React Native is an innovative app framework created and supported by Facebook. Since React Native developers can write code once and deploy it on both Android and iOS platforms, this plays an integral role in accelerating development and saving time. Moreover, React Native is also highly cost-effective compared to other frameworks. That is why it is widely suggested by professionals to collaborate with a professional React Native app development company for expert solutions.
The number of smartphone users will certainly reach 7.07 billion by the end of 2024, which could open up opportunities in the mobile app market. This led to the growing usage of the React Native framework, which is now the second-most popular framework among developers. The Statista report shows that 40.58% of expert developers use the React Native app framework.
However, there are certain React Native app development mistakes that many developers make, which constrict them from making the most of this renowned framework. If you’re an amateur developer trying your hands on React Native coding, this blog is highly insightful to help you seek common errors and get possible solutions. Are you looking for an accurate estimate of the React Native app development cost? Find out the right cost with our mobile app development cost calculator.
Table Of Contents
12 Common React Native App Development Mistakes
The scalability of the React Native app is highly commendable, and we can see the adoption by many business giants like Skype, Facebook, and Uber. Also, many apps like TikTok use cross-platform frameworks for specific features. Are you ready to encounter the top 12 React Native app development errors? Here are the following issues you must consider:
1. Wrong Estimation
React Native entails certain reusable components and code. It promises a “write once, run anywhere” approach, but creating seamless cross-platform functionality is complex. Underestimating the complexity of iOS and Android in terms of design, hardware specifications, and features can result in significant deviations.
Moreover, many developers tend to ignore the time needed to develop native modules, which can lead to considerable hindrances. It is important to estimate the validation layout when creating a React Native app.
Best Practices
Avoiding errors in React Native apps needs careful consideration and knowledge. Here are some of the best practices to follow:
Conduct Requirement Analysis
Before starting the estimation, you need to understand the project requirements in detail. Gather in-depth information about the app’s features, target platforms, user expectations, and performance standards.
Analyze Past Project Data
The best approach is to study the data from a previous project with similar scope and complexity. Use historical data to identify patterns, common challenges, and actual timeframes.
Break Down the Project into Smaller Tasks
To simplify the task, it is advised to divide the project into smaller tasks and estimate each area individually. This provides more accurate estimates than large, vague milestones.
Attention Towards Platform-Specific Challenges
You must estimate the time frame for platform-specific adjustments, such as UI/UX design adaptations, performance optimization, and compliance with platform guidelines.
Buffer Time for Unforeseen Problems
Implementing buffer time overcomes many unexpected challenges, including technical difficulties, dependency issues, or changes in client requirements.
2. Relying on External Modules Codes
Although developers reading external module code is not very common, it makes things easier and faster, especially since external module codes also come with documentation. Unfortunately, external module codes don’t work as originally anticipated.
To avoid making mistakes, it is important to be attentive to the code and determine the right strategies to deal with it.
Best Practices
Dealing with external modules can be challenging and doesn’t always work. To resolve the issue of reading and comprehending external module code, here are some of the React Native best practices:
Thorough Review
You should thoroughly review the documentation, including setup instructions, usage examples, API references, and other troubleshooting tips.
Utilize Debugging Tools
Use tools like React Native Debugger, Chrome DevTools, and others to understand the module’s behavior at runtime.
Static Code Analysis
The use of tools like ESLint and Prettier assists in understanding the coding standards used in the framework and highlights issues or inconsistencies in the module’s code.
Join Community Discussion
You can participate in discussions on platforms like GitHub, Reddit, and developer forums to get professional insights into coding technicalities.
3. Poor Coding Practices
Many beginner developers make the mistake of writing bad coding that prevents them from including new functionalities. If you want to make changes, you need to make changes repeatedly and write a lot of code.
In order to improve coding, you need to plan out effective practices and reduce the risk of bugs. Aside from that, if you want to share coding tutorials with your followers on social media, you can use apps like CapCut to edit tutorial videos.
Best Practices
Understanding the coding issues and integrating the best practices is essential. Here are some of the solutions you need to know:
Following Standard Codings
You need to follow the established coding standards and conventions. A consistent style guide helps you ensure the code is readable and maintainable.
Write Modular and Reusable Code
To make the code easier to understand, it is advised to break down the code into small, modular sections that promote reusability and reduce duplication.
