What is the first thing you must choose while starting a new project?
It is the selection of the right tech stack.
All your effort will only be worthwhile if you choose the right stack for your project, either web or mobile app development. Choosing the right platform for your project where your audience is engaged is the right choice.
Also, you need to keep your scalability goals in mind while choosing the platform for your project. In the future, you might need to woo other audiences to meet your scalability demands. Hence, you must have an adaptive tech stack to meet scalability demands and goals.
React Native for web can offer you this flexibility and adaptability. This is why developers and programmers choose this robust framework to build high-end, scalable, and flexible web applications.
React Native for web allows developers to use React Native APIs and components to build high-end web applications. Being one of the most promising cross-platform app development frameworks, React Native can also be used to build superior web applications.
More than 37% of developers use React Native to develop cross-platform mobile apps.
This post discusses in detail React Native for web, its benefits, limitations, fundamentals, and other crucial things. Stay tuned!
Can You Use React Native for Web Application Development?
Why not? You can easily use the same codebase to develop a web and mobile app for Android and iOS. Developers must use standard web technologies to run a codebase on a browser. However, you might ask why you should use React Native for web app development, as React is already explicitly built for the web.
You need to understand this dilemma in detail.
First, the mobile app development process and foundation differ from the web app development process.
For example, to build a web app, React uses React DOM renderer and standard browser DOM APIs to render basic HTML5 elements like div and span to create layouts.
On the other hand, React Native’s working methodology is different. It uses mobile operating system APIs and React Native renderer to render platform-specific components like View and Text.
Now you know why React specifically supports web app development projects and React Native supports mobile app development projects.
Developers want to bridge this gap, so we are discussing React Native for web. With this, we can easily make the React Native framework a cross-platform app development framework in a true sense. Developers can use a single codebase to build mobile apps for different platforms and web apps.
What is React Native Web?
The best thing about React Native for web is that you can use it with your existing mobile app or a new web or mobile app you want to develop. All you need to do is hire a React Native app development company with a proven track record and a team of talented developers. With an adapter, React DOM components can easily use JavaScript code as React Native to develop web apps with the same native-like experience.
The good thing is that React Native for web offers web browser support for React Native components. You can easily compile this view into web development for web browsers. The following process would be using it on mobile devices to render views.
However, developers find it challenging as not all native components are browser-compatible. Hence, it would be difficult for developers to use React Native to move the whole app to the web. A significant chunk of the app to the web would be sufficient to run an app on web browsers.
React Native for the Web: The Basics
Let’s check out some basics of React Natives for Web. It would give you a clear idea about how developers can use it for web app development.
1. Modern React
Developers mostly use highly advanced and updated React APIs like native components and hooks to develop React Native-based web apps. They are built on React DOM and then migrated to the new frameworks. This is the approach developers use to build apps like Flipkart and Twitter. This approach will continue with React by introducing advanced APIs like Concurrent Mode and Server Components. Remember, the main goal here is to improve the compatibility of other React alternatives.
2. Modern Web
React Native uses native DOM APIs to develop web applications with advanced features and functionalities. For React Native for web, the main goal is to stay competent with the evolution of the web. Some projects with similar APIs are implemented and moved to new DOM APIs once they have become widely popular and available in various web browsers.
3. React with Native Web Components
Developers will use basic features like View, Image, Text, TextInput, ScrollView, and others to develop React Native-based web apps. You can also use various interactive tools like the Sophisticated Gesture Responder System. Each component has linear and well-maintained documentation for designing web apps.
Also, there is a large number of modules available for developers to support various use cases. You need to determine the project requirements to use these components. You can make the process simpler by using the Banel plugin to combine the components you are using.
4. React Native Web App
The process of developing web apps with React Native is simple. First of all, developers will first style UI elements of React Native with JavaScript and then translate them into native CSS. The styling system is so advanced that you will not need to learn new domain-specific styling languages or other supplementary tools to analyze HTML. You can have a highly efficient CSS to use in production environments.
