What’s your take on React Native for building Android apps?
Is it worth considering?
How do you think this technology will evolve in the future?
React Native is the most popular programming language for creating both Android and iOS apps. As per statistical analysis, 14.85 percent of applications in the top 500 in the US are developed using the React Native framework.
It is an open-source framework that enables you to build cross-platform applications. Apart from benefiting your business, React Native has a lot to offer when you hire an Android developer in India. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of React Native!
What is React Native Framework and Why Should You Learn It?
React Native is a JavaScript-based framework created by Facebook. It helps developers create native iOS and Android apps with React, a library used to build user interfaces (UI).
The framework was built to make it easier for developers to work across multiple platforms. It doesn’t use Java or Objective-C, the languages used in building native apps, but instead uses JavaScript and HTML5 for the UI.
React Native uses the same design as React. That means it renders UI elements using functional components and abstracts much of the underlying complexity of handling events and state changes.
How can React Native be used to build Android Applications?
React Native apps beat native apps in terms of speed and responsiveness. Using this framework allows you to use one code to build apps for both key mobile platforms — iOS and Android, without compromising on the UX standards of either platform. The result is a rich user experience with smooth animations, gestures, and minimal browser interface elements.
In this framework, we don’t build a “mobile web app”, an “HTML 5 app”, or a “Hybrid App”. We create a real mobile app indistinguishable from an app built using Objective-C or Java.
It’s an excellent tool for building mobile apps because it allows you to reuse most of your code (JavaScript) across platforms, which means less work. If you’ve ever tried to create an app using native languages like Java or Objective C, you know how many lines of code it takes for simple tasks like displaying a button on the screen. In contrast, React Native uses fewer lines of code because the framework provides the UI components.
The main reason developers choose React Native is because it allows them to write one codebase for two platforms without compromising on quality or performance. You can use native APIs and components written in JavaScript, which is compiled into native code at runtime by Babel. This gives you much flexibility while developing your entire application using one language (JavaScript).
Key Benefits of Using React Native
React Native is one of the top choices for developing Android apps. React Native makes it easy for developers to start native mobile development. Here are some key benefits of using React Native:
1. Supports cross-platform development
React Native lets you write your code once and then run it on Android and iOS devices. This makes the development process much easier and faster than traditional native app development methods, where you have to start from scratch for each platform. You can also use React Native for web development, although other frameworks such as AngularJS, may be more suited for web development.
2. Easy to learn, especially for those who know or are familiar with JavaScript
The learning curve for React Native is much lower than that of other cross-platform frameworks like Xamarin or Cordova/PhoneGap. This is because React Native lets you write native code in JavaScript instead of learning C# (or Java) for iOS development or Java for Android development. If you know JavaScript, it’ll be easy to learn how to build Android apps using react native because most of the syntax will be familiar.
3. Used to build Android and iOS platform apps using only JavaScript
React Native allows developers to write their app’s UI in JavaScript while taking advantage of native APIs on both platforms. This makes it easier for developers to build apps that run on multiple devices without learning two different languages or user interfaces (UI)
4. Several monthly updates are related to new features, tools, and bug fixes
This means your team can expect continuous improvements as they build the app in their spare time or after hours. Hence, you can rely on the framework’s stability over time.
5. Saves developers’ time since they don’t have to modify code for each platform separately
You can quickly create high-fidelity prototypes that look like actual product screens. This helps you validate your ideas faster before investing too much time in development efforts that may not work out as planned. Since you don’t need to write code twice, it saves time and makes development faster.
Challenges of Using React Native
Learning React Native can be fun, but it has its challenges too.
1. Need for platform-specific code
React Native is not a silver bullet. It is a framework that helps build mobile apps, but it cannot solve all the problems alone. You still need to know how to write platform-specific code like Objective-C or Java. In addition, you will need to learn some new concepts and libraries specific to React Native such as Navigator, Router and so on.
2. Problems with third-party components
It’s still in its early stages, so fewer components are available than for other frameworks like AngularJS or VueJS. Also, suppose you’re building complex apps with many animations or transitions between screens or pages. In that case, they may not perform as well as they would on native platforms because they’re running inside a browser window instead of being compiled directly into native code by the device’s processor.
3. Cannot access native features directly
When you use React Native, you don’t have access to all the native features available on Android or iOS platforms. For example, if you need to access device sensors or camera features or perform any other native functions on these platforms, you won’t be able to do so using React Native alone.
4. Not fully mature yet
The biggest challenge with React Native is that it’s not as stable as other technologies like Swift or Objective-C. The stability issues arise because React Native is still in its infancy stage, and many bugs must be fixed.
Wrapping Up
With React Native app development, we can build apps that are simple to understand and easy to use while still looking and feeling great. React Native is relatively new but has gained a solid and growing fan following. It has shaken up the developer world and how mobile apps are developed, and data can see it making a massive impact in the coming years.