Use of Proper Error Handling
Developers are suggested to implement error handling throughout the application. This helps identify issues early and makes debugging easier.
Optimize Performance
Implement performance optimization techniques such as avoiding unnecessary re-renders, using efficient data structures, and minimizing memory usage.
Regular Code Checks
Conduct regular code reviews to ensure it meets quality standards. These check reviews help developers catch potential issues early.
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1. Less Attentive Planning
Most developers make the mistake of paying heed to the data handling rather than the app’s planning style. This oversight leads to inconsistent and disorganized app architecture. Moreover, a lack of clear planning creates scope creep, where additional features and changes are introduced without proper assessment.
It is advised to use Redux, which will help you store data correctly when managing and debugging app states.
Best Practices
Apart from the Redux tool approach, there are many React Native best practices that you can implement in your app development:
Detailed Project Roadmap
To make the requirements clear, creating a detailed roadmap helps understand the core features, target audience, and business goals.
Conduct Risk Assessment
Identify potential risks in the planning phase and create effective strategies to mitigate potential planning issues. This helps address challenges before they become major issues.
Attention Toward User Experience
Put your time into planning the user experience (UX) design. You need to focus on creating wireframes, prototypes, and user flow diagrams to ensure the app is intuitive and user-friendly.
Use of Agile Methodologies
Integrate agile methodologies to refine the plan based on real-world feedback, such as Scrum and Kanban frameworks.
2. Console Log Statement
Console log statements ‘console.log’ are commonly used by developers for debugging and logging purposes during development. While they are useful in understanding the mobile app flow and diagnosing issues, improper use can lead to performance degradation, clutter output, and major security risks.
Moreover, if the render methods and logic are left inside, it can be a severe problem later.
Best Practices
To resolve React Native app development challenges, especially console log statements issues, you can follow the best practices that we’ve gathered, especially for the ones who have recently been working on React Native frameworks:
Using Logging Libraries
The use of dedicated logging libraries, such as ‘Winston” or “loglevel” offers more control over logging levels, formatting, and output destinations.
Implement Log Levels
It helps developers and system administrators identify critical issues and filter out unhelpful messages. You can implement common log levels like console.error, console.warn, and console.debug.
Minimize Logs in Production
Excessive log use can lead to performance issues and overly cluttered log files. It is best to minimize logs in production so they don’t consume too much disk space.
Use Conditional Logging
When certain log statements are implemented, conditional logging helps control operations and avoid unnecessary logs.
Document Log Statements
Documenting log statements is essential to make it easy, understandable, and valuable for anyone who reviews it. It includes the purpose of the log, the logged context, and any other relevant details that assist in diagnosing issues.
Many newbie developers overlook or skip writing unit tests, which can lead to an app’s instability in the future. Without writing unit tests, many bugs and issues can go unnoticed until they cause significant problems. Moreover, unstable codebase changes and refactoring can make testing the existing functionality risky.
Products with mistakes and flaws portray a negative image of the company. To maintain market sustainability, it is essential to test the app’s functionality before releasing it online.
Also, if you plan to build a dating app, there are many apps like Tinder that are mostly based on the React Native frameworks.
Best Practices
If you’re going to leave your app’s fate at the mercy of users, then you’re in big trouble. To test the functionality of the app, here are some of the React Native best practices to follow:
Testing Small Units of Code
You need to focus on testing functions and code components individually to pinpoint potential issues more easily.
Use Test-Driven Development
TDD is an iterative approach that involves writing tests before crafting the actual code. It helps developers think about the requirements and edge cases upfront, leading to a more efficient code.
Edge Cases Testing
You need to ensure that your test follows edge cases. This includes testing empty inputs, invalid data, and handling errors.
Use Code Coverage Tools
It allows developers to understand how much the codebase is being tested. Jest is a popular testing platform for JavaScript that delivers comprehensive code coverage reports.
Automate Testing
Integrating unit tests into your continuous integration (CI) pipeline is useful to ensure they run automatically on every request. This helps developers identify issues early and ensure the changes do not break existing functionality.
4. Use of Stateless Component
Although stateless components are known for their speedy testing traits, they are ineffective today. React Native works on Pure Components, so using stateless components complicates the user interface and lifecycle mechanism, rendering many technical activities.
