One codebase, real iOS and Android apps, and code shared with your React web team.
React Native lets you ship to both app stores from a single TypeScript codebase, while keeping the parts that need to be native truly native. If your product or your team already runs React, you reuse the skills, the hiring pool and a large part of the code instead of paying for two separate apps. We are a mobile app development team that builds React Native end to end, with the scope agreed up front and the source code yours on delivery. See what a build costs in our custom software development cost guide.
What every build includes
React Native development builds real iOS and Android apps from one React and TypeScript codebase. It fits best when your team or your web product already runs React, because you share skills and code across both. Timeline Digital builds React Native apps end to end, writing custom native modules when a feature needs them. A focused app takes 6 to 10 weeks, runs from $15,000 to $35,000 against a fixed scope, and ships with the full source code in your hands.
Building separate Swift and Kotlin apps means two codebases, two teams and two sets of bugs to fix every time a feature changes. React Native collapses that into one codebase that renders genuine native UI on each platform. You are not shipping a website in a wrapper. The buttons, lists and navigation are real native components, while the logic that drives them is written once.
The bigger win is the React connection. If your web app runs React, your API client, validation rules, TypeScript types and a chunk of your business logic move straight into the mobile app, usually through a shared package in a monorepo. One developer who knows React can work across web and mobile, which shrinks both your hiring problem and your maintenance bill. The New Architecture, with Fabric and TurboModules, removed the old performance penalty, so a well-built React Native app now feels native on a mid-range phone, not just a flagship.
There is no universal winner. The right call depends on your team and your app. We dig deeper in our Flutter vs React Native comparison.
| Approach | Pick it when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| React Native | Your web product or team already runs React and you want to share code, types and hiring | Custom native UI takes more effort than in native Swift or Kotlin |
| Flutter | You want pixel-perfect custom UI identical across platforms and have no React investment | Dart is a separate language, with no code sharing with a React web app |
| Native Swift or Kotlin | The app is heavily graphics, AR or hardware driven, or needs the newest OS features first | Two codebases, two teams, higher cost and slower changes |
Tell us your team, your existing stack and what the app must do, and we will give a straight recommendation, even if that is native.
Four phases. An installable build on your phone after every sprint, not a big reveal at the end.
We pin down the screens that matter, decide which parts need native modules, and choose the navigation and state model. We also confirm whether your web team already runs React, because that decides how much code you can share. You sign off the scope before any screen is built.
A working prototype of the core navigation and one real flow, running on a physical iPhone and Android device, not just a simulator. This surfaces gesture, keyboard and performance issues early, while they are cheap to fix.
One-week sprints, each ending with an installable build sent to your phone over TestFlight and a Firebase or internal Android channel. Auth, the core flows, offline handling and any native module work get built in priority order with your feedback after each build.
We handle App Store and Play Store submission, the review back-and-forth, crash reporting through Sentry, over-the-air update setup, and the production build pipeline. You get the full source code and a handover so your own team can ship the next release.
We build on the New Architecture with Fabric and TurboModules, so the JavaScript and native layers talk directly instead of through the old bridge. That removes the jank that gave older React Native apps a bad name.
Expo for most apps, because over-the-air updates, the build service and the prebuilt modules cut weeks off delivery. We drop to the bare workflow only when an app needs a custom native dependency Expo does not support.
The whole app is typed, and the types are shared with your React web code where the two overlap. A shared validation schema or API client written once is used by both, instead of being rebuilt twice.
When a feature needs platform code, Bluetooth, a payment SDK, a barcode scanner, background location, we write the native Swift or Kotlin module and expose it to JavaScript through TurboModules. You are never blocked by what an off-the-shelf package supports.
React Query for server state and caching, Zustand or Redux Toolkit for app state, and a local store for offline mode. The app stays usable when the network drops and syncs when it comes back.
FlatList virtualisation, Reanimated and Gesture Handler for animations that run on the UI thread, and Hermes as the JavaScript engine to cut startup time and memory. We profile on real low-end Android devices, not just flagship phones.
A Node.js or ASP.NET Core API behind the app, with token auth, push notifications and a clean contract the app consumes. The same API can serve your web app, so you are not maintaining two.
EAS Build or Fastlane for automated store builds, Sentry for crash reporting, and over-the-air updates so you can push a JavaScript fix without waiting for store review. Set up from the first sprint.
One codebase covers both stores, so you do not pay twice. Fixed scope, fixed quote, you own the code.
| Stage | What it includes | Typical range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focused app | Auth, a few core flows, a backend, both stores | $15,000 to $35,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Feature-rich app | Offline sync, payments, custom native modules, integrations | $35,000 to $60,000 | 3 to 4 months |
| Large product | Multiple modules, real-time features, web plus mobile from shared code | $50,000 and up | 4 months and up |
Ranges depend on native module work, offline needs and integrations. Tell us your scope and we will give a fixed quote.
React Native development is building real iOS and Android apps from one JavaScript and TypeScript codebase using React. The app renders genuine native components, not a web page in a wrapper, so it looks and feels native on each platform while sharing most of the logic across both. With the New Architecture, the JavaScript and native layers run side by side for smooth performance. Timeline Digital builds React Native apps end to end, from the first build to store launch.
Choose React Native when your team or your web product already runs React, because you reuse skills, hiring pools and a large part of the code. Choose it when you need a deep JavaScript library ecosystem or want one language across web and mobile. Pick native Swift or Kotlin when an app is heavily graphics or hardware driven. Pick Flutter when pixel-perfect custom UI across platforms matters more than code sharing with a web team. We talk through the trade-off in our guide on choosing between React Native and Flutter.
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons to pick it. The business logic, API client, validation rules, TypeScript types and utility functions written for your React web app can be reused in the React Native app, often through a shared package in a monorepo. The UI components differ because mobile and web render differently, but the layer underneath them is shared. One change to a validation rule updates both, instead of being fixed twice.
Yes. Camera, GPS, Bluetooth, biometrics, push notifications and background tasks are all available, most through maintained packages and the rest through custom native modules we write in Swift or Kotlin. When a payment SDK, a hardware scanner or a niche device API has no ready package, we build the native module ourselves and expose it to the JavaScript side, so your roadmap is never limited by what a third-party library happens to support.
A focused React Native app with auth, a handful of core flows and a backend typically runs from $15,000 to $35,000 against a fixed scope. Heavy native module work, offline sync, real-time features or many integrations push it higher, and a large multi-module product runs from $50,000 and up. Because one codebase covers both iOS and Android, you avoid paying twice. See our full cost breakdown in the custom software development cost guide.
A focused React Native app usually takes 6 to 10 weeks with a senior team, covering scope, prototype, the build itself and store submission. Sharing code with an existing React web codebase shortens it, while custom native modules, offline mode and complex integrations extend it. We agree the scope in writing before starting and send an installable build to your phone after every sprint, so the timeline stays honest.
Bring us the app idea and tell us whether your team already runs React. We will map the architecture, agree a fixed scope, and have an installable build on your phone within the first couple of sprints. You own the code, start to finish.