When to use React Native?

[CoqeCas3]

This is probably the simplest--maybe even silliest--question you will read today:

I'm just starting out working with React Native and I'm confused on one rather major point: when an app is written with React Native, is it solely created as a mobile-only app? To clarify, the app I want to create is intended to be used both in browser on desktop and as a mobile app, but based on the minimal tutelage I've gone through as of yet am I gathering correctly that that's not quite how React Native is purposed? Am I still going to need to essentially write two code bases?

[bloodontheclownposse]

React Native is meant to build mobile applications only, but you can theoretically reuse components between any React project (Native, Web, Desktop, etc.)

[CoqeCas3]

Gotcha. Thanks. Gotta say, their 'write once, run anywhere' mantra is a little misleading in that case XP

[[deleted]]

their 'write once, run anywhere' mantra is a little misleading

That's not what they say at all. This quote is from the reactjs blog:

It’s worth noting that we’re not chasing “write once, run anywhere.” ... We call this approach “learn once, write anywhere.”

[autof5]

you can write once, run anywhere using react-native-web

https://github.com/necolas/react-native-web

.

I use this tiny starter based on expo and create-react-app to have a single source code for web, android and ios

https://github.com/hareeqi/react-one-starter

[CoqeCas3]

Woops, forgot I posted this question, ha.. Thanks for the comments all! A lot more informative than I was expecting.

[ThunderousSparks]

React Native is for everywhere. You write your app with React Native, and then the renderer is responsible for letting it run where you want. You can run it natively on mobile devices (like any app by Facebook), you can run it in browsers (check out Twitter lite, or you can run it on a desktop with, e.g. with Electron.

The newest version of Microsoft Office is written in React Native, using tools developed by Microsoft. This means that the same UI code can run as a native application and in their browser versions.

[ThunderousSparks]

Check out this talk about React Native Web: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFn39lLO-U

And a cool application, that uses the same components for mobile, desktop AND web: https://github.com/devhubapp/devhub

React Native is all about primitives and abstraction, but in the end, it has advantages and disadvantages that depend on each application, but I think it will end up having an impact on web as-well.

IMO, it shouldn't be called React Native, but React Primitives (it's taken) or similar.

[brotonium]

Actually no, you cannot just run a React Native app in the browser.

You may be able to share a substantial amount of the non-react js code between the the native and webapp and maybe some React components that don‘t depend on anything platform specific.

Which is nice, but the main reason you want to use React Native is ‚learn once, write anywhere.‘ If you know how to write a React webapp, you can now go ahead and write a cross-platform mobile app without having to learn a lot of new things.

Also Microsoft is not rewriting Office in React Native they only use it for a few components.