React Native

What it is

React Native is an open-source framework, created at Meta, for building native mobile apps using React and JavaScript (or TypeScript). You write components the same way you would for the web, but they render to real native iOS and Android UI widgets rather than to a web view. A large share of the code is shared across both platforms, while you can still drop down to platform-specific native code when you need to.

Strengths

• One codebase, two platforms — share most logic and UI between iOS and Android.
• Uses React, so web developers are productive quickly and the ecosystem is huge.
• Renders true native components, not a web view, for a genuinely native feel.
• Fast Refresh gives near-instant feedback while editing.
• Escape hatch: write native modules in Swift/Kotlin when you hit a limit.

Trade-offs

• The bridge between JavaScript and native can complicate performance-critical or animation-heavy work.
• Native dependencies and build tooling can be fragile and version-sensitive.
• You still need platform knowledge (and a Mac for iOS builds) for the hard parts.
• Some newer OS features lag until the community or you wrap them.

When to use it

Reach for React Native when you want one team and one codebase to ship a native app on both iOS and Android, especially if your team already knows React. It's a strong fit for content, commerce, and CRUD-style apps.

Vibe coding fit

React Native is friendly to AI-assisted coding because it's just React — assistants are deeply fluent in components, hooks, and props. Ask the model to use TypeScript, to keep components small and stateless where possible, and to pair it with Expo for painless builds and native modules. State the target platforms and any native capabilities up front so generated code reaches for the right libraries.

import { Text, Button, View } from "react-native";
import { useState } from "react";

export default function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <View>
      <Text>Count: {count}</Text>
      <Button title="Add" onPress={() => setCount(count + 1)} />
    </View>
  );
}