Native helps deliver the best. And, its ability to adapt to the varied environment is simply amazing.
Working with React Native is truly “Learn Once, Implement Anywhere”. Developers don’t need to waste their time and efforts in writing different code for different mobile platforms.
I believe, developing hybrid apps in React Native seems significant to most app developers because of it:
- It allows you to create a whole new application from scratch or integrate a new code in your existing native codebase.
- You can develop truly native apps without compromising on the UI.
- React-native allows you to see the changes as soon as you save them.
- It adopts the behavior of the environment it is being used regardless of the environment it is built-in.
Read on to learn more about the significance of React Native.
In the year 2015, GitHub ranked React Native as the fastest-growing open-source platform. A year later, Facebook and Microsoft partnered and integrated Windows support to React Native platform.
React Native: Basics
With Facebook being the developer, React Native is an open-source programming platform that allows developers to build a high-end hybrid (for both iOS and Android) mobile applications. You might be surprised to know that many Fortune 500 companies and corporate giants including Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Vogue, Pinterest, Skype, Tesla, and Slack have used React Native to build their apps and continue to do till day.
React Native uses the simplicity and convenience of JavaScript making the development process sustainable and smoother. Not only this, it comprises features for both Android and iOS platforms in addition to its native feel and looks.
What Makes React Native the Ideal Choice for Mobile App Development?
In a nutshell, the ease with which it allows app developers to build hybrid apps makes it the first and the only choice for app development. To dig deep, let us understand the set of benefits it offers over other native and web app development platforms like HTML 5 or Objective C.
1. Compatibility Across Platforms
React Native has truly emerged as an efficient solution to the issue of platform compatibility. As known, native apps can only run on their ‘home’ platforms. For instance, an Android app can be installed only on Android devices and won’t support iOS devices. The main issue developers faced earlier was they had to create two variants of the same mobile application. This consumed a lot of development time, efforts and money.
With React Native, developers can now develop Hybrid apps using the same codebase that supports both iOS and Android platforms. The performance and look of hybrid apps remain the same in both cases saving development time. Not only this, it also allows developers to embed Native code seamlessly to impart a more platform-specific app. Again, this helps developers save a lot of the developer cost.
2. Ease of Coding
React Native offers the best coding experience as compared to any other platform. It follows the concept of declarative coding that allows the developer to define WHAT the code module should do instead of HOW it should do. This coding is, therefore, more comprehensible and clearer. Further, this type of coding allows developers to navigate, find and fix bugs faster.
React Native also offers the feature of Hot Module Replacement (HMR) allowing developers to make changes in the source code and seeing the results immediately. This feature facilitates automatic code reloading speeding up the development cycle significantly. Also, with its flexbox layout engine, developers just need to know about only one layout engine to generate a design for both the app platforms.
3. Highest Quality UI Experience
What’s the one thing that appeals to customers the most? It’s the User Interface of the application they want to use. React Native completely emphasizes on mobile app UI. Unlike other JavaScript frameworks like AngularJS, MeteorJS, RN functions like a JavaScript library and not as a framework. It uses the flexibility of JavaScript interactions to make the app UI more responsive. This results in faster load times which offers a seamless experience for the users.
4. Third-Party Plugins Compatibility & Global Accessibility
Another benefit of using React Native over any other app development platform is that it can use a number of third-party plugins to improve the app experience and functionality. It can link third-party plugins with a native module to achieve faster load times of device features like zoom, tap and rotate. Further, it’s compatibility with third-party plugins also ensures the flawless experience of devices running on an older operating system. Not to mention, the npm package is the richest package manager allowing you to link your application with your favorite functionality.
5. Extended Community Support
Since React Native is an open-source platform, all the documentation is available and open for anybody who intends to use it. An interesting thing to note here is that the huge community of React Native comprises of a large number of support solutions to common issues as well as numerous proven and working solutions. With this, developers can construct an application from chunks of even the finished code. Moreover, Facebook support is an added advantage too.
To conclude, it can be said that React Native is the perfect option if you want to develop a user-friendly multi-dimensional mobile application. With React Native, developers can build apps with faster load times, uses lesser memory, offers engaging UI and smooth functionality with minimal development. And the fact that all the well-flourished business monks are using it to build their mobile apps, it is right to say that React Native is not going to vanish any soon.
At Softobiz, we have been developing hybrid apps successfully for our clients from start-ups to well-established business firms using React Native. So, talk to our experts if you also have a brilliant app idea in mind.
