What You Should Know About React Native 0.60?

React Native 0.60

Facebook recently introduced the latest version of React Native labeled Version 0.60. Months of perspiration and hard work by the React Native App Developers have enabled Facebook to launch the final product that is both enthusiastic and curious. It has also been received very well by the users and developers. The best part about it, as usual, is the upgraded characteristics to make things easier for users. Of course, the highlight is the fact that the fresh version mixes the Cocoa Pods into it, making a powerful, extensive case of mixing the iOS project of React Natives. There’s also some squeezing out on the other end of the spectrum. The Web View and Net Info no longer remain a part of React Native’s repository.

For portable cross-platform apps, React Native is extremely preferred. It’s also known as React Native for Mobiles when developing Android, Windows and iOS applications. React Native is capable of providing web based solutions to its users as well. It is known for saving time and thus providing a cost-effective solution to the growth of mobile apps – lowering costs by up to 50%. React Native’s recent update comes with enhancements inaccessibility, iOS CocoaPods, renewed start screen, and lots of other things. React Native is also an open-source framework that distinguishes itself from its primary version. Talking about functions, the React Native App Developers are able to actively run JavaScript written in the background. This upgrade may be used by 0.59 for all users currently engaging the React Native.

React Native App Developers who were confronting some of the other problems with the past versions can now make the most of the recent version as it comes with simple fixes. The issues and failures of 0.59 are no longer there and thus users can get a consistent experience with the optimized version to improve the output of React Native app development.

Key Features of React Native 0.60

1) Improved availability: In terms of an open-source mobile application framework, this latest version is truly path-breaking. Both the mobile app development platforms–Android and iOS –have a lot of accessibility API enhancements. It comes with the capacity to use native support technologies to integrate platform-specific APIs. There are more improvements with React Native 0.60 on the accessibility front including the following:

a. Accessibility flag assistance and decreased motion for iOS. This implies that you can easily create cross-platform iOS applications with accuracy in less time.

b. Inclusion of many missing roles for various components to effectively use it depending on the demands.
c. Addition of on Click call back and a clickable prop. This helps to request actions through the navigation of the keyboard.
d. Enhancing web assistance with the availability of the latest accessibility statements API in the future.
e. Maximizing accessibility actions to add call-backs to handle accessibility of user-specific functions.

The 0.60 release also presents significant changes for both the iOS and Android platforms in terms of API accessibility. There is a list of improvements involving aspects such as advances in supporting action, announce for accessibility, flags and roles to name a few.

2) Backing Android: React Native migrates to AndroidX (Android Extension Library) and this will have significant implications for those who wish to develop cross-platform Android apps. This is because the native codes and dependencies also need to be migrated by the developers. Such a change requires to React Native applications to use AndroidX on their own. Despite the need for developers to change their own native code, this tool is useful to patch all node modules. This update is inherently necessary for all of these library maintainers. However, using the Jetifer tool together with the recent Native React 0.60 will assist launch a fresh version of AndroidX. Therefore, if you find any errors with AndroidX, it’s best to consider this.

Migration is easy for Android developers through React Native. This is because AndroidX too is an open-source project that helps to map original support library API packages to the AndroidX namespace. Now here’s where developers need to make a choice as the latest version of React Native won’t allow using AndroidX with the old support library.

3) The Removal of lean core: The placement of Web View and Net Info provides a shift with React Native 0.60. Both are now entering the distinct repositories. Not only are both removed from the React Native repository, but they are also separated from their geolocation. This change is based purely on the feedback received over a period of time from the community. React Native offers a better decision when picking up an open-source mobile application framework. This is due to the popularity that React Native has gained over a short span which is pure due to its performance. In addition, in terms of efficiency, it is to be assumed that React Native 0.60 will save more than half of the time due to lean core removal. The development of cross-platform apps for iOS and Android continues unaffected as these will stay the same as the agnostic platform. With the achievement of the Lean Core Project, React Native repository is in a favorable situation. The all-new React Native 0.60 completes the much-anticipated migration to comply with the new regulations of the App Store as Geolocation is eliminated as well.

4) A New and Fresh Start Screen: Finally, the much-debated new screen is here with the latest version of Native React 0.60. This one comes with the latest app screen that is sleekly designed to offer a much better user-friendly experience. Things are simplified for developers, as all the necessary instructions for documentation linkage, starting the debug menu, and even editing App.js is present on the Start screen. It demonstrates your project aligned with the imminent website design for the growth of internet apps. This implies designers can now obtain the guided path for any redesign and alignment of the potential website. The UI is called ‘Hello World’, which helps users get to know and make the most of the whole React ecosystem.

5) Auto-link IOS and Android: So far, the developers are used to understanding the React Native libraries which are affected only by the indigenous or platform-specific libraries. But, with this new release, the auto-linking mechanism offers to use the code, by discovering it for the current project. In addition, improvements are being made in the Auto-Link at the indigenous CLI front of React. The team responsible for rolling out the React Native CLI also introduced the main improvements for connecting the indigenous module. Such auto-linking does not allow developers to use the react-native link even if they have maximum conditions.

