What is React Native?

Write one JavaScript codebase for both iOS and Android

Uses true native UI components under the hood

Historical Context

• Born in 2013 as a hackathon project to bring React’s fast iteration to mobile
• Replaced clunky web-wrapper approaches with real native performance

The Pre-RN Pain Points

• Separate teams, tools, languages, and UIs for iOS vs. Android
• Platform updates required duplicate work across apps
• Longer development cycles and higher maintenance costs

How React Native Solves It

• Single framework maps JS components to built-in native widgets
• Shared codebase handles logic and layout for both platforms
• Native components (camera, gestures, etc.) stay in sync with OS updates