What does this mean for React Native?
Is Swift now going to be the de facto language for Mobile (and maybe Desktop) development?
back
5 comments
Not a chance
React Native is popular because there’s a thousand times more React devs than native devs.
And people like to use what they know.
Also React dev experience makes anything Swift related look like stone age technology
> Also React dev experience makes anything Swift related look like stone age technology
How so?
Presumably hot reload and IDE integrations that actually work. Xcode is really crappy compared to other IDEs, so platforms that can avoid it for most of your work tend to be an advantage. Xcode 26 generally broke anything that relies on indexing, like autocomplete, edit in scope, or refactoring, among others.
The npm ecosystem is one of the worst and most backwards places to be, so I don't think so.
- Hot reload that actually works.
- OTA updates, skipping Apple review for every little thing. Really speeds up builds too.
- Repack and module federation aren’t even possible on native
- running tests on iOS - 2 minutes minimum and having to boot the simulator in most cases. RN - seconds
- IDE with all sorts of plugins, that are impossible on Xcode, Rozenite
- AI trained on lots more React code, where they usually struggle to use Swift 6 properly
and a bunch more things
I assume all the extra work you have to do to make it work instead of using the native language.
If the project is simple to port over then it should have just been a website.
> React Native is popular because there’s a thousand times more React devs than native devs.
Exactly this. And they come cheaper. JS dominance in development stems from business logic, not from quality of development environment or tools, or developers preference.
Why would a marginal platform language become de facto language for mobile? If anything, Kotlin is much better positioned to fill the niche. It is already far, far ahead of anything Swift has to offer and is backed by a company actually making money out of the tools. What incentive does Apple have? My bet is expanding Apple services (Apple TV, Music, etc.), but is that enough for Apple to create a proper dev ecosystem? Highly unlikely.
> It is already far, far ahead of anything Swift has to offer
Please share what Kotlin has that Swift doesn't
Look up Kotlin multiplatform and Compose multiplatform.
Ah, so you are talking about frameworks and ecosystem, not the language
Flutter still exists, so as a competitor you need to beat both React Native and Flutter.
I last used RN half a decade ago, but from what I see around me - our frontend developer, who is proficient in React, actually chose to use Flutter for our iOS and Android mobile apps — and he’s quite satisfied with it.
Kotlin did it first with kotlin multiplatform
The Simpsons did it.