Mobile app development has become in-demand, as smartphones are now a popular means to connect, shop, and socialize. Since Android and iOS utilize mobile apps, companies now look for mobile developers that can support both systems and create cross-platform apps. So, if you’re a current or aspiring mobile app developer, mastering a framework like React Native might just be what you need to grow your career.
Some companies that use React Native include Walmart, Microsoft, and Tesla. In this article, you’ll learn more about some of the largest companies that use React Native. We will also discuss React Native’s key advantages and the most popular apps built on this framework. You’re probably wondering, what is React Native anyway? Read on to find out.
What Is React Native?
React Native is a JavaScript-based framework. It’s commonly associated with React.js because they both use JavaScript. However, React.js is only a JavaScript library and not a framework like React Native.
Another stark difference between the two is that React Native uses native components to develop mobile applications, whereas React.js is used for web applications. Although these two have different usage, React.js rests at the heart of React Native. Thus, if you know React.js, learning React Native won’t be too difficult.
Developers use React Native to program both Android and iOS-based apps. Instead of using separate frameworks in mobile app development, they can just use React Native. Learning to design a mobile application using this framework will help mobile developers become more relevant. Many companies now adopt React Native in their apps, so learning this could pay off with a lucrative career at one of the well-known companies detailed in this article.
What Are the Advantages of React Native?
- Faster Development. Writing a single app using React Native saves time, as the code reusability in different operating systems makes it easier and faster to use. This improves development speed compared with developing separate apps for each operating system (OS).
- Cost-efficiency. Apart from longer timelines, developing native code entails more manpower and costs. React Native then is the best option if you have limited resources.
- High Performance. React Native can process more workloads and high-functioning updates than native code. This means that developers are not sacrificing performance when they choose to use this framework.
- Nativeness. The React Native framework can actually execute features and functions that behave like any native component would in any OS.
- Ease of Learning. React Native is an open source framework. This makes it easy for a swarm of developers to offer advice to beginners. You can visit the React Native Community on Github to learn about the framework and download resources.
Top Mobile Apps Built With React Native
With a lot of big brands using React Native, its reliability becomes unquestionable. It’s a framework that built and strengthened the social and service apps we know today. Let’s look at some companies that use React Native and why they chose it to build their mobile apps.
Facebook is a popular social networking app. Both iOS and Android Facebook apps are built on React Native. The company also used React Native to build its own Ads Manager app, which is available on both iOS and Android.
Also a social networking app, Instagram is more popularly used for its photo and video sharing feature. In 2016, Instagram started exploring React Native to help its product development team in releasing apps faster. They were able to improve their iteration speeds through code sharing. With Instagram converting its entire program to React Native, its updates and development process now benefits from increased productivity.
Airbnb
This online marketplace connects owners who rent out their place and travelers looking for accommodations. When Airbnb adopted React Native in its mobile app, it benefited from code reuse across platforms. React Native also made rewriting and iterating of codes simple. However, Airbnb presently uses native development to meet their customization needs.
Skype
Skype is one of the earliest apps for video chats. In 2017, Skype announced that it was working on a React Native app. After that, Skype’s functions and features were built from the ground up using React Native.
Uber Eats
Uber Eats is a food delivery app. Originally, UberEats was web-based with some UX issues. As the development team had a lot of React.js experience but little iOS or Android experience, they chose to rebuild the dashboard with React Native.
Largest Companies That Use React Native: At a Glance
| Company | Revenue | Number of employees |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart | $559 billion (2021) | 2.2 million (2021) |
| Microsoft | $168.08 billion (2021) | 181,000 (2021) |
| Meta | $84.17 billion (2020) | 68,177 (2021) |
| Tesla | $31.54 billion (2020) | 70,757 (2020) |
| Salesforce | $21.25 billion (2021) | 29,000 (2021) |
| Uber | $11.1 billion (2020) | 24,700 (2021) |
| Bloomberg | $10 billion (2020) | 2,300 (2021) |
| Airbnb | $3.38 billion (2020) | 5,597 (2020) |
| Shopify | $2.93 billion (2020) | 7,000+ (2021) |
| $1.69 billion (2020) | 2,200 (2021) |
Biggest Companies Using React Native: A Closer Look
Walmart
Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of US hypermarkets, department stores, and grocery stores. To achieve its goal of becoming the world’s largest online retailer, Walmart rewrote its application with React Native. As a result, Walmart improved the speed of its mobile app on both iOS and Android, making its customer experience better for all of its active users.
