Get Started with React Native

React Native allows developers who know React to create native apps. At the same time, native developers can use React Native to gain parity between native platforms by writing common features once.

We believe that the best way to experience React Native is through a Framework, a toolbox with all the necessary APIs to let you build production ready apps.

You can also use React Native without a Framework, however we’ve found that most developers benefit from using a React Native Framework like Expo. Expo provides features like file-based routing, high-quality universal libraries, and the ability to write plugins that modify native code without having to manage native files.

Start a new React Native project with Expo

Expo is a production-grade React Native Framework. Expo provides developer tooling that makes developing apps easier, such as file-based routing, a standard library of native modules, and much more.

Expo’s Framework is free and open source, with an active community on GitHub and Discord. The Expo team works in close collaboration with the React Native team at Meta to bring the latest React Native features to the Expo SDK.

The team at Expo also provides Expo Application Services (EAS), an optional set of services that complements Expo, the Framework, in each step of the development process.

Set Up Your Environment

In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up your environment, so that you can run your project with Android Studio and Xcode. This will allow you to develop with Android emulators and iOS simulators, build your app locally, and more.

Installing dependencies

You will need Node, the React Native command line interface, a JDK, and Android Studio.

While you can use any editor of your choice to develop your app, you will need to install Android Studio in order to set up the necessary tooling to build your React Native app for Android.

Node, JDK

We recommend installing Node via Chocolatey, a popular package manager for Windows.

It is recommended to use an LTS version of Node. If you want to be able to switch between different versions, you might want to install Node via nvm-windows, a Node version manager for Windows.

React Native also requires Java SE Development Kit (JDK), which can be installed using Chocolatey as well.

if you have already installed Node on your system, make sure it is Node 18.18 or newer. If you already have a JDK on your system, we recommend JDK17. You may encounter problems using higher JDK versions.

Android development environment

1. Install Android Studio
2. Install the Android SDK
3. Configure the ANDROID_HOME environment variable
4. Add platform-tools to Path

Preparing the Android device

You will need an Android device to run your React Native Android app. This can be either a physical Android device, or more commonly, you can use an Android Virtual Device which allows you to emulate an Android device on your computer.

Either way, you will need to prepare the device to run Android apps for development.

Using a physical device

If you have a physical Android device, you can use it for development in place of an AVD by plugging it in to your computer using a USB cable and following the instructions here.

Using a virtual device

If you have recently installed Android Studio, you will likely need to create a new AVD. Select “Create Virtual Device…”, then pick any Phone from the list and click “Next”, then select the UpsideDownCake API Level 34 image.

Click “Next” then “Finish” to create your AVD. At this point you should be able to click on the green triangle button next to your AVD to launch it.

That’s it!

Congratulations! You successfully set up your development environment.