The State of Cross-Platform in 2025
React Native has matured. The New Architecture (JSI + Fabric) eliminated most of the performance gap that made native the only choice for smooth 60fps interactions. For the vast majority of business applications, React Native is now the right default.
But "vast majority" isn't "all of them."
When React Native Wins
Shared codebase value: If you're building for iOS and Android, a single codebase means one engineering team, shared business logic, and coordinated releases. This is a major operational advantage.
Standard UI patterns: Navigation, forms, lists, modals — React Native handles these well with libraries like React Navigation and Expo.
Faster iteration: JavaScript hot-reload and Over-The-Air updates (via Expo EAS) mean you can ship bug fixes without an App Store review cycle.
Team leverage: If your team already knows React, the ramp to React Native is weeks, not months.
When Native Wins
Platform-specific features at the boundary: ARKit on iOS, Nearby API on Android — features that require deep OS integration and timely access to new SDK APIs.
Extreme performance requirements: GPU-intensive games, real-time video processing, or applications that need frame-perfect rendering.
Large existing native codebase: If you have years of mature native code, cross-platform adds friction rather than removing it.
The Hybrid Approach
Many teams use React Native for 90% of their app and drop to native modules for the 10% that needs it. Expo's module system makes this manageable.
Our Default
At EGLIFE, we default to React Native + Expo for new mobile projects. We write native modules when the project requires it. This gives our clients 80% of the benefit at 50% of the cost.