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Cover image for 🚀 20 Pro Tips to Supercharge Your React Native Development
Jay Sarvaiya
Jay Sarvaiya

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🚀 20 Pro Tips to Supercharge Your React Native Development

#reactnative #react #animation

React Native continues to revolutionize mobile app development by letting developers use JavaScript to ship powerful native apps for both iOS and Android. Whether you're a complete beginner or scaling complex features in production, these best practices will help you level up your React Native game.

React Native Logo

1. Use Functional Components and Hooks

Functional components paired with Hooks are more concise, easier to test, and offer lifecycle access without the need for class-based components.

Hook

const MyButton = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  return <Button title={`Count: ${count}`} onPress={() => setCount(count + 1)} />;
};
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2. Optimize List Rendering

Use FlatList for large lists instead of ScrollView to enable native-level optimizations such as virtualization, lazy loading, and view recycling.

Optimize List Rendering

Key practices:

  • Use keyExtractor
  • Memoize renderItem functions with useCallback
  • Enable removeClippedSubviews for optimal memory

3. Use TypeScript for Better Developer Experience

Add TypeScript for static type checking, safer refactoring, and better IDE support.

npx react-native init MyApp --template react-native-template-typescript
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Use TypeScript for Better Developer Experience

4. Embrace React Native Reanimated

For handling complex animations while maintaining performance, use React Native Reanimated v2.

Embrace React Native Reanimated

5. Use Flipper for Debugging

Flipper is an invaluable tool for inspecting network requests, viewing logs, debugging layout, and monitoring performance.

Flipper UI

6. Avoid Unnecessary Re-renders

Use React.memo, useCallback, and useMemo to prevent unnecessary re-renders—which can cause slowness in large apps.

Avoid Unnecessary Re-renders

7. Manage State Efficiently

While Redux is popular, alternatives like Zustand, Recoil, or Jotai are lighter and easier to use.

Manage State Efficiently

import create from 'zustand';

const useStore = create(set => ({
  name: 'Jay',
  setName: value => set({ name: value }),
}));
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8. Format and Organize Your Folder Structure

Good folder structure improves readability and teamwork:

src/
  components/
  screens/
  hooks/
  context/
  utils/
  assets/
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9. Write Native Modules When Needed

For performance-critical features or access to device-specific APIs, write custom native modules.

Native Modules Diagram

10. Use Fast Refresh in Development

React Native's Fast Refresh feature helps you preserve the component state while making UI changes, speeding up the development cycle significantly.

11. Monitor Performance

Use tools like:

  • React Native Performance Monitor (⌘ + D in iOS simulator)
  • Xcode Instruments
  • Android Profiler

12. Test, Test, Test

Use:

  • Jest for unit tests
  • React Native Testing Library for testing component APIs
  • Detox for E2E tests

Testing Frameworks

13. Experiment with Expo for Quick Prototypes

While Expo isn't suitable for all production apps, it's ideal for rapid prototyping, demos, and small-scale projects.

14. Avoid Overusing Inline Styling

Keep styles clean by using StyleSheet.create or styled-components. This improves maintainability and keeps rendering fast.

15. Use React Navigation’s Latest Features

React Navigation v6 supports nested navigators, modals, deep linking, conditional routing, and gesture handling.

16. Optimize Images and Fonts

Bundle only necessary assets and compress images — tools like react-native-asset and image-optimizer-cli can help.

17. Keep Dependencies Updated

Use Renovate or Dependabot to manage dependency updates and avoid breaking changes.

18. Error Monitoring with Sentry or Firebase

Track crashes and runtime errors through services like Sentry, Firebase Crashlytics, or LogRocket.

19. Use Hermes for Faster JS Execution

Enable Hermes engine for improved performance on Android and iOS.

react-native init MyApp --hermes
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20. Bundle Splitting

Use dynamic imports and code splitting to reduce initial load times and improve performance.

🏁 Final Thoughts

Building native apps using JavaScript is faster and more elegant than ever. By mastering these tips and tools, you can ship features faster and build better user experiences.

What are your favorite React Native tricks? Share in the comments below! 👇

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