It can lead to unnecessary re-renders, potentially affecting large applications’ performance. Moreover, as stateless components don’t have their own state, they rely on props passed from parent components. This leads to prop drilling, making the code harder to maintain.
Best Practices
To resolve the issues caused by the use of stateless components, here are some of the React Native best practices you can follow:
Use React Hooks
It is advised to use React hooks, introduced in React 16.8, that help you use state and other features in functional components. Developers can use hooks like ‘useState,’ ‘useEffect,’ and ‘useContext’ to manage lifecycle events in stateless components.
Optimize with React.memo
To avoid re-renders, developers can use ‘React.memo’ to memoize functional components. Optimizing React Native app development with React.memo will only re-render the components if the props change.
Context API for State Management
Looking to avoid prop drilling and manage the global state more effectively? You should use the Context API to share values between components without passing props through every component tree step.
Combination of Functional and Class Components
While functional components with hooks can handle various scenarios, there will be many cases where class components are more appropriate, especially with intricate lifestyle requirements. Using both components in combination is an effective way to enhance code efficiency.
Direct mutation is the process of modifying the state or props of components in React Native, bypassing the standard React Native lifecycle and state management mechanisms. This approach can cause unpredictable bugs, errors, and other performance issues in the application.
Moreover, React Native uses a reconciliation approach to determine the changes needed to update the UI. Direct mutation quickly bypasses this process and leads to inefficient updates.
Best Practices
The issues arising from direct mutation can be challenging to debug. Here are some of the React Native best practices to mitigate the problems:
Avoid Modification of Props
The developer needs to treat props as immutable. If updating the props is required, consider lifting the state to a parent component and passing the updated one down.
Use Functional Updates
It is recommended to use the functional form ‘setState’ when updating the state based on the previous one to ensure it is applied correctly (especially when dealing with asynchronous updates.)
Use Immutable Data Structures
You can choose immutable data structures, such as immutable.js or Immer, which manage states more predictably and efficiently.
Avoid Direct DOM Manipulation
Developers must avoid directly manipulating the underlying views using APIs. It can cause inconsistencies with its virtual DOM.
Use of Pure Components
To avoid unnecessary re-renders and ensure the updates are seamlessly applied, the ‘React.PureComponent’ or ‘React.memo’ functions should be used, respectively.
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1. Unoptimized Images
Images play an integral role in maintaining the app’s visual appeal. However, if the images are not optimized, they take up a lot of space and hinder your app’s growth. Issues that you may encounter include increased app size and slower performance.
In addition, the large images use a lot of memory, which can lead to potential crashes, especially on devices with limited RAM.
Best Practices
If you don’t want to leave room for mistakes, make sure your images are well-optimized. To ensure efficiency, here are some of the React Native best practices we’ve gathered:
Use the Correct Image Format
It is recommended that you use a suitable image format. For photographs, use JPEG, and for images with transparency, use PNG. For simple logos and icons, use SVG.
Resize Images
You need to avoid updating images larger than the app’s display size, as it directly impacts your memory storage and slows down rendering.
Image Compression
To improve the quality of your image, use image compression to reduce the file size. You can use tools like ImageMagick, Gulp, and other online platforms.
Lazy Loading
Developers can integrate lazy loading for images that are not visible to users immediately. That means the time it takes to load the app initially can be reduced and further improve the app’s performance.
Use React’s Image Components
You can use a built-in component like ‘Image,’ which automatically covers all the optimization steps, including image caching, resizing, and handling loading indicators.
Use a CDN
The use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) helps developers host and deliver images. It can optimize delivery based on the user’s location, device, and network speed.
Optimize in Different Screen Versions
It helps you get multiple versions of the images for different screen densities, such as 1x, 2x, and 3x. This approach ensures high-quality images on all devices.
2. Avoiding Project Structure
The biggest mistake developers make is overlooking or ignoring the project structure. Lack of knowledge of the project causes many challenges in the long run, including growing complexity, difficulty understanding and maintaining the codebase, and stringent productivity.
As the app project progresses, the lack of project structure leads to certain scalability issues and makes it challenging for developers to add new features or refactor existing code. That’s why organizing the project structure is highly important to prevent future app growth issues.
As a developer, your main aim is to make as few mistakes as possible. In order to establish a well-organized project framework, here are some of the best practices to go for:
Organize Feature or Module
You need to organize group-related files together by feature or module rather than file type. It makes it easier to manage and understand the codebase.
