7 React Native Best Practices in 2024 and Beyond

Blog Summary: You must adopt React Native best practices to develop a top-notch React Native application. In this blog, we will discuss in detail the React Native best practices that include -

• Using TypeScript
• Leveraging responsive style properties
• Utilizing a compact design system
• Using platform-centric styles
• Using a unique key for every element
• Managing static image resources properly
• Focusing on alias creation
  

Did you know, popular apps like Facebook Ads, Airbnb, Instagram, and Walmart are all built on React Native? Well, this just gives a glimpse of the high popularity of React Native app development.

There are unlimited advantages of React Native app development such as -

✅High reusability

✅Cost effectiveness

✅Enhanced performance for mobile environments

✅Live reloading

✅Community-driven approach

✅Modular architecture

In order to unleash its full potential, you need to adopt React Native's best practices. Wondering where to start? Well, we got you covered in this blog. So, let’s get started!

A Guide to React Native Best Practices

While React Native app development is highly sought-after among developers, there are a lot of React Native coding challenges that you must avoid such as -

❎ Inaccurate redux store planning

❎ Incorrect estimation

❎ Using stateless components

❎ Not executing a Unit test

❎ Not reading the crucial external module codes

Etc.

Adopting React Native best practices not only helps overcome react native coding challenges but ensures building an app in React Native that is of optimum quality and a good fit in the current market.

Based on our experience and research, we have listed out the top 7 React Native best practices to adopt in 2024 and in the coming years.

1. Use TypeScript

TypeScript refers to an extended language of JavaScript that includes type definitions. Using TypeScript while building an app in React Native reduces the dependency on PropTypes validation and lets you validate any possible errors on time.

Source

PropTypes validation only takes place during the runtime component rendering. Also, if a component receives an incorrect prop, then it may cause bugs and errors in your app. Such errors often remain undetected in the initial stage of building an app in React Native. Using Typescript solves this while autocompleting the valid values for the components.

2. Leverage Responsive Style Properties

The demand for responsive apps and web pages is high in the market and by using responsive style properties one can easily build a highly responsive React Native app. This ensures that the mobile app is compatible with various devices and platforms with different screen sizes and provides the audiences with the same quality experience.

You just need to follow these simple steps:

Step 1: List out the target devices on which your React Native app will run

Step 2: Categorize their respective screen sizes like small mobile screens, medium screens like tabs, bigger screens like laptops and others

Step 3: Define the respective breakpoints for the various screen sizes as shown below -

export const theme = {

smallPhone: 0,

phone: 290,

tablet: 750,

}

This will ensure that any device within 290 pixels width will be categorized as a small phone device, devices below 750 pixels width will be regular mobile devices and devices with higher width than that will be categorized as tablets.

3. Utilize a Compact Design system

The design of your app is the first thing that your customers will notice. And no matter how good your React Native app’s functionalities are, if it doesn’t look that appealing to the customers, half of its purpose will be lost.

One of the React Native best practices is to use a compact design system to ensure the look and feel of your React Native app is good enough to have competitive advantages in the present market.

A design system refers to a set of predefined rules deciding the style, look and feel of your React Native app. Here are some of the key areas to focus on while working on a design system -

➡️ Spacing: Always focus on giving equal and consistent spacing for the texts, icons, images, or any other components used throughout your React Native app during the design process. It will ensure a coherent look for the app on any device.

➡️Color: Choosing the right color combination majorly defines how your React Native app will look. You can use Color Palettes and name the colors as per the preferred conventions so that it becomes easy for you to understand how a specific color combination on your app will look like.

For instance, you can name ‘Notify’ to the color to be used in notification pop up or can name ‘Primary’ to denote the primary color to be used in your app and so on.

➡️Typography: You must focus on the typography along with font size, color and placement throughout your React Native app pages to ensure there is no disambiguation and they look good irrespective of the screen size or device type.

4. Use Platform-Centric Styles

This is one of the React Native best practices that help you style your React Native app better. React Native comes with an in-built API (Application Programming Interface) that helps you write platform-centric codes.

All you need to do is use the Platform.OS automatically detect a specific OS like Android or iOS and apply the suitable styles for that specific platform.

Below is an example of how to code it:

const styles = StyleSheet.create({

container: {

flex: 1,

…Platform.select ({

ios: {

fontFamily: ‘Arial’,

},

android: {

fontFamily: ‘Roboto’,

},

}),

},

});

5. Use a Unique Key for Every Element

You should always assign a unique key to every element you use while building an app in React Native. This will simplify the execution process especially when you need to deal with the components like lists.

Below is an example:

const todoItems = todos.map ((todo) =>

<li key={todo._id}>

{todo.text}

</li>

);

See more: How to add custom fonts in React Native App?

6. Manage Static Image Resources Properly

It is crucial to manage the static image resources properly while building an app in React Native. You need to statically define your images so that there is no time and resource wastage while dealing with redundant static file events. Here’s an example of how to do it right:

var icon = this.props.active

? require( ‘ . / icon-active.png’ )

:  require( ‘ . / icon-inactive.png’ );

<Image source={icon} />;

7. Focus on Alias Creation

An Alias helps you simplify the imports in projects with multiple sub-folders. It offers the proper path options for an object with value pairs. While building an app in React Native, you need to create Alias in the best possible way to prevent the issues of nested imports. It is recommended to use babel-plugin-module-resolver to avoid this issue.


To ensure quality React Native app development, you can rely on the above-mentioned React Native best practices. No matter what type of app you are developing, React Native can always give you exclusive advantages as mentioned above.

But at the same time, you must ensure that you have proper skills, expertise, and real-time experience in building an app in React Native. Otherwise, it won’t be anything but a waste of your time and money.

The good news is, you can outsource your React Native app development. All you need to do is proper research on the third-party app development company and fix your budget beforehand.

Third Rock Techkno, an of its kind product development company, offers a dedicated React Native development solution to develop any type of app for any sector be it healthcare, eCommerce, SaaS, or any other. Check out our portfolio and drop us a line to get started today.

FAQs

1. What are some common mistakes in React Native app development?

Some of the most common mistakes to avoid during React Native app development are -

• Inaccurate redux store planning
• Not executing a Unit test
• Incorrect estimation
• Using stateless components

To name a few.

2. Why should you adopt React Native best practices?

You must adopt React Native best practices to reduce errors, improve the app quality, prevent resource wastage, and speed up the app delivery time.

3. What are the top React Native best practices?

Some of the top React Native best practices are -

• Utilizing a compact design system
• Using TypeScript
• Leveraging responsive style properties
• Using platform-centric styles
• Using a unique key for every element
  

4. What is the best way to develop a React Native app?

The best way to develop a React Native app is to opt for an experienced company with a dedicated React Native app development solution. Also, you need to go through their portfolio to ensure their expertise and must check the pricing beforehand.