One of the most crucial decisions app-based startups will make is how to build their product. They have to decide if they will utilize the traditional platform-specific native approach or go with a cross-platform solution. If they elect to go with the cross-platform approach, they must then select from the dozens of available frameworks. This decision will impact the cost, timeline, functional limitations, and future maintainability of their product. Therefore, this is a decision that requires an in-depth evaluation and should not be taken lightly. Although it would be foolish to argue that there is a single best option for all startups, this article will explore why React Native is currently the best option for most startups.
React Native Vs. Traditional Native
Traditional native apps are still the gold standard in app development. Although other approaches can get extremely close in terms of performance, usability, and interactivity, platform-specific native apps still have the edge. With that being said, this typically marginal difference is rarely worth the significantly increased costs associated with this approach.
The traditional native method requires that iOS and Android apps are built independently. This means the cost to build, test, and maintain the app is nearly doubled. Additionally, it means that startups will have to hire at least 2 developers or development teams to complete the project since it is unlikely that one developer is going to be proficient at native iOS and native Android development. Even if they are, it would still take them twice as long.
Some might be tempted to build natively for a single platform and ignore the other OS entirely. Although this approach was previously more acceptable, it is getting harder and harder to justify. Customers expect to be able to use an app on whatever phone they have and early marketing efforts will be rendered much less effective if half the audience can’t use the app at all.
The shortcomings of a platform-specific approach can typically be overcome by larger companies, but the cost and/or timeline challenges are usually too much for a startup to take on. For these reasons, it is typically wise for startups to look towards hybrid solutions. The next few sections will explore what makes React Native stand out compared to the dozens of other cross-platform solutions.
Development Community
Startups should select technologies that have a vibrant and growing developer community. The more developers that use a technology, the more community-created resources, tools, libraries, and guides will exist. These advantages will help ensure a technology continues to be maintained and be updated as mobile apps continue to evolve. Large development communities also ensure that a startup will have a sizable pool of applications to consider when hiring additional developers. For these reasons, startups almost always need to select technologies that are growing and widely used.
React Native boasts an extremely healthy and growing developer community. On Stack Overflow (a popular developer Q&A message board), React Native has been tagged over 55,000 times and has averaged over 500 new questions each week. The GitHub project has over 65,000 stars and over 1,000 contributors. There are companies that specialize entirely in React Native development and many of the most respected websites frequently publish highly favorable React Native articles. These are all signs of a very healthy, respected, and growing framework.
Polish & Animations
Companies like Facebook, Uber, Twitter, and other major players set the standard for what consumers expect when downloading a new app. Users no longer tolerate ugly, unpolished, and stale applications. They expect apps to be fluid, well-designed, and smooth. Many other cross-platform solutions struggle to fluidly animate when menus are being opened or screens are transitioning.
Because React Native runs natively, rather than running in a web view like other hybrid solutions, it is able to animate much more fluidly and feel like a responsive native app should. In addition, developers are able to deliver polished solutions that utilize the native OS UI elements, rather than relying upon web-based imitations. All this combined leads to React Native apps getting much closer to the standard set by platform-specific native apps.
Native Integrations
Because React Native runs natively, it is typically easier to integrate React Native apps with OS interfaces and native code when it is required. This means that React Native apps are typically more quickly and easily able to utilize new OS features than other hybrid approaches. It also means that apps that require complex client-side calculations can perform that logic natively. Additionally, React Native can be used to augment previously platform-specific apps or be used as the basis of future platform-specific apps. For these reasons, React Native is currently a very reliable solution, but can also be migrated to traditional native as needed much more easily than other hybrid solutions.
The React Framework & Javascript
There is an old saying in computer science that goes never bet against javascript. For over a decade this web development language has been ridiculed and mocked by the larger development community. However, despite all of its quirks and initial shortcomings, it is unquestionably one of the most widely utilized programming languages in the world. Because React Native apps are written primarily in javascript, it can benefit from this established and flourishing community of developers and libraries.
Moreover, because React (and by extension React Native) is just javascript , it is more similar to traditional javascript than other hybrid solutions (such as Ionic). This means that existing javascript developers will enjoy an easier learning process than they would with other hybrid solutions. Because React is mostly traditional javascript, many would argue that also means it is most likely to survive the test of time.
Conclusion
Although there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for startups and development approaches, React Native appears to be the best option for most startups. It is a strong framework that is being led by a talented team and enjoys a healthy and growing community. It has removed many of the shortcomings typically associated with hybrid apps and continues to improve at a remarkable pace. For these reasons, every startup should at least consider React Native for their app.
