Building a Mobile App with React Native

A Developer’s guide

In today’s fast-moving world of mobile app development, picking the right tools can make all the difference. building a new mobile app using React Native can be fun so here’s my approach to making it happen.

Tech Stack

Using React Native as the core framework since it lets you write apps in JavaScript and TypeScript while sharing code across iOS and Android. For coding, I’ve settled on Visual Studio Code — it’s lightweight, packed with helpful plugins, and just makes development smoother.

Development Frameworks and Tools

• Expo: Starting with expo is good because it simplifies setup and speeds up development. It’s great for getting things up and running quickly. If you need deeper native module support later, you can switch to the bare workflow, keeping the best of both worlds.
• State Management: Redux is powerful, but not always necessary. For smaller apps, consider Zustand, Recoil, or React Query, depending on how complex the app’s state management gets.

User Interface (UI)

For UI components, use:

• React Native Paper for ready-to-go Material Design elements.
• NativeBase when you need more customization.
• React Native Elements for extra UI components, but be careful not to overload the project with too many libraries.

Navigation

For navigation, React Navigation is a go-to because it’s flexible and feels native. But if performance becomes a concern, you might want to switch to React Native Navigation (by Wix) for a fully native experience.

Testing

Testing is key to catching issues early:

• Jest for unit tests to make sure each piece of the app works as expected.
• React Native Testing Library for testing how components render and respond to user actions.
• Detox for end-to-end testing, simulating real user interactions. If needed, Appium is another solid option for cross-platform UI testing.

Build and Deployment

To package and deploy the app:

• Expo Application Services (EAS) will handle builds and deployment, making things smoother. But if you need more control over native code, switch to React Native CLI.
• The app will go live on the Google Play Store via the Google Play Console, which also helps with beta testing and performance tracking.

Wrapping Up

Building an app with React Native combines JavaScript’s flexibility with native-like performance, speeding up development while keeping a consistent experience across devices. By carefully choosing the right tools — whether for state management, navigation, or UI — you can make sure the app is both efficient and scalable. Using Expo for the basics while keeping the door open for native tweaks gives the best of both worlds, ensuring a smooth development process with room for growth.