Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is one of the largest technology companies in the world. With popular products like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR, Meta reaches billions of users globally. As a leading technology company, Meta is constantly innovating and developing new products and features for its apps. This raises an important question – what technologies does Meta use to build its mobile apps?
React Native Overview
React Native is an open-source mobile application framework created by Meta, formerly Facebook. It is used to develop applications for Android, iOS, Web and UWP by enabling developers to use React along with native platform capabilities. Some of the key features of React Native include:
- Uses Javascript – Apps are built using Javascript instead of platform-specific languages like Swift for iOS or Java/Kotlin for Android.
- Cross-platform – Apps can be built for both iOS and Android platforms simultaneously, which accelerates development.
- Native Performance – React Native compiles to native code so the performance is comparable to native apps.
- Re-usable Code – A large portion of code can be shared between iOS and Android platforms.
- Live Reload – App updates can be pushed instantly without recompiling the app.
- Access to Native APIs – React Native provides access to dozens of native device APIs like Camera, Location, etc.
Some of the top companies using React Native include Meta, Walmart, Bloomberg, Uber Eats, Shopify, Pinterest, Discord, and many more. The framework remains very popular for mobile development due to its flexibility and extensive ecosystem.
Meta’s Usage of React Native
Meta has heavily invested in and adopted React Native as a key technology for developing mobile apps. Here are some details on how Meta uses React Native:
Facebook App
The main Facebook mobile app on Android and iOS integrates React Native in certain sections while still relying on the native platforms. For example, the News Feed, notifications, and Groups infrastructure are built using React Native. Using React Native has enabled Meta to update these parts of the app quickly and efficiently.
Instagram App
A significant portion of the Instagram app is also built using React Native. The profiles, feeds, stories, IGTV, effects and other core experiences are React Native-based. Meta has shared that React Native helps accelerate development for Instagram across both platforms.
Standalone Apps
Meta has built some standalone mobile apps exclusively using React Native including:
- Facebook Lite – Streamlined version of Facebook for emerging markets
- Facebook Gaming – For following streamers and gaming content
- Oculus – For configuring Oculus VR headsets
Building these apps with React Native has allowed Meta to release the products faster to more markets.
Internal Mobile Apps
Meta uses React Native for developing many internal business applications for productivity, communications, analytics, advertising, etc. React Native is preferred for quickly iterating on these apps.
Why Meta Chose React Native
There are several key reasons why Meta chose to invest in React Native for its mobile apps:
- Faster Development – React Native enables significantly faster app development due to re-usable code and not recompiling for updates.
- Improved Developer Productivity – Meta has thousands of developers and React Native helps them be more productive.
- Shared Code – A common codebase between Android and iOS apps accelerates feature delivery.
- Better Performance – The performance of React Native apps is very close to pure native apps.
- Developer Familiarity – JavaScript is a well-known language making hiring and onboarding easier.
- In-house Expertise – Meta can leverage its internal expertise in React and JavaScript.
Additionally, React Native benefits from constant improvements by Meta and the open source community, making it a robust and scalable solution.
Challenges in Using React Native
However, Meta has also faced some challenges with adopting React Native:
- Missing Native APIs – Sometimes React Native lacks certain native device APIs and needs custom integrations.
- Platform Differences – There are still differences in how Android and iOS operate which requires separate code.
- App Size – React Native apps can be larger in size than pure native apps.
- Debugging – Debugging React Native code can be more difficult than debugging native code.
- Performance Issues – Facebook has faced performance problems with React Native which required optimization efforts.
- OS Upgrades – Upgrading to new OS versions can cause temporary issues with React Native apps.
Meta engineering teams continue to work on solutions to overcome these challenges. The company also maintains very active collaboration with the open source React Native community.
The Future of React Native at Meta
Meta remains highly invested in React Native and will likely expand its usage in more sections of the Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger apps. The company is also exploring using React Native for new internal apps and consumer-facing standalone apps.
Some key priorities for Meta for evolving React Native include:
- Improving stability and performance
- Supporting new iOS and Android features faster
- Making debugging and profiling easier
- Increasing modularity and simplifying build configurations
- Strengthening animations and layouts
Meta is also contributing to the open source React Native project on GitHub. Adding features like the ability to run React Native apps on Windows and macOS will benefit Meta’s internal development.
Overall, React Native will continue empowering Meta to innovate quickly across platforms. The framework combines the capabilities of native apps with the flexibility of React. Meta will likely utilize it as a primary technology for building mobile experiences for billions of users worldwide.
Conclusion
React Native has clearly become a core technology for Meta and its family of mobile apps. Using React Native in Facebook, Instagram, standalone apps, and internal business apps allows Meta to share common code, move faster, and improve developer productivity.
However, Meta has also faced challenges with React Native around performance, debugging, and platform differences that require ongoing work. The company continues to collaborate closely with the React Native open source community to evolve the framework.
Given the benefits, Meta seems poised to expand usage of React Native further. The technology combined with Meta’s massive engineering resources will help the company innovate and iterate on mobile rapidly. React Native is strategic technology for Meta to connect billions of users to its apps and services.