State of React Native

The survey, conducted by Software Mansion from December 22 to January 20, drew more than 1,800 responses. The hosts caution that promotion through This Week in React and Software Mansion may have skewed the sample. They also note that 36% of respondents had contributed to a React Native library, a share they considered unusually high and not representative of all developers.

The hosts discuss gaps between their expectations and reported tool use: MobX appeared under “other” state management, while Axios was used by 89% of respondents despite Fetch being capable of handling requests. They point to web-to-mobile influences including tRPC, Expo Router, React Router, and Tailwind. React Navigation remained the leading navigation choice, and React Native Paper version 5 supported Material Design versions 2 and 3.

The survey showed strong interest in the new architecture and 20% reported usage, though the hosts stress that the respondents were likely more active than the broader developer population. Hermes had 60% usage. About one in five respondents used React Native in brownfield apps, and Flipper led the reported performance profiling tools.

Jest had more than 90% usage, and the hosts highlighted Maestro as an easy-to-use testing tool they expected to grow. Oscar noted that half of respondents used TypeScript exclusively, while 8.5% used JavaScript exclusively. Around 80% were happy or very happy with React Native overall, and 82% were happy with its direction; upgrades, especially for non-Expo libraries, were the leading pain point.

Oscar and Michał welcomed the survey as a first effort to fill a data gap and said they looked forward to future editions. They describe the results as a snapshot of the survey’s particular community and year, with broader participation needed for a more representative picture and year-to-year comparisons.