When I first decided to build a mobile app, I faced a choice: learn two completely different technologies (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) or use a cross-platform framework. I chose React Native because I already knew JavaScript and React. Three months later, I had a working app on both platforms. Was it perfect? No. Did it have native performance issues? Some. But it was shipping and serving real users while my friend who chose native development was still building the iOS version.
React Native continues to be a popular choice for building mobile apps with a shared JavaScript or TypeScript codebase. For web developers, it offers a familiar component model and development experience while still producing real native apps. Here's how to actually get started in 2025.
Understanding What React Native Is
React Native isn't a webview wrapper that displays mobile websites. It uses JavaScript to control actual native UI components. When you write a View component in React Native, it renders as a UIView on iOS and an android.view on Android. Your JavaScript code runs in a JavaScript engine, but the UI is genuinely native.
This is different from hybrid approaches like Ionic or Cordova, which render web content in webviews. React Native apps feel more like native apps because they use native UI components. They can access native features like the camera, push notifications, and sensors through bridge APIs or native modules.
The development experience resembles React for web. You write components, manage state with hooks, and compose UIs from smaller pieces. If you know React, much of that knowledge transfers. The main differences are using mobile-specific components (View, Text, ScrollView instead of div, span, etc.) and dealing with platform-specific considerations.
Setting Up Your Development Environment
Getting started typically involves installing Node.js (which you probably have), the React Native CLI or Expo CLI, and platform-specific tools. For iOS development, you need a Mac with Xcode. For Android development, you need Android Studio and its SDKs, which work on Mac, Windows, or Linux.
Expo is an easier starting point for beginners. It's a set of tools and services built around React Native that handles much of the native configuration complexity. You can build and run apps without even opening Xcode or Android Studio. The tradeoff is less control over native features and dependencies. When you need custom native modules, you "eject" from Expo to bare React Native.
Bare React Native gives you more control but requires more setup. You configure Xcode projects and Android Gradle files directly. You can add any native library or write custom native modules. Choose Expo if you're learning or prototyping. Choose bare React Native if you need specific native features or are building a production app with complex requirements.
Setting up iOS development requires joining Apple's developer program eventually (for device testing and app store submission), but you can develop in the iOS simulator without this. Android development is more open—you can deploy to devices and even the Play Store with just a Google account.
Understanding Components and Structure
React Native provides primitive components that map to native equivalents. View is your container, like a div. Text renders text (you can't just put text in a View—it must be in a Text component). ScrollView provides scrolling, Image displays images, TextInput handles text input, TouchableOpacity makes things tappable.
You compose these primitives into your app's components just like React web development. A user profile screen might have a ScrollView containing a View with an Image (avatar), several Text components (name, bio), and a Button. Build components that make sense for your app, not generic everything-in-one-file components.
Styling uses a JavaScript object syntax similar to CSS but with camelCase properties. You're not writing actual CSS—React Native converts these style objects to native styling. Layouts primarily use Flexbox, which is familiar from web development but with some subtle differences (flex containers are flex by default, flex direction defaults to column instead of row).
Navigation in React Native
React Native doesn't have built-in navigation like a browser. You need a navigation library. React Navigation is the most popular and recommended choice. It provides stack navigation (push/pop screens), tab navigation, drawer navigation, and combinations of these.
Setting up navigation involves defining your navigation structure—what screens exist and how they're organized. A typical app might have a bottom tab navigator at the root with different stack navigators for each tab. Each stack can have multiple screens that push and pop.
Navigation feels different from web routing. You're navigating between screens in a native navigation context, not changing URLs. You pass parameters to screens when navigating, access navigation props to go back or forward, and can customize headers and transitions.
Working with Native Features
Accessing device features like the camera, location, or push notifications usually involves community-maintained libraries. Want camera access? Use react-native-camera or expo-camera. Need location? Use @react-native-community/geolocation or expo-location. Push notifications? Use @react-native-firebase/messaging or expo-notifications.
These libraries provide JavaScript APIs that communicate with native code. Installation often involves both npm install and linking native code (though auto-linking has improved this). You'll need to configure permissions in Info.plist (iOS) and AndroidManifest.xml (Android).
Not every native feature has a ready-made library. Sometimes you need custom native modules—writing Swift/Objective-C or Kotlin/Java code that bridges to JavaScript. This requires native development knowledge but lets you access any native capability. Most apps don't need custom modules initially.
