WhoBuilt

What a year for React Native!

Sep 25, 2024· 12 min· 847 views·Watch on YouTube

Speakers

Nicola Corti, an engineer on Meta’s React team, and Riccardo Cipolleschi, a software engineer on the same team, review React Native’s 2024 progress and upcoming changes at React Universe Conf 2024.

Milestones from React Native 0.74

Corti says React Native 0.74 brought Yoga 3.0 layout capabilities and enabled Bridgeless mode for early adopters of the New Architecture. Feedback from developers using the release helped shape the architecture.

Frameworks and the New Architecture beta

At React Conf in May, the team announced that the New Architecture was in beta and ready for broader developer testing. Corti also restated the recommendation to use a React Native framework, specifically Expo, for new apps.

React Native 0.75 changes

Version 0.75 added percentage values for gaps and translation transforms, initially for New Architecture users, alongside fixes to improve compatibility with ecosystem libraries. The release also warned that `react-native init` was deprecated; Corti said developers could use the Community CLI’s `init` command explicitly.

The New Architecture becomes the default

Cipolleschi said the team planned to start the 0.76 release candidate cycle after the conference, with a stable release expected between mid and late October. He announced that the New Architecture would be enabled by default in Community CLI projects and in new Expo projects starting with SDK 52, with opt-out instructions still available.

React Native depends on its ecosystem

Corti points to Hermes and its runtime bytecode performance work as another part of React Native’s development. He credits Meta, Microsoft, Expo, Callstack, library maintainers, app developers, and independent contributors for building and supporting the ecosystem.

Takeaways

  • Use a React Native framework such as Expo when starting a new app, following the team’s stated recommendation.
  • Check New Architecture compatibility across your dependencies before upgrading, since 0.75 included ecosystem library fixes.
  • Plan for the New Architecture to be enabled by default in React Native 0.76 CLI projects and new Expo SDK 52 projects.
  • If your project still uses `react-native init`, switch to the explicit React Native Community CLI `init` command.
  • Treat React Native upgrades as ecosystem work: framework settings, native dependencies, and library support all matter.

Mentioned in this talk

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What was claimed 10

  • role at
    Riccardo Cipolleschi is Core team member at Meta
    Verified5 sources· Talk
  • role at
    Nicola Corti is focused on open-source React Native at Meta
    “I work as an Honor Engineer on the React Native team at Meta”
    0:24inAll devs make mistakes, even at MetaYouTube
    Verified6 sources· Talk
  • feature
    React Native: Version 0.74 included new layout capabilities from Yoga 3.0 and Bridgeless mode for New Architecture early adopters.
    “Version 0.74 was a huge milestone for us, as it came with a bunch of new layout capabilities thanks to the release of Yoga 3.0.”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • uses
    “you should be using Expo to write React Native apps”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    React Native: Version 0.75 added support for percentage values in gaps and translation transforms.
    “support for percentage values in your gaps and translation transforms”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Software Mansion: Contributed help migrating and adding support for React Native ecosystem libraries.
    “folks from Software Mansion, Expo, and Callstack for the huge amount of help they gave us migrating and adding support”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Callstack: Contributed help migrating and adding support for React Native ecosystem libraries.
    “folks from Software Mansion, Expo, and Callstack for the huge amount of help they gave us migrating and adding support”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    React Native: Version 0.76 is planned to include a next-generation debugger stack.
    “The first is our next-generation debugger stack”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    React Native: The New Architecture is enabled by default in Community CLI projects starting with version 0.76.
    “starting with 0.76, the React Native New Architecture will be enabled by default in your projects”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Expo Modules: The New Architecture is enabled by default in new projects starting with SDK 52.
    “the New Architecture will be enabled only in new projects starting with SDK 52”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk

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