Top React Native app examples to inspire your next mobile project

Are you thinking of jumping into the mobile app market? If you’re on the lookout for the most efficient and cost-effective way to turn your vision into a reality, React Native app development might be your golden ticket. This framework has been the cornerstone for some of today’s most popular mobile applications. As a gateway to creating apps for both Android and iOS with a single codebase, React Native is blending flexibility, speed, and economy in ways traditional methods can’t match. Keep reading to discover some of the top React Native app examples that could inspire your next mobile project.

What is React Native and why businesses love it?

It’s an open-source framework created by Facebook (now Meta) that lets you build mobile apps using JavaScript and React. The beauty of it is that you can create an app for both Android and iOS with one codebase. That means less time coding and more time bringing your app to life.

Imagine you’re building a house. Traditionally, you’d need different tools and materials for each part of the house. React Native changes the game. It’s like having a magic toolbox that morphs into whatever you need, depending on whether you’re working in the kitchen or the bedroom. With the framework, you write your app’s code once, and with a few adjustments, it works on both Android and iOS devices. This not only speeds up development but also cuts down on costs.

It makes app development more streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective. You can react quickly to market changes and update your app on the fly. Plus, because you’re using a single codebase for both platforms, managing your app post-launch is much simpler.

Examples of successful React Native apps

These apps serve millions of users daily, proving that React Native is robust and scalable enough for even the biggest projects.

Facebook app

When you think about success in the social media world, Facebook is often the first name that pops up. What’s fascinating is that Facebook isn’t just the company that launched React Native; it’s also one of its most significant users.

Facebook created React Native out of necessity. The tech giant wanted a more efficient way to build and maintain its mobile apps, which had to accommodate hundreds of millions of users across various devices and platforms. React Native was the answer to a crucial challenge: maintaining a consistent experience for all Facebook users while simplifying the development process. So how did the framework help the company?

With React Native, Facebook developers can push updates faster than ever. They can tweak the app’s UI or squash bugs without waiting for the next big app release. And here’s the kicker: they can do this simultaneously for both Android and iOS. This flexibility means that Facebook users get to enjoy new features and improvements with minimal delay.

One of the standout benefits of React Native for Facebook is code reusability. A substantial portion of the code written for the app can be shared between platforms. This cuts down significantly on development time because teams aren’t duplicating their efforts for different operating systems. Instead, they can focus on fine-tuning features and ensuring that the Facebook React Native app remains as engaging and reliable as ever.

For Facebook, React Native is more than just a convenience — it’s a strategic advantage. It enables the company to iterate quickly, keep its app up-to-date with the latest innovations, and provide its massive user base with a seamless experience on any device. By using the framework, Facebook proves it’s possible to build a powerful, high-performing mobile app while streamlining the development process.

Using React Native, Facebook has shown its dedication to building a top-notch platform. This technology offers a great opportunity for business owners who want to stand out in the online product world.

Instagram

Instagram, the popular photo-sharing platform, is another example of React Native’s capabilities. Instagram’s journey with React Native started when the company was looking for ways to speed up development without sacrificing quality or user experience. Here’s what drove Instagram to adopt the framework, and how has it been beneficial for them:

Initially, the app was developed using native technologies. Later, after Meta acquired Instagram, they wanted to enable product teams to deliver new features more quickly by sharing code and increasing the speed of iterations. React Native emerged as the ideal choice owing to features like live reload and hot reloading, which cut down the time usually spent on compile-install cycles. By switching to this framework, Instagram was able to share a lot of its codebase between the two platforms. This shared code meant features could be developed once and then deployed on both iOS and Android, significantly cutting down on development time and resources.

For Instagram, the integration of React Native was gradual. The team started by embedding React Native components into the existing native app. This piecemeal approach allowed them to test the framework’s effectiveness and agility without a complete overhaul. Over time, as confidence in the framework grew, more features were developed with it, including some of the app’s most vital parts.

The shift to React Native had an immediate impact on the Instagram development process. With a unified codebase, developers could work more closely and share solutions between platforms. This collaboration resulted in not only faster development cycles but also a more cohesive and motivated team. Furthermore, the ability to push out quick updates across all devices ensured that Instagram users enjoyed the latest features almost instantly.

Despite initial concerns around performance, Instagram found that React Native met its high standards for speed and responsiveness. The app retained its smooth, intuitive interface — a core aspect of Instagram’s user experience. Plus, using React Native gave the developers more time to focus on optimizing performance and adding new, creative features to keep the platform engaging.

