Aug 20 2019 | by Anton Shaleynikov

Before Facebook created React Native, mobile applications were mostly developed either through the native platform’s development environment or through cross-platform solutions like Ionic and Apache Cordova, Xamarin, etc.

Most of these solutions were good but were often lacking in certain areas. For example, native development environments can only be used to develop for one mobile operating system, which means a company would require two sets of developers.

React Native’s appearance in 2015 solved a lot of these lapses, making it one of the most favored cross-platform frameworks by companies and developers. It has been four years since its release, and several apps have been developed with the frameworks and are being used by people around the world.

React Native...?

So some of you might be hearing about React Native for the first time. Some might even be wondering if it is similar to a ‘React’ they have heard of before. Well, it is. React Native is a Javascript-based cross-platform mobile development framework developed by Facebook.

It was created to develop apps for Android and IOS with a native-like performance from a single codebase. React Native makes use of React a Javascript UI kit also developed by Facebook to layout the application’s interface.

Now that you are an expert on React Native (just kidding!) let’s check out the top mobile apps developed with React Native.

1. Facebook

It would be quite odd if Facebook did not make use of the React Native framework in building its mobile app. Facebook, as you probably already know, is a social networking platform that makes it easy for its users to connect and share multimedia content with their friends and families(and enemies…?).

To be clear, the Facebook mobile app isn’t entirely built with React Native. Other parts are still built with the native platform’s framework. Over a billion people make use of the mobile app to access the platform.

2. Facebook Ads Manager

The second on the list here is the Facebook Ads Manager ーanother Facebook application developed with React Native. This time, the entire app was developed with React Native. Facebook developed Facebook Ads Manager for creating and managing Facebook ads.

From the app, you can see how well (or poorly) your Facebook campaigns, ad sets, and ads are doing. The Facebook Ads Manager was developed by the same team, sharing almost 100% of the code across the Android and iOS platform.

3. Tesla

Tesla, the biggest name in the electrical motor industry, also adopted the React Native in developing its Tesla app. The Tesla mobile app allows its users to control their cars remotely. You can monitor the charging progress of your Tesla, as well as starting and stopping it from charging, all from the app.

The app has a beautiful dark-themed UI that gives it the appearance of a game. You can find the app on both the Google Play Store and the App Store.

4. Skype

This is probably a shocking addition as it is well known that Skype is owned by Microsoft, which has a cross-platform mobile development framework of its own called Xamarin. If anything, this proves that React Native is an excellent choice for cross-platform development.

For those who don’t know what Skype is, it is a telecommunications application mostly used for video chats and voice calls over the internet, between devices like phones, PCs, and smartwatches. It also offers instant messaging services where users can transmit and receive multimedia messages.

There are about 4.9 million active users, with the app downloaded over a billion times.

5. Instagram

And we have yet another Facebook-owned platform(you know Facebook owns Instagram, right?). Instagram is a social networking platform with a focus on sharing photos and videos with friends and families. It also incorporates an instant messaging feature that allows you to chat with your friends.

Just like with the Facebook mobile app, Instagram isn’t entirely developed with React Native. They began using React Native in their app by porting the Push Notifications view, which was initially implemented as a WebView. They gradually began implementing some other parts of the app with React Native.

Instagram now has about a billion monthly users, with over a billion app downloads.

6. SoundCloud Pulse

SoundCloud is the most popular open audio platform for the distribution and sharing of music. It gives its users the ability to upload and share audio. There are about 76 million registered users on the platform, with over 150 million soundtracks.

SoundCloud’s app —the SoundCloud Pulse app— is the platform’s dedicated app for artists and creators, where they can upload and share their soundtracks, interact with their fans, and check on their performance on the SoundCloud network. The app is available on both the Play Store and the App Store.

7. Uber Eats

If you’ve ever had to order food from a restaurant, you might have already made use of the Uber Eats app. The Uber Eats app developed by Uber is a platform that enables its users to order food online and have it delivered to them.

With the app, they can keep track of their order as it gets to them. They can also make payments easily on the app.

8. Walmart

If you live in the US or any other country with Walmart stores, then you most definitely have heard of or purchased goods from Walmart. Walmart operates a chain of grocery stores, supermarkets, and discount department stores all around the world.

Walmart’s mobile app —developed with React Native— allows its users to order for items from their stores and get them at their locations. They can also pay for the goods they ordered from the Walmart app.

There are more...

These are just some of the hundreds of apps built with the React Native frameworks. There are so many others not mentioned here. Quite a number of them were also developed by popular companies. And as time goes by, more companies would adopt React Native for the development of their mobile apps.