Top Advantages and Challenges of React Native App Development in 2022

React Native is a JavaScript framework used by a software development company for writing real, natively rendering mobile applications for iOS and Android. The framework is based on React, Facebook’s JavaScript library for building user interfaces for mobile platforms.

It enables web developers to design truly native mobile web applications with the help of the JavaScript library. Also, React Native supports a single codebase for all platforms like Android and iOS, reducing the go-to-market time.

Used by major brands worldwide like Uber, Microsoft, Facebook, and more, the technology was already at number five on the 2021 Developer Survey. First released in 2015 by Facebook, it has become the top choice for many enterprise software development company.

There are many reasons behind the success and acceptability of React Native. Let’s have a look -

React Native developers can create code just once and use it to build both iOS and Android variants of their application

React Native was built using the React JavaScript library. The library was already in common use by many developers, so it had no problem catching up with the momentum.

The framework empowered frontend developers to create robust, production-ready apps for mobile platforms.

Read More:- Reasons Why React Native is the Future of Mobile App Development

Advantages of Using React Native Framework

React Native renders using its host platform’s standard rendering APIs, allowing it to stand out from most existing methods of cross-platform application development. Let us have a close look at some of its advantages -

Developer Experience:

• React Native comes with robust developer tools and meaningful error messages in the framework. This makes working with robust tools a natural part of the development experience.For example, with React Native, you don’t need to rebuild your application to see your changes reflected. Instead, refresh your React Native apps just like any other web page.
• For example, with React Native, you don’t need to rebuild your application to see your changes reflected. Instead, refresh your React Native apps just like any other web page.
• React Native enables you to take advantage of intelligent debugging tools and error reporting. Also, it allows you to use any text editor you prefer for JavaScript editing.

Code Reuse:

• About 90% of the codes can be reused in React Native. The developers need not code separately for Android and iOS with React Native application.
• This will lead to considerable savings in development time and cost. Theoretically, the development effort could be cut by half.

Live Reload:

• This feature of the React Native framework enables the developers to see the results of the latest updates that have been introduced to the code immediately.
• If you use two screens, one screen can show the code while the other can indicate the mobile screen with the result of the modification made to the application code. This way, developers can modify the code while the app is loading, which will be reflected in the app with an automatic reload.

Strong Performance for Mobile:

• The architecture of React Native is very well tuned to mobile devices. While the native platforms are more CPU intensive, the React Native development is GPU dependent.
• Compared to the hybrid technologies, the only option for older cross-platform applications in the past, React Native has proven its worth by being faster.

Challenges Associated with React Native App Development

Performance Issues

• This is a common problem reported by a React Native development company. The most valid reason for this problem is the lack of maturity in the framework.
• However, Facebook promises that it is working on a new architecture that will help them solve the inadequate performance levels of the otherwise good framework.
• The React Native development services are keenly looking toward solving the bridge serialization issue and improving communication amidst the elements of Javascript and native that occur at different times.

Inconsistent Behaviors of the Components

• In an ideal situation, all the components should behave similarly across all platforms in cross-platform app development. The behavior of a component written in either framework should behave similarly. However, it’s not the case with React Native
• Therefore companies must hire React Native app developer with some experience in reading and understanding the code to identify the problem areas and rectify them.
• Only a professional and experienced React Native developer can ensure consistency between the applications built on Android and iOS frameworks.

Lack of Module and APIs

• React Native has some practical modules and APIs; however, it lacks solutions to many problems. React Native can therefore hinder the development of applications being designed for a specific problem.
• Even if there are components to solve the problem, chances are that they may be outdated and not in sync with the version of the OS.
• If the requirement is particular and no suitable native solution can be found, you can always create your custom module. While it may seem challenging, it also might be less time and resource-consuming than trying to find a specific component elsewhere.

Reliability on Libraries of Third Parties

• While React Native development is one of the best mobile application development methods, React Native projects suffer from the disadvantage of lack of an in-depth and credible original library.
• Due to these issues, the React Native developers must depend on third-party libraries, which raises some security concerns.
• The solution to the issue is to be patient, select a suitable third-party module, and use it well. The issue is not expected to last much longer anyways.

Conclusion

React Native is a versatile framework for application development. Developers can use it to build robust mobile applications with the help of their existing JavaScript knowledge.

Just like any other framework, it too has many limitations. While some are due to the nature of React Native, others are based on the platform. Since the framework is just two years old, the challenges of the platform are expected.

As the framework becomes more mature with time, it will become even better. However, until then, a React Native app development company must avoid these challenges altogether. The most straightforward way, however, would be to hire react native app developer that has a good amount of experience treading the framework’s limitations.

Originally published at https://www.klusster.com on August 9, 2022.