Instagram’s adoption of React Native has shown that even one of the most used apps in the world can benefit from the efficiency and agility that the framework offers. The company has streamlined its development process, boosted productivity, and continued delivering a fast and reliable React Native app to millions of users worldwide.

By following Instagram’s lead, entrepreneurs can see that moving to React Native doesn’t mean compromising on quality. Instead, it empowers their teams to build better digital products, quicker, and maintain them with greater ease.

Airbnb

Airbnb, a platform that revolutionized the world of travel accommodations, also ventured into the world of React Native. However, Airbnb’s story with React Native takes a different turn, providing valuable insights into the framework’s strengths and the complexities that may arise with its adoption.

Initially, Airbnb chose React Native for many of the same reasons as Meta with Facebook and Instagram apps —faster development cycles, shared codebase, and the ability to achieve a consistent experience across platforms. The company was eager to leverage the framework to streamline its mobile development process. With a vast feature set and a globally dispersed audience, Airbnb hoped React Native would help handle the scale and complexity of its app development efficiently. Here’s how they experienced the adoption:

In the beginning, React Native seemed to be the perfect fit for Airbnb. The framework allowed the company to accelerate the rollout of new features and updates. Thanks to the shared code between iOS and Android, the engineering team was able to focus on building a cohesive product with a uniform user interface, translations, and more. This alignment reduced bugs and inconsistencies, providing a smoother experience for Airbnb users around the globe.

The blend of React Native with the app’s existing native codebase started to introduce complexities, particularly around debugging and keeping the integration seamless. Additionally, as Airbnb’s product features grew more elaborate, the limitations in React Native’s performance became more pronounced, especially in areas of complex navigation and animations.

Airbnb’s journey with React Native taught the company about aligning technology with their specific product needs. While they recognized the framework’s potential in rapid development and cross-platform consistency, they also realized that certain app complexities required a more nuanced blend of native and non-native solutions. In the end, Airbnb shifted away from React Native, opting to go back to native development to satisfy their specific performance and complexity requirements.

Although Airbnb eventually decided to discontinue using React Native, their experience is incredibly insightful for entrepreneurs considering it for their projects. It illustrates that while React Native is powerful, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Each project may have different needs, and React Native, like any other technology, comes with trade-offs.

Entrepreneurs can learn from Airbnb’s story by understanding the importance of thoroughly evaluating whether React Native aligns with their app’s scale, complexity, and long-term goals. Sometimes, a mixed approach may be the best way forward, and agility in decision-making can be crucial when adopting new technologies.

UberEats

UberEats, the popular food delivery service, is yet another big name that has incorporated React Native into their technology stack. The service needed to address the digital demands of rapidly connecting customers with restaurants and delivery drivers seamlessly and efficiently. Here’s why React Native became a part of the UberEats equation and how it has proven to be helpful.

With a growing user base and an ever-expanding list of partner restaurants, UberEats faced the challenge of delivering a dynamic and fluid ordering experience. The goal was clear: to build a reliable and engaging app across multiple platforms without multiplying the workload. Implementing React Native enabled UberEats team to maintain one codebase that works across both Android and iOS platforms.

React Native’s ability to allow shared code across platforms meant a significant reduction in development time for the UberEats team. When adding new features or refining existing ones, the framework made it possible to implement changes on both platforms simultaneously. This accelerated the process from conception to live update, keeping the React Native app fresh and responsive to user needs.

A significant concern for Uber Eats was app performance, particularly regarding the animations and transitions that make the user experience smooth. React Native’s compatibility with native modules allowed Uber Eats developers to maintain high performance where it mattered most, blending React Native and native code to achieve the desired level of interactivity and responsiveness.

One notable part of the UberEats app that benefitted from React Native is the restaurant dashboard. This is the part of the app where restaurant partners interact with the service, managing orders and their business presence on the platform. By using React Native, the development team was able to quickly iterate and tailor this dashboard to be as intuitive and efficient as possible, directly benefiting the service’s partners.

The adoption of React Native has allowed UberEats to scale quickly while keeping the app user-friendly and efficient. The framework has proven effective in handling the intricacies of real-time order updates, menu customization, and smooth navigation through the React Native app’s various features.

Uber Eats demonstrates that React Native can be a potent tool for apps that demand rapid interactions and real-time performance, especially when there is a need for constant updates and scalability in line with business growth.