Use of Consistent Naming Convention
To maintain clarity and avoid confusion, create a consistent convention for files, folders, and components.
Small and Reusable Components
One of the most beneficial approaches is to break down components into small portions, which makes testing, maintaining, and reusing easier.
Use of Centralized State Management
If you have larger projects, you should use a centralized state management library, such as Redux or MobX, to manage and share state across different parts of the application.
Organize Navigation Separately
If you’re trying to manage the navigation structure, it is advisable to keep navigation-related files separate from other parts of the mobile app. It makes it easier to update and modify changes.
3. Unresponsiveness Across All Devices
React Native can build cross-platform apps. However, if your mobile app is not responsive on all devices, it may lead to poor user experience and app performance. Meeting all the responsiveness requirements can be challenging due to the differences in screen sizes, hardware capabilities, and operating systems, but with the right approach, you can improve the app’s performance. Unresponsive apps are one of the common React Native app development challenges many developers encounter, and to mitigate that, it is important to implement the right strategies.
Are you wondering how much it costs to make an app? Don’t worry — our recent blog shares a detailed cost breakdown to help you make the right decision.
Best Practices
Having a responsive mobile app is crucial to grow a large customer base. To avoid facing issues, here are some of the React Native best practices to ensure responsiveness on all devices:
Optimizing Rendering
Rendering is crucial and directly impacts the app’s user experience and performance. Optimizing rendering minimizes unnecessary re-renders and improves the app’s responsiveness.
Use Background Threads
To enhance the app’s responsiveness, moving heavy computations and tasks to background threads keeps the main thread free from UI updates.
Optimize Images
Image optimization helps reduce load times, improve performance, and decrease memory usage. It is advised to use appropriate-sized images, compress images, and use image caching to improve performance.
Manage Memory Usage
Managing memory is essential for smooth performance and helps you avoid potential crashes. You can use flatlists for large data sets and manage resources to prevent memory leaks.
Testing on Multiple Devices
You need to test your app regularly on various devices with different screen sizes, resolutions, and hardware capabilities to address performance issues.
4. Not Utilizing Third-Party Components
Every developer faces the dilemma of whether to utilize third-party libraries. While third-party libraries provide additional functionalities in your mobile app, they also have many negative aspects. Avoiding using third-party libraries leads to ‘reinventing the wheel’ and increases the development timeframe. Moreover, it can result in lower optimized and weak tested code.
To resolve this conflict, developers must decide when to utilize third-party components. If you want to learn how to implement third-party integrations in apps, especially those in the dating niche, you can check out the top dating apps in Dubai, UAE, for insights and ideas.
Best Practices
Third-party conflicts occur when libraries used in React Native are incompatible. Here are some of the best practices to resolve this issue:
Dependency Management
It is suggested that tools like Yarn or npm be used to help maintain the dependencies. It ensures the package versions are locked with the help of a lock file.
Regular Updates
You need to update the dependencies regularly to help resolve bug fixes and improve performance.
Compatibility Checks
Check the compatibility of the libraries before adding them to your app development process. You can use tools like npm’s ‘semver’ to understand version compatibility.
Modular Architecture
Developers are advised to design apps in a modular format, reducing the chances of conflicts and making resolving issues easier.
Automated Testing
You can implement automated testing to grab potential conflicts early in the process and ensure that the changes implemented do not introduce new issues.
Benefits of React Native App Development: React Native Best Practices
React Native is a widely known cross-platform framework that allows users to write code once and is accessible on both iOS and Android platforms. Many developers opt for this platform as it reduces development time and cost by removing the requirement of creating separate codebases for each platform.
Can’t figure out where to implement this framework? Explore the best app ideas that will revolutionize the world by 2024.
Around 1.7 millionGithub members are using React Native, and the community has 114k stars, 2,611 contributors, and 297 releases.
If you’re wondering what are the common benefits of using React Native, check out the reasons why you should go for this app development framework:
It works using JavaScript, which every developer is familiar with the inside and out
The React Native Framework has a seamless installation process
The live reload feature allows for a quick app development journey
This cross-platform allows developers to adapt various solutions, including Android, iOS, VR, smart TVs, etc.
Collaborate with our React Native experts today to build an app.
