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Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

engineering.shopify.com

141–150 of 588 posts

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#141
post #130
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know last time I tried React Native and wanted to use some cool feature of iOS. I either had to write my own RN plugin in Swift/ObjC or wait for someone else to do it.

You say that like writing plugins is hard or undesirable.

Exactly - this is native code that would need to be written either way, right?

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#142

Honestly I think the future of mobile will just be... mobile websites. What's missing until regular websites have parity with mobile apps in functionality? - Accelerometer and all sensor support (some of these are already supported on various browsers on various OSes) - Background support - Bluetooth - WiFi - Better notifications - etc. Sure there will always be a need for native, but 99% of apps don't need any of th…

>Literally all of them could be implemented as responsive pages with acceptable performance. Speaking personally I like the division between highly sandboxed websites (no GPS access, no notifications, etc...) and trusted apps.

This is only because the trust given to apps is insane. No distinction between foreground GPS and background GPS? Sure, I wouldn't want web sites to work that way either. But if permissions were sane there would be no reason not to have native apps and web apps ask for the same permissions in the same way.

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#143
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're viewing it through the lens of a developer. The user wants the best experience. Because software costs 0$ to distribute, the best user experience will always win out. The future of all software is faster, better software. Websites are shitty, arcane technology - the opposite of the future.

If a website is popular and does the basics well, it doesn't matter how 'shitty' the technology is. Amazon.com has easily the most hideously designed product pages out there. Because sellers can "customize" the product page, you get their content (usually hero images with tiny text) mixed in with text-only product details, "users also bought" carousels, Q&A and Reviews all jammed together. And they're still doing bet…

Of course if a store is just plain cheaper and over all quality wise better, it it's not that important that it looks hideous and abandoned. But to some people it matters. And if two stores provide the same product at the same price, I think I'll prefer the one that looks nicer.

It doesn't decide everything, but it's pretty certainly a factor (although Amazon must have determined that it's a small one to them, as they are still micro-optimizing for other page-related aspects like loading speed).

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#145
post #99
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honestly I think the future of mobile will just be... mobile websites. This. Having to install software on my phone to use a service is cringy as hell and is a huge red flag for me. Like when trying to order food from a restaurant or shop somewhere. It's almost always going to be a automatic no. I just don't trust them. They always want permissions to access things on my phone, which is just pure nonsense. It's goi…

I agree with the overall points, less so the pointless vitriol. Installing software is cringey as hell now? The main issue here isn't native apps. It's the existing framework for installing them. For instance, would it be that far-fetched to be able to open an app in a single click? Current extended process: 1) Click link that takes me to app store page 2) Find and click install button 3) wait 4) Click "open app" but…

https://developer.android.com/topic/google-play-instant

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#146
post #70

Honestly I think the future of mobile will just be... mobile websites. What's missing until regular websites have parity with mobile apps in functionality? - Accelerometer and all sensor support (some of these are already supported on various browsers on various OSes) - Background support - Bluetooth - WiFi - Better notifications - etc. Sure there will always be a need for native, but 99% of apps don't need any of th…

It can't be overstated how many apps are absolutely dependent on working push notifications (all chat for example) and can't be replicated as websites. And that's not yet implemented for iOS so we're all at Apple's mercy until it is, which may never be.

Apple will never give in and implement webpush on mobile safari because that would affect their precious app store. How will they extort developers then? That's also the reason mobile safari is so limited in other features.

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#147
post #99
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honestly I think the future of mobile will just be... mobile websites. This. Having to install software on my phone to use a service is cringy as hell and is a huge red flag for me. Like when trying to order food from a restaurant or shop somewhere. It's almost always going to be a automatic no. I just don't trust them. They always want permissions to access things on my phone, which is just pure nonsense. It's goi…

I agree with the overall points, less so the pointless vitriol. Installing software is cringey as hell now? The main issue here isn't native apps. It's the existing framework for installing them. For instance, would it be that far-fetched to be able to open an app in a single click? Current extended process: 1) Click link that takes me to app store page 2) Find and click install button 3) wait 4) Click "open app" but…

> Installing software is cringey as hell now?

When you know that the features you're interested in can be made easily available by a simple web app.

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#148
post #90
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely this. Native apps are just so much smoother, and I say this as someone who really wants the web to win, and who used web apps almost exclusively because my 16GB iPhone 6 had very little space for apps. Also, the quality of native apps was much higher (e.g., Twitter feed doesn’t abruptly jump all over on mobile) although this could just be due to more budget allocation into native apps for whatever reason.

Not just smoother, native apps done right are interactive at the visual element level.

Can you elaborate on this? I’m not following.

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#149

And in a couple of years, "Why we are moving away from React Native at Shopify". Not slamming React Native but the sensationalistic headline. Anyone with a bit of experience in software should know better than making this kind of silly proclamation about the future of your software stack.

I have not seen one good app for android that has been written in react native. Can anyone show me one that doesn't suck in performance?

I'm pretty okay with the Spotify app nowadays. It used to be worse, I think, now I'm rather annoyed by the not that great UI/UX design (everything is way too large, I don't see shit, man).

Re: Building all of our new mobile apps using React Native

#150

I wonder if Shopify did their homework and looked at Flutter. Flutter seems to meet their objectives more than React Native does. And as an added bonus, Flutter is easier to reason about, has edit and continue, and is more performant. Perhaps the use of Dart instead of Javascript was a deal killer though?

It would be pants-on-head insane for a company like Shopify to go all-in on Flutter. Is Flutter going to be around 10 years from now? Can Shopify support Flutter on their own if nobody else is using it 10 years from now? I don't mean that technically the license would allow them to, but can they in practice field the manpower and skills to do so across all the platforms they need.

I don’t know much about RN or Flutter; but why is it “insane” that flutter cant exist in 10 years but RN will still be king?

Why can’t RN die within 10 years? Because it’s been around since 2013 vs 2017? Because you like one more than the other?

I have concerns about Google’s commitment to Dart/Flutter, but I’m not sure one scenario is pants on head insane and the other just fact.

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