React Native is the popular framework for open-source mobile app development. This framework was developed by Facebook for building apps suitable for different devices. React Native has been famous for creating powerful cross platform apps with the native features. React Native has gained great progress over the years and it is famous enough for its power to utilize the resources over the mobile app platforms. React Native has given an impressive thump to the never-ending competition by providing powerful cross-platform mobile app development services.
React community has improved accessibility, helped contributors, reviewed tests, and brought attention to the accessibility. Recently, React Native has given the latest release with a number of bug fixes. React Native team keeps evaluating the bugs and accessibility issues to determine performance issues to your project. With every release, the team works upon the existing issues and addressing the root cause.
After the release in 2020, react native developers have been waiting for the next release. In March 2021, React Native 0.64 is released amidst the huge expectation of the developers’ community. The latest release has brought several new features along with the bug fixing.
The expectations are higher by iOS app developers who were anticipating the release of Hermes. Amidst the huge speculation, now we have the latest release of 0.64.2 version.
Table of Contents
Features Integrated in React Native 0.64.2
In the below mentioned points, we will check the list of features integrated in React Native 0.64.2 you must know about:
Hermes
Hermes is the open-source engine built over java script. It is optimized and used by React Native, where many apps take benefit by enabling Hermes. Get to know about it properly, before you hire an app developer to create react-native app. This open-source engine offers better startup, reduces memory usage, and is lightweight on machines.
Hermes is an optional feature of react native, which is built to encounter the challenges faced by developers in enterprise app production. Earlier, these features were available only with Android and now with its updated version; it is also available for the iOS tools.
With large apps, developers face many issues. Hermes is a lightweight powerful solution to work over the issues. Before the availability of Hermes for iOS, React native development companies used to face many issues while working for the iOS platform. There should be developed quality apps only, which was not possible with iOS. The uphill battle of quality is now solved with the introduction of Hermes for iOS.
With Hermes, iOS apps work better; make releases better, and reduces the interaction time. The react native developer’s community understands the favorability of the feature and therefore brought it for react native app development services over the iOS platform.
Switch to Hermes
Hermes results in better startup time, reducing memory usage, and lighter apps. Hermes is an optional feature of react native, where you can switch your project to use Hermes. When you hire react native developer, it is not always necessary to start the project from scratch. Often the old projects are switched, where the Hermes feature is handy. For using Hermes, you need to upgrade the app from the earlier version of React Native. You need to ensure all the changes, being applied to Gradle build. Then ensure, if the app is working to all possible changes or not.
Set –> hermes_enable to true in podfile
Run –> pod install
Although Hermes is in its primary stage for iOS and there is a lot left out for improvements. React Native Development companies are still waiting for the best to come.
Debug with Chrome
Hermes gets the support for JavaScript debugging using chrome dev tools. It is possible by implementing the chrome inspector protocol. First, you require knowing the port, which is open for the metro. Generally, port 8181 is available for Metro. For testing purposes, you can connect to the app on port with http://localhost:8181.
Access the app using the port and then use inspect feature of chrome using chrome: //inspect on the new tab of chrome. Click on the configure button for adding the metro address.
For years, league hacking fellowship contribution for react-native has been sponsored by Facebook. The league includes Chrome Dev tools for visualizing execution of the app, while using Hermes.
The useful feature has been there for a long for cross-platform app development solutions, where you can profile an app that is working on Hermes. You can transform to Chrome profile from Hermes tracing profile using the below command by running this command.
React-native profile-hermes [destinationDir] <flag>
Then you can pull to local machine.
Proxy Support
Mobile app Development Companies use React native as it offers proxy support with its 0.64 release. The support powers the compatibility with popular projects like Mobx and Firebase. You can switch the project to the latest Hermes, using packages. React Native latest release has made Hermes its default JS engine. You can also report if you face any issue using React Native project.
Inline Requires
Recently, most of the app development companies are using this feature for delaying the file loading, until the file is actually needed. By default, this metro option is enabled for the react-native new version, which can accelerate the time through delaying Js module execution. Conventionally, the JS modules execution initiates with the startup.
The feature was available earlier too as the optional configuration. The react native 0.64 enables the inline requires by default for building well-performing apps without the need for extra configuration.
import { TestFunction } from ‘test-module’;
const TestComponent = (props) => {
const result = TestFunction();
return {result};
};
With inline requires:
const TestComponent = (props) => {
const result = require(‘test-module’).TestFunction();
return {result};
};
Inline requires loading the module where it is actually needed, for that you need to hire app developer only when it is needed. Mostly, they do it when there is requirement of react native app development.
React 17
For react native app development services, React 17 is considered a milestone that released to make embedding the tree of one version to a tree of a different version easier. React 17 also eases the process to embed the react native apps developed with another framework.
The all-new JSX transformation stops the requirement for importing react for using JSX. React 17 comes as an optional feature and the team has decided to continue classic transform feature.
Dependency changes
The language has stopped the support for old Android platform API 16-20. With Facebook app stopping support for specific Android platform versions, the React Native follows the same.
Conclusion
React native is a powerful contender for cross-platform app development services. The Developers community has been waiting for a long, for these changes to come. Finally, after a lot of wait, React 0.64.2 is live. The release has brought many shifts and bug fixes, continuous support for demanded components, and easier development features.
The release 0.64.2 is beneficial and supportive for the react-native developers’ community to develop apps. React has a lot of strength that is not shown yet and the world is waiting for the next release of React native.
