What This Is
React Native builds native mobile applications for iOS and Android from a single JavaScript/TypeScript codebase, using the same React component patterns as web development. It is not a web view wrapper — React Native renders actual native UI components, giving users the performance and feel of a native app while sharing code, patterns, and design systems with your web application.
We build with React Native in production. Beacon Pulse — our mobile application for on-the-go business management — is a React Native app running on both iOS and Android. It shares design tokens, component patterns, and API contracts with our React web dashboard, meaning updates to the design system propagate across web and mobile without divergent implementations. Beacon Pulse handles authentication via Sanctum, real-time data, and entitlement-based feature gating — all the complexity of a real production mobile app.
React Native’s value proposition is clear: if you already have (or are building) a React web application, React Native lets your team build the mobile companion without learning Swift, Kotlin, or an entirely new framework. The knowledge, components, and patterns transfer.
When You Need This
React Native is the right choice when you need native mobile apps for iOS and Android and your team or project already involves React. Common scenarios:
- You have a React web application and need a native mobile companion that shares design language and business logic
- You need to ship on both iOS and Android without maintaining two separate native codebases
- Your mobile app consumes the same API as your web application and would benefit from shared data models and API client code
- Development speed matters — React Native’s hot reload and shared codebase reduce time-to-market compared to two native builds
- Your team has React expertise and you want to leverage that for mobile without hiring native iOS/Android developers
This is not the right choice for apps that are heavily GPU-dependent (games, complex animations), require deep native hardware integration (Bluetooth LE, AR), or have performance requirements that only native code can meet. For those, native Swift/Kotlin development is more appropriate.
How We Work
Our React Native development uses Expo as the development platform, providing managed builds, over-the-air updates, and simplified native module integration. Expo’s managed workflow handles the iOS and Android build complexity while giving access to native APIs through its module system.
Component architecture mirrors our React web patterns — functional components with hooks, context for shared state, and a component library built on NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for React Native) with shadcn-inspired patterns. Design tokens (colours, fonts, spacing, radii) are replicated from the web design system so both platforms look and feel like the same product.
API integration uses the same endpoint contracts as the web application. Authentication flows through Sanctum with secure token storage. Entitlement checks gate features based on the user’s subscription tier. Telemetry pings report app version and platform for version management and deprecation planning.
What You Get
- Cross-platform mobile app — single codebase delivering native iOS and Android applications
- Shared design system — consistent visual identity with your React web application using replicated design tokens
- API integration — Sanctum authentication, entitlement-based feature access, and shared endpoint contracts
- Expo managed builds — simplified build, test, and deployment pipeline for both platforms
- Over-the-air updates — push JavaScript updates without app store review for non-native changes
- Offline support — local data caching and sync for mobile-appropriate offline behaviour
- Push notifications — native push notification support for iOS and Android
Technologies We Use
- React Native — native mobile UI framework with React component patterns
- Expo — managed development platform with build services and native module access
- NativeWind — Tailwind CSS for React Native, enabling shared design token usage
- React Navigation — native navigation with stack, tab, and drawer patterns
- Sanctum — token-based API authentication for secure mobile sessions
- lucide-react-native — consistent iconography matching the web design system
Related Systems
React Native mobile apps consume APIs served by Laravel. The component patterns and design system originate from our React web development. The apps are written in JavaScript or TypeScript. Data lives in PostgreSQL on the backend.
Talk to Us About Mobile Development
If you need a native mobile app that extends your web application to iOS and Android, get in touch and we will assess whether React Native is the right approach for your requirements.
