Creating a React Native Mobile App with React Native CLI

2 min readJun 5, 2023

Here are the steps to create a React Native mobile app using the React Native CLI:

Step 1: Set up the development environment

Make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine. You can download it from the official Node.js website.

$ npm install -g react-native-cli

Step 2: Create a new React Native project

Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to create your project.

$ react-native init YourAppName

Replace “YourAppName” with the desired name for your application.

Step 3: Navigate to the project directory

Change into the project directory by running the following command:

$ cd YourAppName

Step 4: Start the development server

Start the Metro Bundler, which is responsible for building the JavaScript bundle, by running the following command:

$ npx react-native start

Step 5: Run the app on a simulator or device

Connect a physical device or set up an emulator/simulator for iOS or Android.

To run the app on iOS, open a new terminal window and run the following command:

$ npx react-native run-ios

To run the app on Android, open a new terminal window and run the following command:

$ npx react-native run-android

Step 6: Make changes to the app

Open the project in your preferred code editor (e.g., Visual Studio Code).

Navigate to the App.js file located in the project's root directory. This is the entry point for your app's code.

Start making changes to the app’s code in JavaScript using React Native components.

Step 7: Hot Reloading and Debugging

During development, you can take advantage of hot reloading. As you save your changes, the app will automatically reload with the latest code.

For debugging, you can use tools like the React Native Debugger or the debugging tools provided by your code editor.

These are the basic steps to create a React Native app using the React Native CLI. From here, you can start building your app by adding components, screens, and integrating with various libraries and APIs as per your requirements.