6) CocoaPods for iOS: CocoaPods are here in the form of the app-level reliance manager. This is specifically for iOS as with Swift CocoaPods and Objective-C, CocoaPods come by default. Using this recent version, developers will need the xcworkspace file to open and use the iOS platform code. Pod specifications are also updated for internal packages so they are now compatible with Xcode projects. This helps developers to easily debug and fix problems with the development of iOS apps.

React Native vs. Native: A Quick Comparison to look for

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IT industry is all about trends! For example every IT firm might have received mails inquiring like, “I need to build replica of Uber”, “I need to build replica of Tinder” and “I need to build replica of Zomato”! And to be honest, trends are not just limited to the products; they are also followed in the development technologies.

For instance, IT companies are forced to hire the resources for React Native! The world is gaga about this development framework and has been in the spotlight for some time now. But, what is the reason of its popularity? What is the base of this framework? And is it really worth all the fuss around it? It is essential to get answers to all of these questions before you join the herd and follow the trend blindly.

What is React Native?

React Native is a Cross Platform mobile application development framework created by Facebook that allows you to develop native mobile apps for iOS and Android with a single JavaScript codebase. It was first introduced in February 2015 by Facebook and was open-sourced in March 2015. Many of the top rated applications like Facebook, Uber, Instagram, Pinterest, Discord, SoundCloud and many others are reprogrammed in React Native.

How does React Native work?

React Native uses the React.js library to develop native applications. Instead of Native components, it is developed in a way web apps are written. With such a framework, it becomes easier, cheaper and faster to develop an application compared to Native applications.

If we are to analyse the scenario till now, it is all good and fair, then why this debate of which is better? Well, every coin has two sides and so has this coined concept. Now, let us understand what are the pros and cons of using React Native and for whom it is best fit and who can avoid this framework.

React Native vs. Native: (Differences and Pros & Cons)

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  • Nature of the Application:

If you need an application within a limited time frame, with limited resources and you don’t mind if the application has similar UI and functionalities on both Android and iOS, then React Native is the best fit for you.

But, if you need an application that has a complex functionality and you need to cater a proper native experience for all the iOS and Android users, then native app development is the best for you. Also, the major benefit of React is its cross platform nature, so if you are to build an app for only one of the users, then Native is the best option.

  • Developer Expertise and Experience:

React.js is written in JavaScript; and since it is one of the most popular and wide spread technologies it is not difficult to find qualified developers for your application. But, the problem is that JavaScript is not strongly typed and is based on the interpretation of the developer. So, if the developer is not experienced, there are high chances that there are app errors that can create a havoc that is both devastating and expensive. But, one must not assume that JavaScript is more prone to errors, it simply means that whenever there is an error in JavaScript, it takes more time to search for the errors made by developer on Java then on native development frameworks.

  • Shared Codebase:

Now the biggest myth is that people think that developers can make a complete application on React Native. For any standard application, there are certain material designs and User Interfaces that are platform specific and it is impossible to build all of the application interfaces and modules on React native.

Read also : Importance of Mobile App Development for Your Business

According to a research, mostly all the application has a shared codebase range of 30-60% only. Rest are to be developed on native platforms only! But, even that range of the shared codebase can save a chuck load of time and money.

  • Rendering Changes in UI:

One of the biggest plus point of using React is that it provides a Hot Reload and Live reloading option. With this feature, the developers who had to spend a tons of tedious hours on rendering changes in the native applications, with React they can save the present state of the application and yet can inject changes in the view mode.  So, if the change is accurate, then it can be rendered and if it is not, the application can be restored and reloaded in its previous state without any efforts.

  • Updates and UI complexity:

While Hot Reload and Live reloading are one of the best features of the applications, the biggest drawback of React is that developers cannot have direct access to many of the cutting edge UI native APIs such as Camera, Touch ID and GPS, as well as tools for creating animations and complex user interface.

Also, React is a product of Facebook and they are under no obligation to update the framework according to the market trends. They are currently using it for Facebook hence developers have access to majority of the updates but if they change the language in future, there is a chance that React can become obsolete! While these are very big assumptions, one cannot completely deny the possibility of this scenario.

  • Dependency on Native platforms:

Although React is in its development stage and it has some amazing cross-platform use cases, it is not possible to eliminate the Native platforms. For instance, it is not possible to develop some modules on React like camera, native image picker, push notifications, deep linking, and third party services like Auth0 or Amplitude. They are to be developed on Native platform only! And so, they might be complementary to those who needs faster go to market and who want to save cost and time by getting advantage of shared codebase, the use of Native cannot be avoided. So, again the task becomes tough for the React Developers as they have to also master the native platforms to enable the above mentioned features for any application.

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Now that you know the whole scenario, it is evident that if you need certain amount of money and time on the cost of application functionality, React can be your choice. Start-ups and corporate who are experimenting on an application and who needs MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to launch in the market, React is the best choice for them. But, if you need to perfect your application and render a perfect User Experience with all of the cutting edge features, it is best advised you choose native development frameworks. So, your winner between React Native and Native is dependent upon the purpose of your application.

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