React Native Development and Its Pros / Cons

Use React Native for App Development, Become Virtual And Expand Online

The most popular way to gain viewership for an online business is to have an mobile app designed for the product or service. The reason for the soaring popularity of Mobile Apps and the reason why they are the most powerful tool in the virtual world is because they help businesses to not only advertise ones product but also to increase ones customer base. Creating an App in today’s very competitive virtual market needs thought and expertise. Businesses need apps that are eye catching in its design as well as designed aesthetically with a good user interface. Developing native mobile apps is time consuming and you also need to focus on all the platforms. So businesses are now moving towards React Native Development over building native mobile apps.

Finally, it is the user’s experience that determines the popularity of the app therefore it is crucial for any online business to ensure that the app is easy to navigate through. Some of the points that a mobile app developer must keep in mind in order to bring out the best of the clients business while planning an mobile app design are:

• Interesting User Interface
• Eye Catching Colours and Logos
• Typography
• Test regularly with actual users at the development stage
• Practical Functionality
• Consistency in the Elements and
• Refer to the OS Guidelines

Let us also now look at why Native App development is preferred by mobile app developers while designing and building mobile apps for their clients. With new apps being uploaded everyday it is more important than ever to stand out and the user is even more discerning than ever. Virtually spoilt for choice, an app user today has a shorter memory and is always ready to move on to a better experience. An App developer often faces a dilemma on his client’s behalf, to choose to create an app with a superior UI or one that can work across devices and platforms.

Now, React Native development is one such option for cross platform mobile development that allows mobile app developers to create better performing apps with faster deployment time and shorter development cycles. React Native development is also a large group that consists of thousands of react native developers. Developers are preferring to use React Native development for app development as apps can not only be built faster but can be reloaded instantly without recompiling means when developer enables “Live Reloading” option at that time mobile application will be compiled automatically so it won’t require to run application every time and we can get reflection on UI instantly. This provides quick development environment to a mobile app developer. Optimisation of specific aspects of the mobile application is also easier as React Native development allows the developer to work with both React Native and Native code at the same time.

Read also : React Native – Build Mobile Apps with Increased Developer Productivity

Some of the examples of React Native apps are the mobile apps built by Facebook, Bloomberg, Instagram, SoundCloud Pulse, Townske, Gyrpscope etc. React has been described by its creators as ‘A JavaScript library for building user interfaces’.

Some Statistics on Mobile Apps

Studies have found that mobile users spend about 69% of their online time on social media.

80% of internet use globally is via a mobile device.

The Apple App store has almost 2.2 million apps while Google PlayStore has 8 Million apps and this number keeps growing everyday.

So this tells us there is a huge potential and competition in Mobile Apps Development and why businesses are shifting towards making mobile apps for their business.

We read much about React Native development above, but there is also technology known as React. I am sure you must be wondering what is the difference between the two. Lets see below some differences between React and React Native.

React v/s React Native Development

ReactJS

• React, popularly known as ReactJS is primarily a library in JavaScript that is used to create websites.
• When ReactJS was introduced the React developers were writing syntax similar to HTML within JavaScript. React then takes these bits of HTML and converts them into components. This way all the parts of code that make up a component are stored in one place.
• ReactJS allows a developer to safeguard all the aspects that make up a component within a JavaScript file. React uses Data in two ways, Properties which is the way, the stored data is displayed and the other is State. State is the condition of the data while the user interacts with it. React was created by Facebook to work on those interfaces that relied on data.

React Native

• React Native is a framework based on JSX (extension to Javascript ), ES6 based syntax , state and props.
• React Native development does the same for every react mobile app. Facebook has applied the same principles in both the iOS and as well the Android platforms with stateful components, layout engine, virtual Dom etc.
• The React Native developer allows the app developer to create react app for mobiles by using JSX (extension to Javascript ), ES6 based syntax. Its fundamental process is to put the UI building blocks together with the help of JavaScript and React to create react app for mobiles. The process is similar to the process that creates iOS and Android apps and the result is a feature rich mobile UI. The working behind React Native app is really not all that different from React; the principle to create React app was ‘learn once and write anywhere’ is also true for React Native Development.

What ties together React and React Native is that once the app developer learns to create an app in iOS with React Native the same can be done in Android as well. React Native development offers the developer some of the same tools that are available in ReactJS.

In a nutshell the transition between ReactJS and React Native is not difficult at all and developers have benefited from working with both.

Hire React Native developers for your outsourcing needs from WeblineIndia within your budget. Hiring dedicated react native developer helps to save on high local costs.

Advantages of React Native Development

Why React Native?

Developing a React Native app for an online presence allows a developer to learn a set of skills to develop an app for his client that can stand up to the competition and allows him to use these skills to build on other platforms as well. This gives the client business more expansion possibilities leading to more customers or browsers. Let us look at why React Native development is preferred by developers for their client’s benefit;

• A React Native app allows a developer to build Mobile app with the help of Web technology. Therefore a developer who has experience in web development can extend the same skills to easily create react app for the clients business to be available on their browsers mobiles as well. The same code can be modified and used on different and multiple platforms allowing the business immense expansion possibilities.
• Apps created with React Native allows the developers to create and build cross platform apps that are completely native apps for their clients as this uses JavaScript components that are built on iOS or Android components. This is an advantage as it saves cross platform app development time and the app maintenance is cheaper as the developer does not have to build the same thing for another platform. This is because almost 90% of the code base is shared between the platforms.

