About 53% of people who use mobile devices will stop using an app if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
In the fast-paced world of app development, this number shows a clear truth: speed and responsiveness are not only nice to have; they are essential for keeping users and making a business successful.
For a long time, React Native made it easy for developers to make apps that worked on several platforms. But the original “bridge” architecture often caused problems when complex interactions or high-frequency data exchanges were needed, which caused noticeable latency.
But what if this problem went away? What if a better interaction between JavaScript and native modules led to performance advantages that had never been seen before?
The answer can be found in the growing number of React Native New Architecture Libraries, which are designed to speed up app development in 2025 and beyond.
Why the New Architecture? What Made It Happen?
The initial React Native architecture used a JavaScript bridge a lot to connect the UI thread (native code) with the JavaScript thread (your app logic). Because of the overhead that came from serialising and deserialising data across the bridge, complex apps saw a substantial drop in performance, especially when animations, gesture handling, or processing huge data sets were involved.
Getting past performance problems
Think of a situation in which an app had to animate several things at once while also getting real-time data updates. The old bridge could create a bottleneck, which would cause frames to drop and make the user experience bad. A lot of people thought that React Native was less efficient than real native solutions because of this.
The React Native New Architecture is quickly proving these ideas wrong. The inherent limits necessitated a thorough reassessment, aiming for a more direct and efficient interaction paradigm between the JavaScript and native layers. The goal was clear: get rid of needless serialisation and, when necessary, provide a fully synchronous execution flow.
The Promise of a Future Together
The React Native New Architecture is more than just a small change; it’s a complete rethinking of how React Native apps work. Its main goal is to make the runtime environment more integrated and smooth so that it can close the performance gap with fully native apps.
This approach promises to make performance improvements less of a chore and more of a natural part of the development process. It is now possible to imagine a future where complicated native functionality is closely linked to JavaScript logic.
The New Architecture’s Core Components
To get the most out of the architecture for speedier app development, you need to know its basic pillars. These parts work together to make things run more smoothly and make the system more responsive overall.
Fabric Renderer: A Change in the UI
The new UI system’s core is Fabric Renderer. Fabric makes a single rendering pipeline directly on the native side, unlike the traditional renderer, which relied on the bridge for drawing instructions. This means that UI updates can happen much more at the same time, which cuts down on the time it takes for a state change to show up visually.
Fabric allows for concurrent rendering, which makes UIs feel very smooth and responsive, even when they are under a lot of stress. The most important thing about Fabric is that it can directly call native layout engines, which gives it a huge boost in performance.
TurboModules: Making Native Functionality Work Together Better
TurboModules replace the existing Native Modules system and add lazy loading for native modules. They also make it safer to mix JavaScript and native code.
TurboModules makes sure that your software only loads the native module it needs when it needs it, instead of loading everything at once. This makes apps start up faster. Also, TurboModules let you access native APIs directly, without the extra work of the JavaScript bridge. This is great for activities that need a lot of processing power, such complex calculations or heavy data processing.
This method gives native modules a more unique way to link to the JavaScript runtime.
CodeGen: Making Type Safety Easier
CodeGen is an important tool that works with TurboModules to automatically create interface files (Java, Objective-C++) from your JavaScript interface definitions. This check at compilation time makes sure that JavaScript and native code are type-safe, which cuts down on runtime mistakes by a huge amount and makes development more stable.
Developers may expect fewer surprises while integrating, which speeds up the process of fixing bugs.
The Hermes Engine: A Necessary Base
The Hermes engine is not technically part of the “new architecture” because some parts of it were made before it, but it is an important aspect of React Native’s performance. It’s a JavaScript engine that works well with React Native apps for Android and iOS. The React Native New Architecture Libraries really shine since they are smaller, use less memory, and start up faster.
The Hermes engine, Fabric, and TurboModules work together to provide a powerful combination.
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A Guide to Using New Architecture Libraries to Speed Things Up
Moving to or building using the React Native New Architecture Libraries demands a lot of care. But the benefits, like faster app development and better performance, are very big.
Moving Existing Projects: A Useful Method
For apps that already use React Native, moving to the new architecture is a step-by-step procedure. It requires planning ahead and following certain processes.
- Step 1: Get your development environment (Node.js, JDK, Xcode, Android Studio) ready and check for any dependencies. After that, take a close look at the dependencies of your present project. Not all third-party libraries will work with the new architecture right now. Some may need upgrades or other options.
- Step 2: Turn on Hermes (if it isn’t already). The Hermes engine is needed for this. Make sure it’s turned on for both iOS and Android in your `react-native.config.js` and build files. This establishes a key benchmark for performance.
- Step 3: Choose to use Fabric and TurboModules. This requires making changes to the configuration files for your iOS Podfile and Android `build.gradle` files. These options update the rendering and native module systems to the new architecture in a way that works. In iOS, for example, you may uncomment `ENV[“RCTNEWARCHENABLED”] = “1”` in your Podfile.
- Step 4: Refactoring Native Modules (If Custom): If your app has custom native modules, you’ll need to change them so that they work with the TurboModules interface standard. This is where `codegen` comes in handy, as it makes the files you need. You might have to change your C++, Objective-C, or Java modules to use TurboModules APIs and write the standard in JavaScript.
- Step 5: Rigors Testing and Optimisation: After the migration, it is very important to test everything thoroughly across a wide range of devices and operating systems. Pay particular attention to how the UI renders, how native modules interact with one other, and how responsive the app is as a whole. Tools like Flipper might help you find any lingering bottlenecks by profiling performance.
