Radon IDE: Better Developer Experience for React Native Teams

Mariera says tooling has ranked among the top React Native pain points in Software Mansion’s State of React Native survey for two years. React Native inherited assumptions from web development, while developers were left to learn parts of both iOS and Android tooling. Radon began as an effort to bring a SwiftUI-style preview into the editor.

Radon combines features such as a simulator preview, element inspection, and debugging within VS Code or Cursor. Right-clicking an element shows its component hierarchy, and app or Metro errors can take developers directly to the relevant file. Mariera says the goal is to open a project and have the tools work without installing packages or changing project configuration, though some customized setups are not supported.

Radon detects changes to native code that may require a rebuild and can prompt developers to rebuild and clear relevant caches. It also supports switching between simulators and adjusting device settings such as font size and appearance. In the iOS simulator, it shows the virtual keyboard while still allowing typing with a physical keyboard.

Mariera describes Radon’s commercial value as improving developer velocity by removing common React Native development friction. At the time of the conversation, it supported standard React Native setups from versions 0.73 to 0.77, including Expo Dev Client, EAS, and Expo Go, with a free trial and compatibility table available. Stability across varied project types, including monorepos, was a major challenge during the beta.

Radon for Windows was limited to Android, while iOS simulator support depended on Mac, and the team had few Windows or Linux users to help test those versions. Mariera sees easier tooling as one way to lower the learning curve for web developers considering React Native. He also recounts his early work on React Native’s Android team at Facebook, based in London.