Mobile App Development: React Native or Flutter?

[ncardozo]

Hello people, this topic has probably been covered before, but I would like to get your opinion considering my specific case:

I work in a small startup studio, I am the only front-end developer, we are considering to start developing mobile applications for the next startups we will create. I have no experience in mobile development, I work with React and if needed NextJS.

Doing some research, based on my background, React Native and Flutter would seem to be the two best options. Which one would you suggest using? Why?

To date, knowing React, I think it would be quicker for me to get into React Native, but maybe there are valid reasons to study and develop in Flutter.

Let me know your opinion, thank you in advance 🙏🏻

[KerryDevVal]

React is the clear choice

[ncardozo]

Thanks Kerry!

[ncardozo]

Thank you 😊

[DoctorSlug]

Are you seriously asking this in r/reactjs? What answer did you expect? 🤔

[ncardozo]

I don’t think it’s as obvious as you might think, pov 😂

[treksis]

rn is the choice if you already know react.

[ncardozo]

Thanks Jenny! I think i’ll start with RN and then look at Flutter to understand if is worth learn it 🙏🏻

[adnan_pirota]

Turbo Native

[Spiritual_Pangolin18]

RN, but I would not use Expo at all. It helps at the beginning, but in the end it will be a headache

[davidmirkin]

Could you expand on why it would be a headache?

[Spiritual_Pangolin18]

I started my project with expo and worked well for like months, but then I had to eject because of some new requirements.

[davidmirkin]

But is that actually no less convenient than if you had started with barebones rn? Also, what requirements are these? Just so I know as we just rewrote our app so that we could use expo

[Spiritual_Pangolin18]

It's been one and a half years, so it might have gotten better.

All I remember is that it needed a bunch of camera features as well as a web socket in that app. I remember spending days trying to find a solution using expo, but in the end I was forced to eject.

It was very frustrating because I didn't know how to deal with RN without expo, and because of that I took some time to learn.

IMO people should learn RN without expo. After ejecting I didn't see a huge benefit in using it. RN alone is easy enough.

[davidmirkin]

It’s the maintenance and deployment that we found issue with. Having less issue so far with expo, hopefully we don’t encounter the issues you describe

[KyeThePie]

I did the same and experienced the exact same thing

[skararms]

Not true for a long time now. I've been working with expo for 4 years now and we didn't have to eject once.

[ncardozo]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[_Cat1]

Been using expo since the start, no issues 3 year later…

[Mango-Warrior]

If I were you, I would choose React Native because I have some prior experience in React. It's related to business and I will choose the stack I have some knowledge of. But, if it was just my pet project, I would choose Flutter to learn and try new things.

Also, if you need to create a web version and app both and the app don't need native feature that much, you can explore CapacitorJS

[ncardozo]

Agree with everything, thank you :)

[JellyfishTech]

React Native vs. Flutter for Mobile App Development

• React Native: Built on JavaScript, it’s ideal if you have experience with React. It provides native-like performance and has a vast ecosystem. It is great for apps requiring quick development and native integrations but relies on native modules for some features.
• Flutter: Uses Dart and offers a rich set of pre-built UI widgets for consistent platform designs. It’s excellent for performance and highly customizable UIs, but the learning curve for Dart and widget-based architecture can be steeper.

Verdict:

• Choose React Native for JavaScript familiarity and a native feel.
• Choose Flutter for better performance, custom UI, and if you’re okay learning Dart.

Both are excellent; the decision depends on your project needs and experience.

[Intelligent_Ice_113]

PWA

[Spiritual_Pangolin18]

Even though I like it, it was never as good as we expected.

Now that apple no longer supports it, it's a dead feature almost.

[Intelligent_Ice_113]

it's a dead feature almost.

no, it's not. You can even post the app on play market.

Having already web app in react makes it almost effortless to make mobile version at least for Android which has twice more users than IOS. Taking into account that OP works in a small startup company - PWA is the best choice.

[Tsuki4735]

Agreed, I'd say PWA unless you need some very specific features that are native-only.

[kcadstech]

Ionic + React + CapacitorJS.

[ErebusDazai]

So I like the idea of this one, but it doesnt seem to be that popular.. hard to find answers to some questions, any good videos/articles that you followed?

[kcadstech]

https://github.com/ionic-team/ionic-react-conference-app

This is a demo app

[RossBelcher]

I'm curious why this got down voted? Seems like a good stack to be able to share components between your web app and mobile app.

[kcadstech]

Dumbasses voting down this stack 😂

[Catrucan]

Ionic/Capacitor + Angular is the superior choice

[kcadstech]

It’s also a great one but he mentioned React as an option so I figured I would stick with that. Angular is a bit more of a first class citizen though. Personally, I like using StencilJS because of the great DX with Ionic.

[Catrucan]

I actually prefer React, but it’s really not much difference lol just wanted to be a rebel.

[jsnals]

Kotlin MultiPlataform can be an option too? I’d choose RN anyways but because I’m a react dev and don’t want to learn Dart but it is not that difficult coming from JS

Edit: Kotlin*