This article is about my decision to start learning React Native in 2025. I’ve created some personal projects before in Next.js, but I’m recently making the switch to Expo. Why?
As a full-stack developer, my ambition is bigger than before when I just made frontends for other people. Not only my ambition, but my capabilities are also much greater, and creating entire pieces of software has always been a dream for me – a binary, a compiled program that you just double-click and it runs.
The web isn’t quite like that; it’s a bunch of files, routes, and services wrapped around logic that tries to fight with your browser’s monthly updates. A mobile app is similar, in a way, but from the user’s perspective, it’s just one compiled file living on your OS. And for me, this is an entirely new experience.
So, I’m jumping into Expo with this newfound adrenaline and some philosophy that has shifted my mindset: “write once, deploy anywhere.” Universal apps, multi-device – these are my new frontiers. No more hovering on the edge; I’m going directly to your device and getting installed there.
Another fact that makes me jump into this new adventure, specifically on the mobile platform, is the massive new market that has recently emerged and will transform every aspect of our lives. The answer is clear: AI adoption on mobile is huge. People need AI more than ever, and the best place to have it is directly on their iPhone or Android device, using voice, photo, or text inputs. The need for quick answers is definitely in high demand.
You might think that just installing ChatGPT is all they need, but that’s not exactly the case. Specifically, in certain scenarios, generic AI models like ChatGPT can’t do a decent job. For those cases, you might need a specific model trained on a particular problem. And that’s where dedicated apps come to life, solving specific problems in a seamless and intuitive manner, leveraging the power of AI directly on the user’s device. This allows for a more personalized and efficient user experience than a generic web-based AI assistant.
Why Expo is the Game Changer for This Vision
This is where my research comes into play, solidifying why Expo is the right vehicle for this journey in 2025.
From Web-First to True Native Power:
Expo is built from the ground up for mobile. It compiles your JavaScript/TypeScript code into truly native iOS and Android applications. This means your app isn’t just a website wrapped in a shell; it’s a genuine mobile experience. In 2025, Expo fully embraces React Native’s New Architecture, which includes:
- Hermes Engine for faster JavaScript execution.
- JavaScript Interface (JSI), Fabric, and TurboModules.
What does this mean for us? It fundamentally changes how JavaScript communicates with native modules, removing the “bridge” overhead and enabling direct, synchronous communication. This results in near-native performance and allows for deeper integration with platform-specific features, making the old performance concerns of React Native largely a thing of the past.
Simplified Development, Rapid Deployment:
One of the biggest headaches in traditional native mobile development is the complex build process and app store submissions. This is where Expo Application Services (EAS) becomes a game-changer. EAS streamlines everything:
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Cloud Builds: Forget configuring Xcode or Android Studio for every build. EAS handles cross-platform builds in the cloud.
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Seamless Submissions: It simplifies the notoriously tedious app store submission process for both Apple and Google.
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Over-the-Air (OTA) Updates: This is huge! You can push bug fixes and even new features directly to your users’ devices without them needing to download a new version from the app stores. This alone drastically speeds up iteration and maintenance.
Expo’s managed workflow and a rich SDK provide ready-to-use APIs for almost any device feature you can imagine – camera, location, notifications, biometrics, and more – significantly reducing the need to scour for and integrate separate native modules. And with Expo Router, you get file-based routing similar to Next.js, but designed for native navigation, including deep linking. This makes building complex navigation flows incredibly intuitive.
So, I’m now immersed in all this world. All around me are just new patterns, new ways of thinking, and a completely fresh perspective on software development and human interaction with machines.
The rock have started to talk and can tell us a lot of things.
As long as we are professional and careful, we will be able to get the best out of this technology to propel ourselves as a species.