React Native Windows App: What Are The Best Ways To Build?

As a result of inherent language and API incompatibilities, languages such as Kotlin and Swift make it extremely difficult and costly to develop cross-platform mobile applications. Thus, hybrid native mobile frameworks have become excellent platforms for developing React Native windows app. 

One such open-source mobile framework is React Native. It was created by Facebook using the company’s proprietary ReactJS programming framework. Additionally, it allows React Native developers to create apps for both the Android and iOS platforms using a single language. React Native is made up of distinct native components such as Text, Input, Modal, and Button that map into native platform-specific component versions utilizing a common codebase.

React Native is built on JavaScript and the JXL or JavaScript XML markup language, which is similar to XML and employs JavaScript and Native threads written in different languages. It utilizes a connector termed a ‘bridge’ in the center of JavaScript and Native threads to enable bidirectional interaction between the two types of threads.

Among the most popular solutions for React Native windows app development is to use React Native for desktop/Windows. To put it simply, there are virtually no limitations when it comes to what can be done.

React Native For Windows: Overview

Just a few years ago, Microsoft released the beta version of Facebook React Native for the Windows 10 SDK, adding additional support to the platform. As a result, it is possible to create UWP applications with the help of React Native app development services. Among React Native Windows applications, Microsoft Skype is the most popular. The result is that JavaScript can now be used to create real-time Windows applications that are compatible with Windows 10 and higher. The types of devices that could be included in this category include 2-in-1s, tablets, PCs, mixed reality devices, Xboxes, etc. Why not convert your apps to React Native to run on Xbox, PC, Dual Screen, and Surface Tablets? 

React Native Windows App Project Approaches 

Greenfield – A greenfield project can be easily built because the Microsoft team has defined all steps that must be taken in a guide called “Getting Started.” And, once the project for React Native app development services is established, you must view your repository, which is accessible via the Windows/ directory. To keep the project in excellent form, the native implementation must be separated from the main JavaScript implementation. This can be accomplished by creating a separate directory for all JavaScript sources.

Brownfield – The UWP (Universal Windows Platform) program is built on XAML pages that include the full app’s content, similar to how a React Native windows app is built on a single page that contains the primary App.js component. As a result, if you currently have the UWP app project as a legacy and want to port it to RNW or augment the project with RNW content, the following actions must be taken: 

• Building an RNW project in the same way as the Greenfield project, 
• Relocating the old UWP solution to the newly established project, and 
• Adding a new XAML Page with the following content.

Developing A Desktop App With React Native For Windows: Key Steps

The following are the crucial steps while developing a React Native windows app. Take a look!

Step 1: Setting Up A Developer Environment.

• It is recommended that you install Windows 10.0.16299.0 or a higher version of Windows on your computer.
• Next, install the dependencies that are required. The following command must be run in an elevated PowerShell window to accomplish this.

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process -Force; iex (New-ObjectSystem.Net.WebClient) . DownloadString (‘https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/react-native-windows/master/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 ’)

• Visual Studio, Node.js, and Chocolatey packages will all be installed as a result of running this command in React Native developers mode.
• In addition, it is also advantageous if your computer has a physical memory of at least 8 GB since a lot of memory is required to run the Windows build processes.

Step 2: Installing React Native For Windows.

• Navigate to the directory in which the React Native windows app project will be built in a command-line window.
• Use the Node Package Executor (NPX) to execute a command. 

npx react-native init  --template react-native@^0.63.2

• By using this command, you will be able to create a React Native project without having to either install any additional tools locally or globally. As a result, it will generate a React Native windows app within the directory specified by the project name.
• To install React Native for Windows packages, switch to the project directory and run the following command:

cd projectName 
npx react-native-windows-init --overwrite

• Run the following command after launching your web browser to run the application.

npx react-native run-windows

Step3: Debugging React Native Windows App.

• Check the following options when installing Visual Studio 2019: 

(1) Workloads – UWP development and desktop development using C++.

(2) Individual Components – Development activities and Node.js support.

• Launch Visual Studio and open the app folder’s solution file.
• On the left side of the “Run” button and below the menu items called “Team and Tools,” you can select the debugging configuration and x64 platform from the combo box controls.
• You should now run the command yarn start from your project directory and wait until you receive a successful response from the React Native packager.
• Then, either select the “Run” option from the platform combo box control within Visual Studio or select the Debug->Start without Debugging menu item. Your newly created React Native windows app will be visible after this step.
• For opening Developer Tools in your web browser, you may either press Ctrl+Shift+I or F12.

Step 4: Building A Simple React Native Windows App.

• Ensure that the required code is added to App.js.
• Assemble the necessary React Native components and APIs, and make use of React’s “useState Hook” to receive user input.
• By using React Native, you will be able to build native UI components for the Universal Windows Platform.
• This extension for the react-native-windows project supports a Yoga-friendly syntax, which makes it easier to implement complex layouts.
• Additionally, the React Native community has developed several remarkable libraries that are compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows applications.
• In Visual Studio, app distribution is enabled if the source code for the UWP application is opened.

Step 5: React Native Windows App Publishing.

• Open the Visual Studio solution for your app. In the root folder of the project, there is a Windows/directory that contains this solution. It is in the windows/directory that you will find the .sln file that contains the name of your application.
• Open and load the solution in Visual Studio and then select the “Release configuration” option in the “Configuration Manager” drop-down menu.
• To create an React Native windows app package that is ready to be published, click the option – Project, Publish, Create App Packages.
• Located in the same directory as the source code, the build artifacts are available as a .sln file- <root>/windows/AppPackages/directory – in which your .sln file is there.

Inside React Native For Windows: Aspects To Be Aware Of

• Several predefined React components are included within React Native’s core component set, including Image, Text, View, ScrollView, and TextInput.
• As a result of React Native’s official runtime, native-like UI building blocks can be rendered on iOS and Android platforms. By making the Native Render module extensible, the React Native team allowed the dev community to extend it for other platforms.
• The React Native app development services adds support for Windows apps through its ability to generate a React Native windows app with a Universal Windows Platform GUI.
• In addition to Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Mixed Reality, and Xbox One system software, UWP apps can also be deployed on all other popular platforms.
• For the JavaScript-based portions of the app, a JavaScript engine is employed, just as it was in the original React Native project. Initially, the react-native-windows project used the Chakra JavaScript engine. However, later, Facebook’s Hermes JavaScript engine was integrated to boost performance.

Hire A React Native Mobile App Development Company!

So, this describes how you set up a React Native windows app and then build, debug, and publish it. The React Native for Windows project, without a doubt, renders platform-specific UI elements from a JavaScript-based codebase.

Contact iByte Infomatics for any technical support with React Native app development services. We are a skilled mobile app development company that provides high-end React Native app development services to global clients across numerous industrial areas. Our experienced React Native developers have the necessary experience and technical knowledge to provide highly functioning and profitable software solutions.

So get started on your new project today by hiring a React Native mobile app development company.