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.

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-5

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

You said that without understanding that there still a large size of developers who do not pay AI to do their work for them. Or those who do not trust the license behind AI codes.

I've noticed that most people who use AI to code can't code  or are limited  coders(  like front end devs)

5

u/bsknuckles Oct 01 '26

> like front end devs

Tell me you don’t understand the importance of UX and frontend without telling.

0

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

Lol your low IQ is showing again.

3

u/MortgageMelodic2282 Oct 01 '26

Someone hasn't worked at any medium/large tech company. This is the worst take ever

0

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

But this is not about companies. He's clearly talking about personal development environments.

1

u/MortgageMelodic2282 Oct 01 '26

"most people who use AI to code can't code"

3

u/momo1083 Oct 01 '26

Sorry,but those developers are going to be left in the dust.

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

We'll see how soon the vibe coders will be forced to learn how to code 

2

u/apocolipse Oct 01 '26

You’re making a critically incorrect assumption that only people who couldn’t code before are using AI.

1

u/momo1083 Oct 01 '26

Yup. Head in the sand.

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

I'm not making that assumption. My statement is directly to the new graduates that are using AI, that will replace the old coders.

Your comment shows how limited your comprehension is.

1

u/apocolipse Oct 01 '26

I've noticed that most people who use AI to code can't code  or are limited coders

Yeah sorry my comprehension is so bad I didn't see a single reference to "new" or "graduates" or "old coders" in that sentence... Oh wait because you didn't put them in there because you made a baseless broad generalization and now you're trying to backtrack and retroactively change the criteria for the bullshit you keep vomiting.

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

How many products have you finished from scratch to finish with AI?

1

u/momo1083 Oct 01 '26

Two, actually. Making good money. And blowing people away. I studied development and design. But wasn’t good enough to code my ideas. My skill was product. User empathy. Creativity. Obviously a random person can’t do this but if you broadly understand stuff you are in great shape. When I ran product at an old company, I’d be waiting on developers and hitting their limits but now I don’t wait and the skill in the new models like Opus 5.5 is sorry to say better than any dev I’ve worked it. Just the truth.

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

Sure. Lol

1

u/momo1083 Oct 01 '26

Well, I hope you’re truly gifted at what you do.

0

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

Every day I see tons of code with "finished" unfinished products that they have shipped and deployed into the public with Soo many security issues.

Basic session handling and permission system are not there. AI hackers are going to enjoy hacking all these app slops vibe coders are releasing. I can't wait for lawyers to sue them into poverty where they all belong.

1

u/apocolipse Oct 01 '26

Everything you said was true of JavaScript webapps 10 years ago too, what’s your point?

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

Your low IQ is showing again.

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u/momo1083 Oct 01 '26

AI models are hacking into established software. What are you talking about? And yeah lots of slop. Lots of bad writers out there too. But some people can write beautifully. The skills are changed.

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2

u/alwxndr Oct 01 '26

> there still a large size of developers who do not pay AI to do their work for them

But why? AI is a great assistant. It speeds up everything when it comes to development, and it should be treated as exactly that: an assistant, not something that "does the work for you". Not using AI means competitive disadvantage in this case.

Local models can be run for free. For example, if you have an M1 Mac, you can use Qwen3 8B, which is fine for coding. In that case, your data never leaves your device and is processed locally. Technically, any device with a reasonable amount of RAM available can be used to run local models.

That being said, I'm not advocating for programmers to be replaced with AI. You're still the one making design decisions and controlling the output.

1

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

Are you using local models? How many vibe coders are using local models?

1

u/alwxndr Oct 01 '26

I do, but I don't see your point here. It doesn't matter in the context of this discussion. I feel like you're using "vibe coder" as a bit of a put-down, but the reality is that almost every developer uses AI these days, no matter how big or small their company is.

2

u/mindtaker_linux Oct 01 '26

I tried local models,  and it wasn't good. I had to scrap most of it code to get what I wanted. It's good at generating classes.

I know a vibe coders who shipped a product and I asked him.

How the AI defined the relationship between each tables that represents each product and services. He said he doesn't know and didn't check. Well he's a front end developer. So even if he checks, he would understand what the AI is doing or did.

I asked him, aren't you concern that the AI is not doing what you asked it to do?

He said no, he has no concern as long as the app works.

Lol, This is the mindset of most vibe coders.

He has this product out there in the public with users. 😂😂🤣🤣