Why React Native is the Best Choice for Your MVP

Okay, at Match.dev we have this special no-BS approach. So this article will be strictly BS-free. Not that the other ones were BS-friendly, but... Oh forget it.

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There's no easy answer to which tech stack to use for an MVP. Or is there? Let's say you're developing an app. What matters to you most? When it comes to MVP's, everyone knows that your primary areas of focus should be the following:

• Cost-effectiveness
• Speed of development
• Functionality / Scalability

In other words, you don't want to spend much, you don't want it to take much time and you want it to 'age' well. What else?

The goal of an MVP, apart from launching quickly, is to gather user feedback and gain your first solid user base. What platform are you thinking of launching on? iOS? Android? Let's break down the numbers. In the USA, Android has a 43% market share, while iOS has one of 57%. Is there really a choice? In other words, do you want to leave out almost a half of your potential users?

Okay, this brings us to our second conclusion – you're looking for a cross-platform solution. Developing both for iOS and Android is rather costly and complicated in terms of project management on the early stages of your startup. So, a good idea might be to look into cross-platform frameworks. Yes, stuff like this exists.

These are DART-based frameworks. There's Flutter, which a great choice, honestly. But not without its own drawbacks. In particular, what makes me hesitant is that it's relatively new (introduced by Google in 2017), so it might still be tricky to find good developers. Which is, I assume, essential in your case. Okay, let's discard Flutter.

Then there's React Native. Similar to Flutter, it lets you develop native apps both for iOS and Android, but it's a much more 'mature', open-source framework, meaning the documentation is extensive, there are a lot of forums and questions on Stackoverflow, so your developer will always be able to find the answer to their particular question, or quickly get rid of a nasty bug. If you want a no-BS answer, here it is – just use React Native.

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Okay, so now I'll try to sell you the idea of React Native in my special brand of no-BS tech talk:

React Native was developed by Facebook and it combines the efficiency of web development with the power of native capabilities, offering a cross-platform solution for building high-performance mobile apps.

What makes React Native so goddamn awesome is that it lets you write code once and then deploy it on both iOS and Android platforms. Time- and cost-effective? Absolutely. What's more, it also ensures consistency across different devices. The framework has this fancy term for the philosophy behind it – "learn once, write anywhere", meaning that the developers can use their existing knowledge of React (just React, not React Native – a bit confusing, I know) to build apps.

Also, its reusability is a game-changer. With a shared codebase, dev teams can iterate faster, fix bugs more efficiently, and release updates simultaneously on both platforms. So, faster time-to-market and less development costs. Exactly what you're looking for. This way you can focus on enhancing features and user experience instead of managing separate codebases for different platforms.

I already hear you asking about performance: "But what about performance? A cross-platform framework just can't guarantee the same level of performance as a native solution, can it?". Welp, it actually can. React Native uses native components, ensuring that the final product is indistinguishable from one developed using traditional native languages such as Swift or Java. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Another key advantage of React Native is the one I've mentioned earlier – its community. "Maybe The Real Treasure Was the Friends We Made Along the Way" as the famous meme goes.

React Native benefits from continuous improvement, updates, and a whole ecosystem of third-party libs. So your devs will have access to pre-built components and modules, saving them from reinventing the wheel. The "friends you've made along the way" also provide extensive documentation, tutorials, and support, making it easy for your dev team to get started and resolve issues quickly. To put it another way – using React Native will make both your and your devs' life easier.

And make no mistake, it's not just for startups or small businesses – Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, and Uber have all built their apps using React Native. If it's good enough for Instagram, it's good enough for you. Its scalability and flexibility make it suitable both for simple apps and complex platforms.

Okay, rewind. We were talking about cost-effectiveness, speed of development and scalability. Check, check and check. Sounds like the perfect solution to your problem.

So, have I sold you on the idea of React Native? I sure hope so. If so, at Match.dev we connect you with top talent, quickly and affordably. More importantly, we have lots of React Native devs. And keep in mind, you're not outsourcing a dev – you're getting a full-fledged team member who seamlessly integrates into your project management ecosystem and works in line with your product strategy. Drop us a line and let us help you find the right developers! team@match.dev

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