• React Native deals with JSX so for developers there is no need to learn complex languages in detail for Android app development or iOS application development like JAVA, ObjectiveC, Swift.
• Creating a React Native app makes the use of the building blocks that iOS and Android apps use and JavaScript is used to put these blocks together. This means that React Native development is a mobile framework that compiles native app components for native mobile applications in JavaScript. This makes monitoring the apps progress simpler and new features can be easily tested while the app development is in progress.
• Using React Native app helps in giving businesses an advantage as reusing code components is a time saver. It is available with native components and native modules that are performance enhancers. Some of the code components are extracted with APIs.
• In terms of Component development if we compare with Native app, then Native mobile apps use much line of codes and classes for rendering in UI but in case of React Native just use component name and declare its props (property) it will render in UI in both platforms which saves time for mobile app development.
• A client with a small budget can also have apps developed on both the platforms, iOS and Android with React Native as front end developers with a working knowledge of JavaScript can easily create react mobile app. Knowledge of platform specific design pattern, native UI elements, platform APIs and native UI elements is enough to start creating apps using React Native.
• An existing app can be easily upgraded by adding native UI components into the existing code. Developing and publishing updates for apps is faster with React Native.
• A React Native app ensures speed and agility for the apps; along with responsiveness and a great user experience with the native app experience.
• As compared to other cross platform app development tools like Phonegap, Ionic, etc. which are web based frameworks, React Native deals with Native components. So as compared to other framework screen rendering and execution is faster than other framework
• A real React Native Example is Instagram. There are other big names in the business for more React Native Example like Wal-Mart, Facebook Ads, Townske, Delivery.com etc.

Statistics tell us that,

Disadvantages of React Native Development

Where does React Native Fall Short?

Every React Native app has been getting good reviews from most of its users but does it fall short anywhere? Are there pitfalls that a business owner and mobile app developer must pay attention to? Developers and coders have been very happy with its declarative style which allows the design to express its idea of the apps look and React Native development will manage the UI updates automatically as and when the data changes, with its fast iteration and with the practical platform mobile development capability there are some cons that can be worked on further.

• A major concern for the ones who have pointed this out is the lack of clarity on Facebook’s long term commitment to React Native. For those with apps that are totally dependent on React Native having such a grey area is a genuine cause for concern. The Patent Rights are also slightly unclear. For those who check and read between the lines it seems like the license to use React Native can get terminated immediately if a user sues or initiates any kind of legal action against Facebook for any kind of patent infringement.
• JavaScript can be technically inadequate, slow to evolve and not completely secure. And, JavaScript knowledge is essential to working with React Native. Businesses that require any Type A security like Banking apps or Finance management apps will need to look at additional precautions.
• Another point is that JavaScript offers no safeguards against programmer error thus leaving room for run time crashes that are in fact avoidable.
• In the many errors in JavaScript that are pointed out one major drawback is no support for decimals. JavaScript does develop mathematically incorrect decimal figures as decimal fractions cannot be correctly shown as binary fractions in hardware. This definitely could cause problems for apps that need any kind of computation.
• React Native’s USP lies in its productivity and portability; but the concerns for all businesses are about its patent license, safety and its long term future plans.

Conclusion

Every software development platform must have these features at minimum,

• Safety – This is determined by how far the platform will go to prevent the developer from making mistakes.
• Portability – Can it work on multiple platforms?
• Longevity – Will the platform outlive the developer’s app?

The overall conclusion is that React Native development is widely preferred for speedy mobile app development; with no compromise on the quality of apps for multiple platforms. React Native is also an open source platform with the option of third party plug in compatibility; an example is adding Google Maps to ones app can be easily done by linking the plug-in with a native module. This way, many functions like rotate, zoom, etc. can be linked with the map without too much memory being utilized.

Finding someone to create a React Native app for any kind of business, product or service is also easy with the vast options that the internet offers. There are offshore agencies offering their services in React Native Development with experienced and qualified staff willing to work 24*7. A good way to determine the agencies capability in React Native App development is by asking for their client list. Or you can also hire the agency for a sample or trial project. Asking people who have used these services for their React Native app requirements for recommendations is also a good way to find a qualified react native developer. Go through React Native examples online to see the features that could be incorporated.

A professional agency well versed in cross platform mobile development will offer suggestions. The agency will also have solutions to any issues that come up during the development process. Hiring the services of a dedicated react native developer is a time and cost saver for any business owner. As there is a professional to handle the app creation leaving the owner to focus on his/her core business. We can help you with your React Native App Development needs.

If you are in a dilemma whether you must Hire In-house Team or Outsource React Native Development, then I would advise to read this post once where you can gauge what is best for your business.