5. Expo
Developers can use Expo to run React Native for web. It can be installed and customized as well as per your project requirements. Expo also offers a great user experience and is highly compatible with React Native for the web. The main objective is to use a single codebase to develop highly advanced apps for the web and mobile.
6. Development Experience
The Expo kit is smooth sailing for developers, especially with features like Hot Reloading. However, developers with an HTML background with little or no experience with React Native might find it challenging to change styles for React Native web.
7. Navigation
Developers can quickly develop highly user-friendly and easy-to-navigate web interfaces using a popular React Native navigation library called React-Navigation that supports React Native for web.
8. Styling
React Native web components can be styled easily. Developers can use the platform to generate conditional formatting if you need special web-based formatting.
9. Positive Community Response
Regarding community support, React Native web still lacks React. The only reason is that the concept is new. However, you can use a large number of resources available online to build React Native web apps.
10. Dependability and Originality
Developers and quality analysts have performed much testing at the unit and production levels.
Advantages of React Native Web
Let’s check out some benefits of using React Native for web app development.
1. Code Reusability
Developers can reuse a significant portion of code to develop mobile and web apps. It can reduce the total time of development by a significant margin.
2. Cross-Platform Compatibility
React Native for web allows developers to build apps that run excellently on various platforms like web browsers, Android, iOS, and Windows. Businesses can meet their demands by reaching a broader audience without developing separate platform apps.
3. Faster Development
React Native offers a component-based approach to building web and mobile apps that can reduce the app-to-market time by a significant margin.
4. Improved Performance
React Native has highly efficient rendering capabilities to build apps that perform excellently. It will lead to higher user engagement.
5. Easier Maintenance
Web apps built with React Native are easy to maintain and scale. As multiple apps are built with a single codebase, changes made in a shared codebase will reflect all apps simultaneously.
6. Rich Ecosystem
React Native is rich in components, libraries, tools, and community support. Developers can easily find solutions to their problems.
7. Server-Side Rendering
React Native also supports server-side rendering by using AppRegistry. It can hard-code the HTML document string to display the app.
8. Support for PWAs
With React Native, you can also develop progressive web applications.
Limitations of React Native for Web
Yes, there are some limitations that we need to discuss as well.
1. Limited support for Web API
Unfortunately, React Native for Web does not support all the APIs accessible in React Native. This is a primary limitation as it might force developers to redo the development process. For example, React Native does not support browser accessibility for mobile hardware APIs.
2. Compatibility
Developers cannot use some popular React Native libraries to develop web apps. One example is React Native Google Autocomplete.
3. Missing Essential Elements
Some significant React Native components are missing in the React Native web, like RefreshControl. In that case, you must use a web version of a component developed by a third party. For the above example, you have to use the React Native Site Refresh Control.
4. Style Matters
Some styling capabilities are missing, like Styling Child Components and selecting sibling components.
Who Can Use React Native for Web?
The million-dollar question is this: who can use React Native for web?
The answer is simple. Anyone who wants to convert their native app to a web app, can use React Native for web.
Also, if you want to develop a mobile app and a web app with similar features and functionalities, you can go for React Native for web development.
On the other hand, if you want to develop a feature or functionality that will be unusual for native mobile apps, don’t go for React Native for web.
How to Use React Native for Web?
1. Using Create React App (CRA)
You can develop a web-only React Native web app with CRA. You can quickly bootstrap a React Native for a web application by following the steps demonstrated here:
- Create a new React app with CRA.
- Now, install React Native for the web.
