React Native: Build Once, Run Anywhere: Why It’s Not OS-Dependent Like Swift or Kotlin

In today’s app-driven world, reaching both iOS and Android users is essential. Traditionally, that meant building two separate apps—one in Swift for iOS, another in Kotlin for Android. But what if you could write your app once and run it everywhere?

That’s where React Native steps in.

What Is React Native?

React Native is an open-source framework developed by Meta (Facebook) that lets developers use JavaScript and React to build mobile applications. Unlike traditional hybrid frameworks that run in a webview, React Native compiles to native components, delivering true native performance.

The Cross-Platform Advantage

The biggest draw of React Native is that it’s platform-agnostic:

With React Native, you maintain one codebase and deploy to both platforms—saving time, cost, and resources.

Component Reusability: The Real Superpower

One of React Native’s most underrated strengths is component reusability.

What It Means:

Instead of writing duplicate views for iOS and Android, you write reusable components—think buttons, cards, inputs, headers—that work identically across platforms.

Why It Matters:

• Faster development: Build once, reuse everywhere (even across projects).

• Consistent UI/UX: Design systems stay uniform across platforms.

• Cleaner codebase: Fewer files, less duplication, easier debugging.

• Scalability: Large teams can split components into shared libraries or use design systems (e.g., with Storybook).

Real Example:

// components/Button.js

import { TouchableOpacity, Text, StyleSheet } from ‘react-native’;

export default function Button({ label, onPress }) {

  return (

      {label}

  );

}

This custom Button works on both platforms and can be reused across your entire app—no need to re-implement it in Swift or Kotlin.

Over time, your app becomes a library of clean, modular UI components—just plug and play.

Real Native Feel

While it’s cross-platform, React Native still provides access to:

• Native UI components (e.g., ScrollView, TextInput)

• Device APIs (camera, location, push notifications)

• Platform-specific modules (via Native Modules when needed)

It’s not “write once, run poorly.” It’s more like “write most once, fine-tune where needed.”

Example: One Codebase, Two Platforms

A simple React Native component:

import { Text, View } from ‘react-native’;

export default function App() {

  return (

      Hello, world!

  );

}

This runs on both Android and iOS, and looks like a native app—because it is.

Real-World Enhancements

With a unified codebase:

• Updates are faster.

• Bugs are fixed once, not twice.

• Features roll out simultaneously across platforms.

Frameworks like Expo simplify builds even more, offering push updates and zero-config deployments.

Trade-offs: What You Should Consider

While React Native offers incredible speed and reach, it’s not without limitations:

React Native is excellent for 80–90% of use cases, but for highly specialized apps, native development still has the edge.

Conclusion

React Native breaks the OS barrier. Unlike Swift and Kotlin, which are tied to iOS and Android respectively, React Native empowers developers to build for both worlds using one language and one codebase—without sacrificing performance or native feel.

Its true strength lies in component reusability—allowing teams to ship faster, keep UI consistent, and scale efficiently. For most apps, especially startups, MVPs, and internal tools, React Native offers a cost-effective, developer-friendly path to cross-platform excellence.