Advantages and Disadvantages of Using React Native
With Android and iOS apps becoming more popular every passing day, businesses are investing in creating apps for both platforms to reach a much wider audience. As a result, cross-platform app development is increasingly being preferred over fully native app development by the majority of developers.
The reason? For developing a native app, a developer has to invest in creating separate apps for Android and iOS platforms, which results in longer and more complex development processes and higher expenses. With cross-platform app development, one can build apps using the same codebase across iOS and Android, thereby reducing time and development costs.
React Native, a cross-platform framework is quickly becoming an increasingly popular mobile development solution. In this article, we will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of React Native framework, so that you can make the right choice for your app business.
- What is React Native
- Key Benefits of React Native
- Disadvantages of React Native
- Our Experiences
- Conclusion
What is React Native?
React Native is an open-source framework that enables cross-platform mobile application building using JavaScript and React which is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook, Instagram, and other developers to build user interfaces. React Native uses JSX to create native apps for Android as well as iOS.
An increasing number of developers are opting for React Native to develop cross-platform mobile applications.
React Native apps function the same way as native iOS (built using Swift or Objective-C) and Android apps (developed using Kotlin or Java). React Native is a powerful tool that aids in creating apps with beautiful UIs, which are the same as native apps. As a result, mobile app creation becomes easy and efficient, in terms of both time and cost.
That said, this framework comes with some constraints and isn’t always the best alternative for all projects. There are some React Native pros and cons, that developers should be aware of. Let’s look at React Native advantages and disadvantages that can help you to choose the best solution. As we start the discussion on the pros and cons of React Native framework, let’s start with React Native framework advantages.
Key Benefits of React Native
React Native advantages are numerous and diverse and ensure that developers enjoy a unique coding experience.
Community Support
Being an open-source framework, React Native enables the entire community of developers to examine all documentation concerning this technology free of any charge and also allows them to contribute to it whenever they want.
A completely community-driven framework, with React Native you can always reach out for guidance from other developers, search for relevant information, and even help out other developers struggling with something. Developers can also take advantage of the community by asking other developers to review or give relevant feedback on their ongoing undertakings. Furthermore, developers are encouraged to share their findings and learnings, making it a truly collaborative experience for everyone involved. This is one of the awe-inspiring benefits of using React Native.
Optimal Performance
The effectiveness of the platform lies in enhancing performance with the use of native modules and controls. It operates by interacting with Android and iOS native components and proceeds to generate codes to native APIs, independent of any interference.
Performance amplification and improvement are a direct result of the framework using a distinctly different thread, separate from the native APIs and UIs. You may also be open to choosing other options like a WebView, but bear in mind, it may adversely affect the performance of your app.
Code Reusability and Pre-Developed Components
Perhaps one of the most significant React Native app advantages for the developer community is code reusability. All the developers have to do is simply reuse 90% of React Native codes for iOS and Android, instead of creating separate apps for iOS and Android.
This helps in reducing the time and cost of the project and is a godsend for all business and app developers. What’s even better is the case where the business already possesses an application written in React – in that scenario, the development cost is further reduced because much of the existing code can be reused to create the new app.
Pre-developed components in the open-source library enable developers to freely access codes. These codes are already written and the developers will be getting ready to deploy them. The result? Faster development!
Benefits of Live and Hot Reloading
React Native actively aids Live as well as Hot Reloading, even though they are different from each other. Live Reloading can compile and read the changes made by a coder. It also furnishes a new file to the simulator, which then automatically reads the app from the start.
Hot Reloading, based on Hot Module Replacement (HMR), was introduced after the first reloading process was conducted. While retaining the features and function sequence, Hot Reloading has an added advantage – after saving changes in the file, an HMR intermediator then proceeds to keep the updated files in the required places as the app continues to operate in the background. The primary advantage of using Hot Reloading lies in its ability to sanction changes in the source code in a fashion that lets the developer view the codes, even if he does not recompile the app.
So, if a developer has two or more windows open for the code and the app screen, he can instantly see the results after making the required changes in the code. Hence, Hot Reloading ensures that waiting time is drastically reduced.
Cost-Effective Solution
The benefit of code reusability offered by React Native helps diminish the costs of app creation to a large extent. With this framework, coders need not write separate codes for iOS & Android and can simply code the application in the existing language. This results in the need for a smaller team of native developers for all app development businesses and ensures a sharp reduction in project completion time aided by the competence of the React Native community.
Simplified UI
The driving force behind the application of React Native Technology is that assures a simplified and uncomplicated mobile user interface. The Javascript library resembles an open-source framework rather than a conventional framework. With the help of this technology, developers can achieve the appropriate sequence for creating apps.
Usually, apps built with React Native have a more responsive UI, and seamless UX and take less time to load.
