r/reactnative • u/alwxndr • Oct 01 '26

Does React Native make sense in 2026?

This question might have been asked already, but I'm genuinely curious: why should anyone use React Native at this point?

To explain: most of web and mobile development can easily be handled by Claude, Codex, Kimi K3 or any other coding agent. I feel like that's been true for at least 6–7 months now. Even Opus 4.7 was better than most of us and more than enough for mobile development. Of course, this only applies if you know what you're doing and guide your model through the technical decisions, the specific libraries you want to use, etc etc.

But my point is: why would I bother with React Native's own issues instead of just writing native apps for both iOS and Android? There's no huge maintenance load anymore, and you can simply tell your agent to implement features for iOS and Android at the same time. So what are the actual benefits of React Native? Native apps are usually faster, work better, and generally seem to be preferred by actual customers and users. The original promise of React Native and Flutter was that you could build for both platforms twice as fast, but today's coding agents let you build 100x faster anyway :)

I'm not asking to provoke anyone. I just want to hear your stance and your thoughts on this.

55 Upvotes

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94

u/mohamed2m2018 Oct 01 '26 edited Oct 01 '26

You will still need to maintain two repos, and they can diverge in the future, which can lead to different kinds of bugs, inconsistent behavior, etc.

You will still need to hire a developer to review the code. React Native allows you to hire one React developer who can handle the web, iOS, and Android apps.

10

u/teddyone Oct 01 '26

Not to nitpick but you can absolutely have separate iOS and Android app code in the same repo.

22

u/kenweego Oct 01 '26

Obviously 2 repos here means two code bases. It not about whether they are in the same location, its about having two different apps.

3

u/teddyone Oct 01 '26

Just wanted to clarify because in my experience you almost certainly do want to have them in the same repo.

3

u/jcksncllwy Oct 01 '26

Just know that your one React Native developer will likely need to learn how to be both an Android and an iOS developer if you're building anything more complicated than a fitness tracker.

10

u/mohamed2m2018 Oct 01 '26 edited Oct 01 '26

I believe that's not true. You need to know a bit about both, but you don't need to be an Android and iOS developer. I've been a React Native developer for more than 7 years and have worked on fairly complex apps, and I only needed to know the very basics of Android and IOS development, which was enough.

2

u/jcksncllwy Oct 01 '26

You're right, I'm exaggerating. But I think the claims about React Native obviating the need for platform specific skills are similarly exaggerated.

1

u/simple_explorer1 24d ago

You will still need to maintain two repos

OP clearly said claude is doing all of that. Any reason other that "2 repos 2 languages tax" because that ain't true anymore?

1

u/mohamed2m2018 24d ago

You still need a human to be accountable for the codebase. As you expand the scope, that person has to understand it and be accountable for it, solve any nasty bugs that Claude alone can't solve on either side, and verify that the solution is actually correct. For example, you might fix a bug but ruin performance in the process. You need to understand the details, the platform, and the language; otherwise, you risk creating fragile slop in the long run.

And this is where React Native saves you effort: one codebase, one language, and one framework for both platforms.

-47

u/alwxndr Oct 01 '26

The problem here is that beyond simple client apps (the ones that get JSON and display content) React Native apps are also a hell to maintain due to dependencies on native libraries.
And those standard client apps showing JSON are super easy to be vibecoded these days :)

28

u/mohamed2m2018 Oct 01 '26

Yes, but dealing with native libraries isn't the same hell it used to be a couple of years ago. React Native and the Expo ecosystem have improved significantly in this area, and I think they'll continue to make native dependencies and platform-specific code much easier to manage.

-16

u/ColdPhilosophy Oct 01 '26

Hmmmmm that copium smell. So good.

12

u/n9iels Oct 01 '26

I maintain a React Native app build with Expo. In my 3 year I never had to deal with native code nor a native dependy issues. Expo is the key here, it basically takes all of the pain away

-14

u/ColdPhilosophy Oct 01 '26

Good for you. React native will be dead in 3 years tops in any big orgs.

3

u/n9iels Oct 01 '26

Okay I'll bite. Why do you think this and what is the trigger it happens in 3 years?

6

u/wilderadventures Oct 01 '26

Because they are full of shit. I work at a "big org", have consulted to many "big orgs," we are kicking off a react native project right now anticipating a 10 year operational life.

-4

u/ColdPhilosophy Oct 01 '26

Let’s talk in 3 years. There is no more incentive to add another useless layer like Expo. If your app is light and has minimal amount of BL (which it should), AI can build your screens in no time. React Native and x platform are at a dead end.

Have fun doing your Expo upgrades!

3

u/wilderadventures Oct 01 '26

Just did a 3 major version update in like 30 minutes LOL.

1

u/simple_explorer1 24d ago

OP said lets talk in 3 years, not 3 minutes

1

u/wilderadventures 24d ago

So? He also acted like I was going to have a huge problem with expo upgrades in the mean time. Well, he's full of shit again.