- Now, Add the demo app source shared below to your App.js file:
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import React, {useState} from 'react'; import { StyleSheet, Text, View, Pressable, useWindowDimensions, } from 'react-native'; export default function App() { const {height} = useWindowDimensions(); const [number, setNumber] = useState(0); function handlePress() { setNumber(parseInt(Math.random() * 10000, 10) % 100); } return ( <View style={[styles.container, {height}, StyleSheet.absoluteFill]}> <Text>Random number: {number}</Text> <View style={styles.br} /> <Pressable style={({pressed}) => [ { opacity: pressed ? 0.7 : 1, }, styles.btn, ]} onPress={handlePress}> <Text style={styles.btnText}>Generate a number</Text> </Pressable> </View> ); } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: '#fff', alignItems: 'center', justifyContent: 'center', }, br: { height: 12, }, btn: { backgroundColor: '#222', padding: 10, }, btnText: { color: '#fff', }, }); |
You can use AppRegistry to run a React Native app. You can easily register the app root component by replacing the code in the Index.JS file with the following code:
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import { AppRegistry } from 'react-native'; import App from './App'; AppRegistry.registerComponent('App', () => App); AppRegistry.runApplication('App', { rootTag: document.getElementById('root') }); |
Then, you can run your React Native app with the following command:
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npm start # --- or --- yarn start |
Now, your CRA-based React app will run the demo app accurately.
Also, you can create a deployable React app with the following command:
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npm run build # --- or --- yarn build |
With the above command, you can easily create static resources in the ./build directory. Now, you can test the app with Serve:
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cd build npx serve |
2. Using Expo:
Expo is a primary framework for building highly advanced React Native applications. You can use Expo for Web to develop web apps with React Native.
You can use Expo for the web to have a wide range of cross-platform APIs including web build optimizations. Also, you will have a universal SDK to run native mobile Expo apps on the web with the help of React Native for web. You will need to hire React Native developers to build Expo-based web apps.
Here is the process to get started:
Use the following command to start a new React Native app with Expo:
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npx create-expo-app ReactNativeWebDemo cd ReactNativeWebDemo |
Now, you need to install the dependencies for the web platform support:
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npx expo install react-dom react-native-web @expo/webpack-config |
Now, you need to add the following demo app source to your App.JS file.
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import React, {useState} from 'react'; import { StyleSheet, Text, View, Pressable, useWindowDimensions, } from 'react-native'; export default function App() { const {height} = useWindowDimensions(); const [number, setNumber] = useState(0); function handlePress() { setNumber(parseInt(Math.random() * 10000, 10) % 100); } return ( <View style={[styles.container, {height}, StyleSheet.absoluteFill]}> <Text>Random number: {number}</Text> <View style={styles.br} /> <Pressable style={({pressed}) => [ { opacity: pressed ? 0.7 : 1, }, styles.btn, ]} onPress={handlePress}> <Text style={styles.btnText}>Generate a number</Text> </Pressable> </View> ); } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: '#fff', alignItems: 'center', justifyContent: 'center', }, br: { height: 12, }, btn: { backgroundColor: '#222', padding: 10, }, btnText: { color: '#fff', }, }); |
Now, run your Expo app on the web browser with the following command:
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npm run web # --- or --- yarn web |
You will have a web app based on React Native that works flawlessly on web browsers.
Now, you can test the app with Serve:
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cd web-build npx serve |
Real-World Examples of Web Apps Built With React Native
Many prominent companies have used the React Native framework to develop high-end, feature-rich, and flawless-performing web applications. Some of them are shown below:
- Uber
- Major League Soccer
- Flipkart
Conclusion
There are limitless possibilities with React Native for Web. It allows you to build highly advanced, versatile, native-like web apps with the React Native framework. Developing web apps with React Native does not take time and also reduces the app-to-market time.
We have already discussed what React Native for the web is, its advantages, limitations, and fundamentals. We also discussed how to build a React Native web app with Expo and CRA.
You need to hire React Native developers india with prior experience in developing web apps with React Native.
Expert App Devs is a leading mobile app development company in India offering dedicated React Native developers who can work solely on your project. Contact us now to get started.
Read More: Flutter Web vs React Native Web
Jignen Pandya
Vice President at Expert App Devs
Responsible for creating a sales funnel, attracting top-of-the-funnel customers, and converting the target market.
