Develop apps with React Native and NativeScript
Purely Native

© Photo by Jordan McQueen on Unsplash.com
The JavaScript frameworks React Native and NativeScript build a bridge between web app development and native app development. We look at the advantages of these native frameworks against the background of the classic app framework Meteor.
Two open source JavaScript frameworks, React Native [1] and NativeScript [2], help programmers develop native apps for Android and iOS by using their IDEs with JavaScript. This approach has advantages over classical web app development in the style of, say, the JavaScript Meteor [3] framework, which relies on Apache Cordova [4] and WebView.
In the Beginning
Native apps for Android are traditionally programmed with Java or Kotlin; iOS uses Objective-C or Swift [5]. Because Android apps access native code internally with C or C++, developers rely on Java Native Interface (JNI) [6]. The Android Studio [7] and Xcode [8] development environments help in programming an application and bringing it to the corresponding app stores.
However, this approach has drawbacks: Installing Android Studio is quite complex, and Xcode runs exclusively on Apple's Mac OS X operating system. If you also want to adopt an Android app for iOS, you have to reprogram the code one to one under Objective-C or Swift. However, this significantly increases the development effort and creates additional sources of error through code redundancy.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.