Most mobile app builders make you choose. A no-code tool gives you speed and takes your code. A design tool gives you pixels and no code. We wanted a third option for React Native developers: a canvas that lives next to the repo you already have.
What Mapples is
Mapples is a visual builder for Expo and React Native apps. You design screens on a canvas. The output is standard Expo code with Expo Router. You can open it, edit it, and ship it like any other Expo project.
Two-way sync
The part we care about most is the sync. The Mapples CLI connects a project on the canvas to a local repo:
npx mapples init # connect an existing Expo repo
npx mapples sync # pull canvas changes into the repo
npx mapples watch # keep them in step while you work
Change a screen on the canvas, and the file changes. Change the file, and the canvas updates. adopt brings existing screens under the canvas, and doctor checks the setup.
TODO (Olek): add one concrete example here. Which file changes when you move a button? Show a 5-line diff.
Design system first
Colors, typography, and sizing are tokens that every screen shares. One restyle updates all screens. The same tokens are what the MCP connector exposes, so Claude Code or Cursor can read and update them.
Open source parts
The @mapples/* packages are MIT and on npm: @mapples/ui, @mapples/style, @mapples/form, @mapples/state, @mapples/render, and others. The Styler and Forms libraries work on their own in any React Native app, with or without the canvas. Source: https://github.com/mapplesorg/mapples-open-kit
Preview on a device
The Mapples Preview app (iOS and Android) shows your pages on a real device without a full build.
Where we are
Mapples is in beta. There is a free plan. We are a small team and we read every message on Discord: https://discord.gg/pA6EtDGbDg
Try it: https://mapples.org · Docs: https://docs.mapples.org
What would make you trust a visual builder with your repo? Tell us in the comments.
Top comments (1)
I'd include an SVG icon in the round-trip test: after two syncs, its viewBox and stroke width should match the source.