Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development with React Native

Abstract

Developing and maintaining mobile applications for multiple platforms at the same time can be time consuming. Since the applications have to be developed with each platform’s native development technologies, the software designers have to develop and maintain multiple separate source codes for one application. This has pushed many companies and communities to creating new development frameworks and tools for mobile applications which allow the developers to write and maintain a single codebase. The codebase is then compiled to native applications for each platform, and the applications can be published through the platforms’ application marketplaces.

This thesis focuses on cross-platform mobile development technologies, specifically on the ones that utilize each platform’s native functionality to deliver a familiar user experience to the end users, and React Native is then picked for a closer look. The purpose of this research is to find out if cross-platform technologies are a viable option for modern mobile application development in terms of both development experience as well as user experience.

The primary finding of the research was that while React Native and other cross- platform technologies may be a practical option for mobile application development, it is unclear when cross-platform technologies have a significant advantage over native development. In small applications the difference between the two is not pronounced and in more complex applications cross-platform technologies do not necessarily have many benefits compared to native technologies.