Third-Party Plugin Support
The main framework of React Native lacks certain components. To make up for that shortfall, it ensures developers have access to third-party plugins like JavaScript modules and native modules. For example, if a developer wants Google Maps to be added to his application, React Native will let him connect the plugin with a third-party/native module.
Modular Architecture
A popular software design technique, modular programming ensures the segregation of program functions into free and interchangeable blocks called modules. It makes the application-building process more adjustable by helping developers use each other’s projects whenever required. It also improves the team collaboration required to generate and receive updates.
React Native developers can also gain from its instinctive & intuitive modular architecture, given its ability for swift app up-gradation. The modules can also be reused while working with mobile and web APIs.
Increased Stability and Reliability
React Native is also instrumental in simplifying data binding in a manner that secures the parent data and does not let it get affected by the child component, thereby making the apps solid and dependable. To make any changes in the object, developers need to change their state first before systematically applying all updates. This exercise will ensure that only permitted components can get updated.
Access to Libraries and Ready-made Solutions
React Native comes with a range of pre-made solutions and libraries that are available for free, for developers to access. The solutions not only help simplify app building but also help developers focus on creating more bug-free codes.
Now that we are aware of the benefits of using React-Native, let’s know more about its drawbacks.
Disadvantages of React Native
Given below is an extensive list of the React Native disadvantages that developers must be aware of, before opting for it to create their app.
Immaturity
React Native is a comparatively newer programming language than its already mature Android and iOS counterparts. The methods of the React Native lifecycle have still not been completely assessed, which is why it can sometimes have negative or unpredictable impacts on app functions. Here are some examples of the same-
- The React Native framework is evolving rapidly, with newer and more improved updates being released every week. So app creators need to keep updating their apps regularly because each update introduces many changes. Failure to update the app for a few months will render it quite ineffective. Popular apps such as Airbnb have struggled with this challenge in the past.
- Developers also face the issue of writing extra native code for components that are not in sync with React Native, along with working on the existing codes that need to be written.
- Sometimes, React Native components perform worse than their native equivalents, like in the case of long lists. It can become extremely difficult to implement elaborate and complex lists with React Native compared to the other more mature native platform-specific components, which offer better maneuverability.
Difficult to Learn
Learning React Native can be very challenging, especially for freshers in app development who might find creating applications with JSX in the JavaScript syntax extension difficult. Besides React Native, app developers must know native app coding too. React Native libraries with native bridges for features like maps, videos, etc. need developers with in-depth knowledge, if not expertise, of three platforms. Developers who don’t know multiple platforms can find fixing some inconsistencies in both iOS and Android platforms quite difficult. Hence, the learning curve is steep and may delay development or increase timelines.
Low Security
React Native is a JavaScript library and also an open-source framework, due to which developers often face the challenge of keeping the app secure. JavaScript is quite fragile, and this results in some developers experiencing low levels of safety. When making apps that need extra layers of security, such as banking or finance applications, you need to be extra cautious. Otherwise, malicious code snippets can pose a critical threat to the app’s safety features. This is why developers sometimes avoid building financial apps on React Native.
Complex UI
According to many coders, React Native isn’t the right choice for apps that need complex gestures, screen transitions, animations, or require many interactions. Despite React Native having a gesture responder system, coders might continue to struggle with screens with complicated gestures. This is because iOS and Android touch subsystems are so different from each other, that using a unified API might be challenging.
Longer Initialization Time
Another problem coders have with React Native is that it takes longer to initialize the runtime before it can render properly the first time. This problem exists even with hi-tech devices and could be caused because JavaScript threads usually take more time to initialize.
Memory Management
React Native is also not suitable for use in computation-intensive apps because it is based on JavaScript. React Native reduces performance and speed in these applications, and float computations are also handled inefficiently, making memory management and usage quite difficult.
These are some of the acknowledged pros and cons of using React Native.
Our Experience
At Tech Exactly, our team of highly skilled and experienced developers has delivered high-performance applications built with React Native and helped businesses offer an excellent experience to their customers and meet their business objectives.
Conclusion
After shedding some much-needed light on the pros and cons of React Native, it is vital to remember a few things. React Native can help businesses make high-quality and scalable mobile apps with attractive and responsive UI and deliver an excellent native app user experience to their customers.
Other than the user experience the benefits and features offered are immense. There is code reusability, the creation of a community of expert developers, along with developers getting access to a range of pre-created elements, and many more, all of which comparably aid the developers in reducing the time and costs of the projects.
But it also has many drawbacks, and since it’s relatively new and improving, many developers choose not to use it when making certain complex apps. One should note, however, that the community of React Native developers is growing every day, so, its shortcomings are also improving, and the collection of components is also increasing. Soon, the advantages of React Native app will outstrip its drawbacks. In the future, React Native will be used to build apps requiring more advanced functionalities, and safety features, and it will soon become the popular choice among app developers everywhere.
If you want to develop the best React Native apps, get in touch with our highly skilled and experienced app developers today.