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Developers have built high-quality applications for both iOS and Android platforms, which run exceptionally well on all devices. We know nobody wants to make React Native app development mistakes, and to avoid them, this blog will help you find the common mistakes that newbie developers usually encounter.
By comprehending these mistakes, this information will help you avoid such errors in the future. Are you ready for building successful React Native application? Trango Tech has a team of expert React Native developers who are professionally trained to deliver competitive-worthy apps for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any way to improve React Native app performance?
While React Native works faster and more efficiently than others, it may suffer from underperformance due to several reasons, including complex UI, complex animations, unnecessary re-renders, optimization shortcomings, and data fetching impacts.
Finding out the underlying slow performance issues is the initial step in finding effective solutions. Here’s how you can improve React Native app performance:
Network Optimization
Adopting more data retrieval approaches can reduce HTTP requests. Moreover, resources such as React-Native offline or React-Native images can be utilized to improve efficiency.
Optimize Launch Speed
The speed of an app is determined by how fast it is launched. You need to ensure proper rendering, lower the app’s memory usage, and reduce the bundle size. The best features are Hermes integration and Memoization to achieve the best performance.
Image Files Caching
Developers can download the image to the local storage in the app’s cache directory and load it from local storage when the image loads. Moreover, FastImage is a great tool for handling automatic image caching without additional code.
Rendering Optimization
You can integrate components or React.memo to eliminate unnecessary re-rendering. The VirtualizedList component is also suggested to render large lists efficiently.
App Profiling
To improve performance issues, profiling your React Native app is highly important. It is suggested that tools like React Native Performance, Flipper, or Chrome DevTools be used to analyze CPU usage, rendering speed, and memory consumption.
Is React Native suitable for all app types?
React Native is the next big thing in mobile app development due to its ability to work on both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. Many well-known companies like Tesla, Walmart, and Uber Eats have mobile apps built using React Native framework. Moreover, Facebook, Instagram, and Zynga are also on the list of React Native users. This means that despite some opinions, React Native is a suitable platform not only for simple apps but also for advanced ones.
How much does it cost to build a React Native app?
The general cost of building a React Native app ranges from $15,000 to $30,000. It depends on the app’s features and complexity. For a more accurate estimation, check out the cost of building different types of apps:
App Types
Cost Estimate
Simple Apps
$15,000 – $35,000
Intermediate Apps
$35,000 – $80,000
Complex Apps
$90,000 onwards
The app’s complexity is influenced by many features, including the backend architecture, admin panel, third-party integration, mobile device features, Enterprise/Legacy system integrations, and IoT integration. For more information, read our React Native app development cost blog for in-depth insights.
How long does it take to build a React Native app?
When building an app, many people question the timeframe to bring the idea into reality. It may vary depending on the scope of the project, the app’s complexity, and the revisions it takes. Here’s the rough estimate for different types of React Native apps:
App Types
Cost Estimate
Simple Apps (e.g., Informational Apps, Small Business Apps, or Basic Utility Apps)
2 – 3 Months
Intermediate Apps (e.g., eCommerce Apps, Social Networking Apps or Productivity Apps )
4 – 6 Months
Complex Apps (e.g., On-Demand Delivery Apps, Gaming Apps or Real-Time Features Apps)
React Native and Flutter are widely preferred frameworks that support both iOS and Android platforms. The choice between Flutter and React Native depends on project requirements and preferences. To understand both of the frameworks, here are the following advantages we’ve gathered:
Flutter
Uses Dart language, which compiles faster than JavaScript
Entails a smaller adoption rate than JavaScript
Limited IDE support for Dart due to less popularity
Flutter delivers faster development
Provide integrated testing features for easier testing
React Native
Uses JavaScript, which makes it easier for developers to learn
Saves a lot of time for developers
React Native requires third-party testing frameworks like Detox
Widely adopted and supported by big enterprises
If you need help making decisions for your app, check out the advantages of React Native in our recent blog.
Meet Ahsan, the wordsmith behind some of the most electrifying pieces on app development. Armed with a keyboard, a cup of coffee, and an insatiable curiosity, Ahsan has spent years exploring the wild and wonderful world of app development. Currently working at Trango Tech, an app development company, Ahsan brings his expertise to the forefront. So buckle up, grab a cup of coffee (or tea, we won't judge), and get ready to dive headfirst into the exciting and ever-changing world of app development with Ahsan as your guide.
