React Native app development for teams already living in React
Cross-platform mobile apps built with React Native and Expo — sharing language, patterns, and often logic with the web product you already have.
share what should be shared · go native where it matters
- React Native and Expo apps
- Shared logic with web
- Over-the-air updates
- Best when
- You already have a React web product and want to share logic and people.
- Not a fit when
- There is no web codebase to share with and no JavaScript on the team.
- First thing you get
- A build sharing your web logic, with over-the-air updates set up.
What is React Native?
React Native is Meta's open-source framework for building native Android and iOS apps with JavaScript or TypeScript and React. It maps to real platform components, so apps inherit native look and behaviour. Its biggest advantage is organisational: a React web team can read and maintain it. We build with Expo unless a project needs otherwise.
React Native's real advantage is rarely the framework itself — it is organisational. If your web product is React and your engineers think in components, hooks, and TypeScript, a React Native app is something your existing team can read, review, and eventually maintain without hiring a separate mobile discipline.
With Expo, the parts of mobile development that used to be painful — build tooling, native configuration, over-the-air updates, store pipelines — are largely handled, which is why we default to it unless a project has a specific reason not to.
What this includes
- 01
React Native and Expo apps
Android and iOS from one TypeScript codebase with managed build tooling.
- 02
Shared logic with web
Validation, types, and business rules shared between your web and mobile products.
- 03
Over-the-air updates
Ship fixes without waiting for store review, within platform rules.
- 04
Native modules
Dropping to native code where a capability is not available in JavaScript.
- 05
Offline and background work
Local storage, sync, background tasks, and location handling.
- 06
Automated testing
Unit and end-to-end coverage running in CI before each release.
Situations we see most often
You already have a React web product
The same engineers can work across both, and meaningful logic can be shared rather than reimplemented.
You need to move fast on both platforms
Expo removes most of the setup and release friction, so the first build lands sooner.
You want to ship fixes quickly
Over-the-air updates deliver corrections without a full store review cycle.
You are prototyping a mobile idea
React Native is a fast way to get something real onto devices for genuine testing.
What to know before you start
When is React Native the right choice?
When you already have a React web product. Your engineers know the language, the component model and the tooling, and validation, types and business logic can be shared between web and mobile. The app is something your existing team can read, review and eventually own.
It also suits teams that want to ship fixes quickly through over-the-air updates, and projects that need to move fast on both Android and iOS at once.
What are over-the-air updates?
They let you push JavaScript and asset changes straight to installed apps without waiting for store review, so a bug fix can reach users the same day. With Expo, updates are built into the release pipeline.
They have limits: changes to native code, new permissions or new native modules still go through the stores, and updates must stay within store policies. Used for what they are meant for, they remove most of the delay from fixing problems.
How much code can web and mobile actually share?
Business logic, validation rules, types and API clients usually share well, and that is where the value is: one definition of the rules instead of two that drift apart. Interface code shares less, because mobile navigation and interaction patterns genuinely differ from the web.
We set up the shared layer deliberately, typically as packages in a monorepo, so it stays shared rather than slowly being copied.
What drives the cost of a React Native app?
React Native removes much of the cost of building two apps. What remains is driven by these factors.
| Factor | Effect | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Backend and integrations | High | The API and connections to your systems are often the largest piece of work. |
| Native modules | Medium | Features without an existing library need native code in Kotlin and Swift alongside the JavaScript. |
| Offline and background work | Medium | Local storage, background sync and conflict handling add effort for field and on-site apps. |
| Code sharing setup | Medium | Structuring shared logic with your web product costs some setup and saves duplication for years. |
| Design depth | Medium | A fully custom design system costs more than one built on platform-standard components. |
| Release pipeline | Low | EAS builds and over-the-air updates are quick to set up with Expo, and speed up every later fix. |
What a typical engagement looks like
- 011–3 weeks
Discover
Process map
- 022–4 weeks
Design
Interactive prototype
- 03two-week cycles
Build
Working software each cycle
- 04ongoing
Ship & support
Automated pipeline
What we build it with
- Framework
- React NativeExpoTypeScript
- Navigation
- React NavigationExpo Router
- Data
- TanStack QueryREST APIsLocal storage
- Release
- EAS BuildOTA updates
Where we have done this
Service contracts visible before they lapse
A command centre for a franchise service network — service complaints, AMC renewals, customer devices, and branch-level cash and revenue in one operational view.
- Web application
- Companion customer app
Six inventory types behind one search
A full online travel agency covering hotels, flights, properties, cars, tours, and cruises — with a companion Android app for booking and trip management on the move.
- Web application
- Android app
Questions we get asked
01Does React Native feel native enough?
It renders real native components, so navigation, scrolling, and controls behave the way users expect. Careless implementations feel sluggish — but that is a build-quality issue rather than a framework limitation, and it is avoidable with attention to list rendering and animation.
02Should we use Expo or bare React Native?
Expo for almost every project. It handles builds, native configuration, and updates, and its escape hatches mean you are not blocked if you later need custom native code. Bare React Native is worth it only for unusual native requirements.
03Can our web developers work on the mobile app?
Largely yes, and that is much of the point. The language, component model, and tooling carry across. There is still genuine mobile-specific knowledge to pick up — navigation patterns, permissions, store requirements — but the learning curve is far shorter than a new native platform.
04Can you take over an existing React Native app?
Yes. We start by reviewing the code, dependencies and the React Native and Expo versions, upgrade what is outdated, and then move into normal development or maintenance.
05Do over-the-air updates follow store rules?
Yes, when used for what they are meant for: bug fixes and content changes within the app's existing functionality. Anything that changes native code or permissions goes through store review.
06How do you test React Native apps?
With automated tests for shared logic and key screens, end-to-end tests for the critical flows, and real-device testing on both Android and iOS before each release, because the two platforms still differ in the details.
Adjacent capabilities
Further reading
Tell us what you are building.
Share the problem and we will come back with an approach, a rough shape of the work, and what it would take to deliver it.