Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

Re:Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native by ryanwaggoner on Wednesday January 29, 2020 @07:31PM (#22187695)

I didn’t have to go any further than the login and signup screens to see that it doesn’t feel native.

- No transitions between screens, just jumps

- Tapping field brings up keyboard, then whole screen jumps up about 30 pixels instead of smoothly animating

- Scrolling while there’s a blinking cursor has cursor detach from field until you lift your finger

- Doesn’t respect dark mode

- Doesn’t respect dynamic type consistently (text size)

- Other weird little display artifacts

Not saying it’s terrible, but it’s a good example of why native is still the way to go if you can afford it. It’s just a better user experience.

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Re:Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native by pier25 on Wednesday January 29, 2020 @08:30PM (#22188098)

You think all of those are inherent flaws of using a webview?

Some of those are because the developer didn't implement them (transitions, dark mode) and others are because Apple didn't implement them in WKWebView to follow the OS behaviors (cursor, keyboard). Not sure about your comment about the text size or the display artifacts.

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Re:Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native by ryanwaggoner on Wednesday January 29, 2020 @11:42PM (#22188896)

Not really interested in tracking down who is responsible for what. My point is that literally every single time someone comes along claiming that their hybrid framework or app is indistinguishable from native and I go check it out, it’s obvious within 30 seconds that it’s a poor substitute.

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Re:Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native by saurik on Thursday January 30, 2020 @09:06AM (#22191338)

We are in a conversation about the future, most of which seems to be being held back by players who have a vested interest in keeping people using native apps; so while you might have the "we are already there" conversation a lot, your knee jerk response doesn't really have a place here.

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Re:Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native by ryanwaggoner on Thursday January 30, 2020 @09:51PM (#22198553)

My response wasn’t knee jerk. I went and downloaded the app in question and played with it. I disagree that the main reason we haven’t gotten to a better place is vested interests. The “write once, deploy anywhere” fantasy has been going on for thirty years now. It’s not that it doesn’t work at all, of course it does. But it comes with many downsides vs software written with one platform in mind, and that’s unlikely to ever change.

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