React Native

React Native is an open-source mobile application framework created by Facebook. It is used to develop applications for Android and iOS by enabling developers to use React along with native platform capabilities.

Facebook released React Native in 2015 and has been maintaining it ever since. In 2018, React Native had the 2nd highest number of contributors for any repository in GitHub. Today, React Native is supported by contributions from individuals and companies around the world including Callstack, Expo, Infinite Red, Microsoft, and Software Mansion. Thousands of apps are using React Native, from established Fortune 500 companies to hot new startups.

React components wrap existing native code and interact with native APIs via React’s user interface tools and JavaScript. This enables native app development without the requirement to maintain multiple sets of development skills to address each client device type.

React Native is a framework used for creating cross-platform mobile applications. It is one of the most popular and widely used cross-platform mobile application development framework. Android and Apple IOS are the two most widely used mobile platforms and the native application building process is completely different for each platform. Apple IOS applications are built using the Swift programming language while Android applications are generally built using java.

A development team who want to release an app for both platforms would need to deal with these two separate technology stacks. Cross platform frameworks such as React Native allow development to take place independent of the differences between the two target platforms.