State Management and Data Fetching
State management in React Native works like React web. Start with component state and hooks (useState, useEffect, useContext). For more complex apps, consider Redux, MobX, or Zustand. Don't over-engineer state management for simple apps—useState and useContext go surprisingly far.
Data fetching uses the same approaches as web—fetch API, axios, or React Query. The mobile context introduces considerations like offline support and network reliability. Users might have spotty connections, so handle loading states, errors, and retries gracefully. Libraries like React Query with offline support or redux-offline help manage this.
Async Storage (similar to localStorage on web) provides persistent key-value storage for simple data. For structured data, consider SQLite databases (with libraries like react-native-sqlite-storage) or Realm. For secure storage (tokens, credentials), use react-native-keychain or expo-secure-store.
Debugging and Development Tools
React Native provides development tools similar to web development. You can use React DevTools to inspect component trees and props. Chrome DevTools or Flipper for debugging JavaScript. Fast Refresh (hot reloading) lets you see changes immediately without rebuilding.
Debugging native issues requires platform-specific tools. Xcode for iOS problems, Android Studio for Android problems. These show native logs, memory issues, and crashes. Learning basic native debugging helps even if you're primarily a JavaScript developer.
Performance profiling uses React Native's built-in performance monitor and native profiling tools. Watch for expensive re-renders, large bundles, or bridge bottlenecks (excessive communication between JavaScript and native sides).
Testing React Native Apps
Testing involves multiple levels. Unit test your JavaScript logic with Jest (which comes set up by default). Component testing uses React Testing Library for React Native. Integration and end-to-end testing use tools like Detox or Appium that simulate user interactions.
Test on real devices when possible, not just simulators/emulators. Real devices expose issues with performance, touch targets, network conditions, and platform quirks that simulators hide. Test on different device sizes—what works on iPhone 14 Pro Max might be cramped on iPhone SE.
Building and Deploying
Building for iOS requires Xcode and certificates/provisioning profiles from Apple. The process is well-documented but has complexity. Expo simplifies this with EAS Build cloud builds. For bare React Native, you'll work directly with Xcode.
Building for Android is more straightforward—generate a signed APK or AAB through Android Studio or Gradle commands. You need a keystore for signing releases. Expo's EAS Build also handles Android builds.
App Store submission requires following Apple's guidelines, providing screenshots and metadata, and waiting for review (typically 1-2 days). Play Store submission is faster, usually a few hours. Both require developer accounts ($99/year for Apple, $25 one-time for Google).
Common Challenges and Solutions
React Native has challenges. Performance can lag behind pure native apps for animation-heavy or computation-intensive features. The solution is optimizing JavaScript code, using native modules for heavy computation, or using alternative renderers like Reanimated for animations.
The bridge between JavaScript and native can bottleneck. Minimize bridge traffic, batch operations, and use native components that handle work natively (like FlatList for large lists). The new architecture (Fabric and TurboModules) improves this but isn't universally adopted yet.
Platform differences require conditional code. Some features work differently or only exist on one platform. Use Platform.OS to conditionally execute platform-specific code, or provide separate .ios.js and .android.js files for platform-specific implementations.
Dependency management can be frustrating. Native libraries need version compatibility with React Native versions. Updates sometimes break things. Pin versions in production apps and test updates thoroughly before deploying.
When React Native Makes Sense
React Native excels when you want to reach both platforms with one codebase and team. For startups and small companies, building two native apps doubles development time and cost. For teams with web development expertise but limited mobile experience, React Native offers a gentler learning curve.
It works well for typical business apps—forms, lists, maps, media, standard interactions. It's less ideal for games, apps with complex animations, or apps requiring cutting-edge platform features. For most business use cases though, React Native delivers great results.
Final Thoughts
Getting started with React Native in 2025 is easier than ever. Tools have matured, documentation has improved, and the ecosystem is robust. Start with Expo for simplicity, build a small project to learn the basics, and gradually explore more advanced features as needed.
React Native won't make you a native iOS or Android expert overnight. But it lets web developers build real mobile apps quickly and effectively. That's powerful. My first app wasn't perfect, but it shipped and served users while I learned. That's what matters when you're starting out.