Top 10 Advantages of React Native for Mobile App Development

The mobile app development industry has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. Mobile apps are not easy to access but also offer a quick solution for people using the app (depending on the services the app offers). Simultaneously, mobile apps have become a great medium for business owners to reach out, offer services, and communicate with their (prospective) customers.

However, building a mobile app isn’t an easy road to take. There are multiple factors that a business has to consider before deciding on the technologies that will develop and support the architecture of the mobile app.

React Native is a cross-platform mobile app development framework that has become a popular voice among developers. And that too for all the right reasons.

Wondering what those reasons are and how React Native mobile app development framework benefits your business? We have got the answer for you.

1. Code Reusability

Using traditional methods, a developer has to build two different sets of codes for Android and iOS versions of the mobile app. The introduction of React Native framework in 2015 introduced a solution to this tiresome requirement of writing the code twice.

This means that the (single) code written using React Native framework can be used to build both Android and iOS. Around 90% of the code can be reused.

This helps in the following:

• increasing mobile app development speed and efficiency.
• requires fewer maintenance efforts

2. Cost Efficient

This React Native benefit exists because of the above-mentioned point. Since up to 90% of the code is reusable, you don’t have to hire two different sets of development teams—one for Android and one for iOS, which leads to a considerable amount of cost-cutting.

Not only this but React native framework offers many pre-built components, thus, making it a far more convenient mobile app development choice.

3. Reduced Time to Market

As discussed, using React Native, developers can build for both Android and iOS. Which not only reduces mobile app development time and cost but also reduces time-to-market.

This is one of the great boons for a business that doesn’t have enough financial backup and/or wants to test the waters by building a Minimum Viable Product before building the final product. Using React Native will help to build Android and iOS versions simultaneously.

Thus, businesses will be able to launch the app much sooner than by using traditional methods.

4. Boosts Development Speed through Hot Reload

This React Native feature allows the development team to visualize the implementation of the changes within one to two seconds of making the edit. This considerably enhances the development speed of the mobile app.

While using React Native, the developers have to toggle “Enable Fast Refresh”. Using this feature, developers can Fast Refresh all the components, even those which are not React Native core components.

5. Third-Party Libraries/Plug-ins

React native is extremely integration friendly and compatible with third-party libraries, plug-ins, and APIs. This renders extreme flexibility to the developers to customize the platform as much as needed.

This feature of React Native allows mobile app developers to add functionality to the mobile app beyond what is offered within the core components of React Native.

6. Large Developer Community

React Native is used and supported by a large community of mobile app developers. This means that if and whenever a mobile app developer gets stuck using React Native, they can always reach out to the community of 50,000+ active React Native developers to seek help and solutions.

7. Framework of the Future

The introduction of React Native framework revolutionalized the way developers perceived mobile app development. This single framework resolved multiple issues for the developers, which earlier used to pose development challenges for the developers.

Even though this framework is already being used in an array of businesses and industries, the community and core team consistently work to make it more holistic—this means it yields tremendous power in shaping the future of mobile app development.

8. Build Accessible Apps

Every mobile app developer and designer has to ensure that the mobile app they develop is accessible, inclusive, and developed to cater to all types of users, both disabled and abled users.

React Native provides APIs which enable developers to render intuitive accessibility features such as motion, navigation, color scheme, text readability, and perception consistent and clean layout.

9. Testing

Testing the mobile app code is the most crucial aspect of any mobile app code before it is ready to be used by its desired audience. Especially when your app grows, developers must be extra mindful to ensure that any minor error or edge case doesn’t compromise the app’s functionality.

React Native provides tools to test the codes by writing them in small modules so that they can be tested first before writing the entire program file.

This provision helps developers to write clean and error-free codes.

10. React for Windows

By now, you are very well versed in how React Native can help you tremendously in terms of building a mobile app. But did you know that Microsoft Windows’ React Native Windows enables you to build desktop applications with the same tools as React Native? This makes it one of the best choices for cross-platform app development.

React Native Windows parallelly develops itself with all the upgrades and releases of React Native. The only difference is that when you develop using React Native Windows, your JavaScript code will have Universal Windows Platform (UWP) in the background.

The introduction of React Native has provided mobile app developers with solutions that traditional methods were failing to address, to say the least. Given the fact that React Native is still under development and is constantly improving, the possibilities of what it can offer are still unexplored territory. Stay tuned for more updates.