My team just moved a complicated business app that relied significantly on bespoke native modules to analyse data. At first, it was hard for us to adapt our old modules to TurboModules requirements. But the app’s eventual speed in responding, especially for complex data visualisations, was truly amazing. The first effort was definitely worth it in terms of user experience.
Making New Apps with Performance in Mind
Starting a new React Native project in 2025 with the new architecture enabled by default is the best way to go. Most modern tools and templates for React Native let you start new projects with Hermes, Fabric, and TurboModules already turned on. This makes sure that performance improvements are built in from the first line of code. Always choose libraries that are made for or have clearly adopted the React Native New Architecture.
Support for Key Libraries and the Ecosystem
The ecosystem around the React Native New Architecture Libraries is growing up very quickly. A lot of popular third-party libraries are either working on or have already finished making changes so that they function with Fabric and TurboModules. Here is a look at different interaction models:
| Old Architecture (Bridge) | New Architecture (Fabric/TurboModules) | Impact on Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Rendering the UI, communicating asynchronously across a bridge | Getting direct synchronous access to the native UI | Make animations smoother, reduce UI jank, and speed up UI updates. |
| Native Module Calls, Serialisation via Bridge | Direct Invocation, Lazy Loading | Less Overhead, Faster Module Access |
| Type Safety: Manual definitions and runtime errors | Codegen is enforced at compile time | Fewer defects when integrating and faster development cycles. |
| App Startup: Loads all native modules | Lazy loads modules | Initial load times are much faster. |
Some libraries that are or have already adopted the new architecture are:
- React Native Reanimated V3 is a sophisticated animation toolkit that is now completely compatible with Fabric. It offers the best smoothness and performance for complicated gesture-driven UIs and animations by running them all on the UI thread.
- React Native Skia: This graphics engine can generate high-performance 2D graphics directly on the GPU, skipping the JavaScript bridge for drawing operations. It’s great for charts, bespoke components, and advanced visual effects.
- Some versions of Wix’s `react-native-navigation` are making great progress in using the new architecture to make navigating feel more as it does on a real device.
The fact that there are more and more of these highly optimised libraries makes the React Native New Architecture look like the best solution to past performance problems.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Getting over compatibility problems
Third-party library compatibility is still the biggest problem. Not every little-known React Native library will work with the new architecture right away.
Mitigation: Give priority to libraries that are well-maintained and have active communities. Always look at their documentation to see if they support new architectures. If a key dependent still doesn’t work, be ready to add patches or look into other options. A lot of the time, my advise is to stick with solutions that are already common in the new architecture environment.
The Hard Learning Curve for Native Modules
For developers who are used to the old way of making native modules, TurboModules and CodeGen could appear hard to understand at first.
To avoid this, take the time to learn about code generation, JavaScript spec definitions for native modules, and direct type mapping. Official documentation and tutorials from the community are quite helpful. Building a basic TurboModule by hand can help you see the way.
Testing and allocating resources
Moving a big programme that is already in use is not an easy undertaking. It needs a lot of work from developers and extensive quality assurance.
Mitigation: Break up your migration into steps. Start with the less important and smaller components of your application, or make a new branch just for the migration task. Give yourself enough time to do performance testing, UI regression, and functional validation. If you can, automate tests. Keep in mind that patience is not only a good quality, but also something you need to do when moving to a new place.
“The true mark of modern software engineering is not just building, but building to last with adaptability baked in. The new React Native architecture embodies this principle.” — A tech lead I spoke with at a recent conference. This idea really resonates with my own views.
Important Points
- React Native New Architecture Libraries directly fix performance problems that have been around for a long time with the JavaScript bridge, making it faster to build apps.
- Fabric Renderer makes the UI smoother by rendering directly in native code, which cuts down on lag.
- TurboModules and CodeGen make it easy for JavaScript and native code to talk to each other in a way that is safe, efficient, and lazy-loaded.
- The Hermes engine is a key part of the new architecture stack that makes everything run faster.
- Moving involves careful planning, such as figuring out dependencies and altering native modules.
- Put new projects that work with the new architecture at the top of your list, and use third-party libraries that work with it.
- Be ready for problems with compatibility and a learning curve, but the long-term performance benefits are huge.
Questions that are often asked
What makes React Native apps run faster?
The Fabric Renderer, TurboModules, and Hermes engine are the main parts that make things go faster. These parts work together to make it easier and more efficient for JavaScript to talk to native layers, avoiding the problems with the old bridge.
Is it possible for an existing React Native project to upgrade without any problems?
It’s not always easy to upgrade existing React Native projects, especially if they are older or bigger. It needs a well-planned migration procedure that includes updating dependencies, changing configurations, and possibly refactoring bespoke native modules.
Do apps that use this new design work better?
Apps built with this new design have shorter app development cycles and better runtime performance. For example, animations are smoother, memory use is lower, and startup times are much faster since modules are loaded more efficiently and the UI is rendered directly.
What kinds of software can use the newest capabilities of React Native?
These new React Native features may be used by a wide range of software types, from complicated business apps that need fast UI and data processing to consumer-facing apps that need smooth user experiences and fast loading times. This makes them useful for everyone.
What will the new architectural changes do to the way developers work?
The recent enhancements to the architecture will make developer workflows more efficient and dependable. CodeGen and other features make types safer, which cuts down on the time it takes to debug. Direct native contact makes it easier and more straightforward to design bespoke native components that work well.
Suggestions
Adopting the React Native New Architecture Libraries is more than just a small update; it’s a big change in how React Native development works. If a business or person wants to make mobile apps that work well and will still work in 2025 and beyond, they need to switch to this design.
The initial investment in learning and moving pays off in terms of how quickly apps respond, how efficiently developers work, and how happy users are. I firmly believe that disregarding this technology advancement is a mistake in competitive application markets.