Microsoft
Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation and is the world’s largest software company. Presently, it has more than 181,000 employees in 102 countries. The company uses React Native in its 38 Android and iOS apps, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, and Edge.
Meta
Previously known as Facebook, Meta is a technology conglomerate based in California. The company used React Native to create mobile apps that run on both Android and iOS devices. Among the popular Meta apps that use React Native are Facebook, Facebook Ads Manager, Facebook Analytics, and Instagram. The millions of users for each of these apps obviously proves that React Native produces an effective design.
Tesla
Tesla is an automotive company that manufactures and sells electric vehicles and their components. The company produced its Tesla app using React Native. Tesla designed this app to help Powerwall battery and electric car owners monitor these technologies’ performance and partially control them using their smartphones.
Salesforce
This company developed a customer relationship management (CRM) system of the same name, Salesforce. The company has a software development kit (SDK) that works well with React Native. It has included a command-line script in its mobile SDK to build and execute a React Native application that easily connects to Salesforce.
Uber
Uber is a ride service provider that has developed a mobile app that allows users to search, call, and pay for taxis or private drivers. Uber’s daughter company, Uber Eats, is built with React Native to improve user experience. This resulted in a more cohesive mobile and web-based UberEats app in terms of user interface and total experience.
Bloomberg
Bloomberg is one of the world’s leading financial information providers. The company’s consumer mobile app for iOS and Android is built on React Native. The app provides customers with a streamlined, engaging experience with easy-to-access tailored information, videos, and live feeds about financial markets.
Airbnb
Airbnb is an American company that manages the online marketplace for vacation house rentals. The company has also used React Native for its mobile app. However, though React Native enabled reusable code, Airbnb had to switch back to native technologies to meet specific needs in their app development process.
Shopify
Shopify is an online software development company for online and retail stores. In early 2020, the company publicly announced its implementation of React Native. Shopify also revealed that all of its new mobile apps will be built using React Native.
This company manages the visual discovery platform named after itself, Pinterest. Its mission is to unite the world’s people through things that interest them. Pinterest improved development efficiency when it started using React Native. Shared codes between mobile platforms reduced the mobile engineers required for new features and lowered the company’s development costs.
React Native Alternative Comparisons
While a lot of large companies use React Native, many software engineers prefer using alternatives for cross-platform mobile application development and deployment. There are actually dozens of React Native alternatives competing for the attention of developers. In this section, we chose the best three alternatives for React Native.
Flutter
Flutter is an open source framework that Google developed. Like React Native, it’s used to create Android and iOS applications. Developers also use it for web applications. If you want to customize your app UI, though, Flutter would be a better choice.
Xamarin
Xamarin is also an open source framework for building iOS, Android, and Windows apps with .NET. Both Xamarin and React Native provide near-native performance. However, Xamarin runs codes faster on Android and iOS than React Native.
Ionic Framework
This framework is widely used for creating hybrid mobile apps. These hybrid mobile apps are small websites running as an app in a browser like Gmail or Twitter. Unlike React Native, Ionic Framework is web-first and uses progressive web app technology to support cross-platform development.
What’s the Best Way to Learn React Native?
The best way to learn React Native is by reading books, attending free courses, or studying online resources that suit you. Tons of React Native tutorials and training are available online. Some of them charge a fee, but some are free. You may also consider completing a beginner’s React Native project to practice essential React Native components.
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However, enrolling in a React Native bootcamp with the best reviews will be the best way to learn. Coding bootcamps are efficient and flexible as you get to choose what program fits your availability. You’ll also have fun learning through hands-on approaches and collaboration with your cohorts.
Top React Native Bootcamps
Should You Learn React Native?
Yes, you should invest some time in learning React Native. Because of its usefulness in cross-platform applications, React Native will continue to be a competitive cross-platform development framework in coding. Understanding this framework would give you an edge, especially if you wish to work as a mobile app developer for renowned tech companies like Microsoft or Meta.
Companies That Use React Native FAQ
React Native is a cross-platform framework used by thousands of apps built by Fortune 500 firms and even startups.
Companies use React Native because it unlocks a faster development process, has better cost-efficiency, and has shown impressive performance across platforms.
Yes, you can use React Native for the web. This framework runs the React Native web library to pull in components and APIs for web apps.
Some of the best React Native alternatives are Flutter, Xamarin, and Ionic Framework.
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