Bloomberg

Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial news, and when it came to developing their mobile application, they needed a platform that could match their reputation for reliability and speed. The company turned to React Native to transform the way their content is delivered to users through their mobile app. Let’s examine why Bloomberg chose the framework and the benefits they reaped from this decision.

The Bloomberg app aims to provide users with a seamless stream of news and data, coupled with a personalized experience. Adopting React Native allowed for the creation of an interface that could update content in real-time, which is crucial for a news outlet where information is constantly changing. The framework’s ability to facilitate live updates meant that Bloomberg could offer up-to-the-minute news without any hiccups or delays.

For Bloomberg, a major draw of React Native was the heightened developer efficiency it offered. The framework’s hot reloading feature — where developers can see changes instantly without restarting the app — greatly accelerated the development process. This feature became invaluable in an environment where speed and the ability to react to feedback quickly are paramount.

React Native facilitated a more unified and collaborative workplace for Bloomberg’s developers. Instead of having two separate teams for iOS and Android, React Native allowed Bloomberg to pool their talent into a single, cross-functional team. This unity not only optimized the use of resources but also ensured a consistent vision and user experience across both platforms.

Bloomberg was able to incorporate sophisticated features that make their React Native app feel personal to each user. The framework made it easier to implement machine learning algorithms that curate content based on user behavior. As a result, Bloomberg app users receive a tailored selection of news, videos, and market data, which keeps them engaged and informed.

React Native empowered Bloomberg to continuously iterate and deliver the high-performance app that their audiences expect. They were able to maintain agility in their development process, adapting quickly to the needs of their users and the fast-paced nature of news delivery.

Discord

Discord has rapidly become a favorite communication platform for online communities, gaming groups, and even professional teams. When Discord’s team looked to extend their service beyond desktops and into the hands of mobile users, they chose React Native as their wingman. Here’s why React Native resonated with Discord’s objectives and the resulting advantages.

Discord’s mission was to deliver a seamless cross-platform experience that would allow its users to communicate without barriers. React Native’s promise of ’write once, run anywhere’ intrigued Discord, as they envisioned a mobile app that could provide the same high-quality community interaction as their desktop client.

React Native granted the Discord development team certain ’superpowers’. The hot reloading feature was a game-changer, significantly speeding up the development workflow. Additionally, the framework’s modular architecture meant that updates and tweaks to the React Native app could be made more efficiently, improving the delivery pipeline for new features.

For a communication app like Discord, performance is not just a buzzword; it’s the foundation of the user experience. Audio and video chats, message delivery, and app notifications need to work flawlessly. React Native’s compatibility with native code allowed Discord to implement performance-critical parts with native modules, ensuring that their app remained fast and reliable.

One of React Native’s most impactful contributions to the Discord app was the unification of the codebase. Rather than duplicating efforts across iOS and Android, React Native allowed for a significant amount of code reuse. This unified development effort resulted in a more consistent user experience and made it easier for the team to address bugs and roll out updates across all mobile platforms.

The company managed to iterate rapidly, ensuring that its React Native app could keep pace with evolving user needs and preferences. This agility is imperative in the social networking space, where user engagement and satisfaction are directly impacted by the quality and timeliness of new features and fixes.

Lainappi

At Ronas IT, we often use React Native in our mobile development projects. One such project is Lainappi — an app that allows users to take or give items for rent. At first, we aimed to launch an app for iOS users and follow up with an Android one. However, to cut expenses, Lainappi opted for a single app that works across both platforms, gaining immediate access to a wider user base. We picked React Native due to its ability to implement the needed functionality, while accelerating our development process. This approach proved excellent for the startup, letting them enter the market in just 3 months and test the idea on actual users.

You can check the whole case here.

To conclude

Embarking on a journey through the world of React Native app development, we’ve uncovered success stories that demonstrate the framework’s potency and versatility. From social media giants like Facebook and Instagram to revolutionary platforms like Airbnb and UberEats, these examples highlight the transformative power of React Native. Whether you’re a burgeoning startup or an established enterprise, React Native presents an avenue to not only swiftly adapt to market demands but also to maintain a dynamic and engaging product with relative ease. As with any technological choice, it’s essential to consider your unique needs and objectives, but the successes of these leading apps offer a roadmap to what’s possible. With React Native in your arsenal, you are well-equipped to build an app that stands tall in the competitive mobile landscape.

At Ronas IT, we can build mobile applications using React Native or other technologies based on your business needs. Contact us by filling out the form below to start cooperation.