React Native is a framework developed by Facebook that allows you to create cross-platform apps in JavaScript in an accelerated, simple and cross-platform way. On average, this framework cuts development time by 30% because iOS and Android apps share most of the code. React Native is therefore the best way to quickly launch a first viable version of an app on the App Store and Google Play. But beyond the first version of the app, many large companies have been won over by React Native technology. After testing it, many companies have gone so far as to recode entire parts of their app using it. In this article, we’ll see examples of companies that have chosen React Native for specific needs and that demonstrate the impact of adopting this technology on their technical and operational performance.
INSTAGRAM A BENCHMARK USER ENGAGEMENT RATE
In June 2018, Instagram reached 1 billion monthly active users, half of whom are active daily. On average, an Arabic person opens his Instagram application 10 times a day and the engagement rate on Instagram is 60 times higher than that of Facebook: Instagram has become a benchmark in interactivity and user experience.
IT IS BY CONSTANTLY INNOVATING THAT INSTAGRAM CAPTURES THE ATTENTION OF ITS USERS
One of the reasons for this success is Instagram’s ability to continuously and quickly develop features. For this, Instagram considers code sharing between iOS and Android applications a key factor to accelerate the development of new features. React Native, which allows you to use the same code base for both applications, therefore appeared as a boon for Instagram, which decided to take an interest in it at the start of 2016, less than a year after the launch of the framework. Instagram technical teams first tested this framework on Push Notifications, then, the test being conclusive, they decided to extend it to several other functionalities.
IT’S REACT NATIVE THAT ALLOWS INSTAGRAM TO GO FASTER BY SHARING THE SAME CODE FOR ALL PLATFORMS
By using React Native on other features, Instagram developers have also realized another advantage of this technology like the native look & feel. For example, on the Post Promote feature, which allows users to manage their post’s advertising, Instagram developers had used a WebView. A WebView is used to display a web page in a native application. Instagram has used the WebView because it allows it to iterate more easily than native code. However, the WebView does not allow the user to display a UI similar to that of native apps. Using Maven Digital react native app Design Agency Dubai on this feature, the developer teams were amazed at how much the users could tell the difference with a native app.Tested and then gradually implemented on several functionalities, RN was therefore a great success at Instagram.
“REACT NATIVE HAS ALLOWED OUR PRODUCT TEAMS TO DEVELOP FEATURES ON OUR APPS FASTER, BOTH ON ANDROID AND IOS” MEDIUM
As proof, here are the percentages of lines of code that are shared between the two platforms for the features on which React Native.
PRODUCTIVITY, CODE SHARING, TIME-TO-MARKET: WALMART TEAMS BECOME PROMOTERS OF REACT NATIVE
No need to share knowledge beforehand since each feature is developed by a specific team. The developer experience is “awesome”.RN is written in JavaScript, which makes it possible to share development resources within the organization.
IN 2016 WALMART CHOOSES REACT NATIVE TO REDESIGN AN APPLICATION THAT HAS BECOME OBSOLETE
In 2016, the American retail giant was faced with a problem: the user experience on the Walmart app was not good enough. The cause seemed to be bad practice in the use of successive Web Views (which allows a web page to be displayed in a native application), which made the look & feel of the app less qualitative, especially if the user did not have a good internet connection. The cause found, Walmart was faced with two potential solutions: recode an application for each platform or use a cross-platform technology. For reasons of productivity, code reusability, but also time-to-market, which is very important for Walmart, the teams of developers have chosen to test React Native.
AND SIMPLIFY THE MAINTENANCE OF ITS APPLICATIONS
React Native’s impact isn’t just limited to building the app. Another advantage of the technology in this specific case is the maintainability of the code: the app is less expensive and less difficult to maintain and update, since developers have almost identical code for the version. IOS and Android version. For example, React Native allows Bloomberg teams to automatically update the code, which allows users to have the latest updates as soon as they open their app, and therefore always have access to the best experience. Possible. It also allows developers to experiment and iterate. For example, before the launch of the app, developers were able to perform A / B testing very quickly by putting images to the right and left of the screen and by collecting data to find out user preferences. .
FACEBOOK ADS MANAGER: THE FIRST REACT NATIVE SAMPLE APP
It’s hard not to include the Facebook ad manager app in this article. This is the first application for which Facebook has used its React Native technology. It is therefore the first source of learning about this technology as well as a very good use case of the advantages of React Native. Facebook Ads Manager is a platform that allows millions of users who post ads on Facebook to manage their posts and measure their impact. The Facebook Ads Manager app, which allows users to manage their ads on Facebook, shares 85% of their code between the iOS app and the Android app. This therefore allows developers to focus on high added value features and optimize the performance of their app.The Facebook Ads Manager React Native team developed the platform alongside the Facebook app. She developed the components and APIs necessary for the integration of the platform with the app. The advantage of React Native is that these components and APIs will now be used by all teams who will have to develop an app at Facebook in the future. These components should have been developed in any case. But if they had not been developed using React Native, they could not have been reused in the future for other applications, which is a time saver for Facebook and a significant IT asset. Another interest of React Native consists in the testing of the developed functionalities. When developing a cross-platform app like Facebook Ads Manager, the testing phase is tricky since you have to test on both platforms. The advantage of React Native is that the testing phase is shortened because a large number of components behave similarly on both platforms. In conclusion, the same team of Facebook engineers, specialized in JavaScript, was able to completely develop an application in React Native, on two different platforms and with a native look & feel. Most of the engineers, who weren’t familiar with React Native before starting the project, were able to develop the iOS app in just five months. Thanks to code sharing, they were then able to develop the Android version in just 3 additional months. Facebook is therefore today one of the biggest defenders of the use of this technology, and is beginning the gradual overhaul of its Facebook application, which suggests good prospects for React Native. And Facebook is taking the opportunity in particular to improve the fluidity of its app: for example, the use of React Native made it possible to divide the loading time of events by two!
