Like everything in life, there is no magic bullet. React Native macOS has a lot of upsides, but it also has some downsides, and it's important to be aware of them. We'll go over some of the good and the bad.

Let's first look at the pros and cons of pure React Native, before diving into the specifics with macOS.

React Native pros and cons#

Pros#

• Cross-platform

  You can re-use most of the code across platforms, saving huge amounts of time and the market is full of web developers who can quickly jump into a JavaScript codebase.

• Hot-reloading

  Unlike native development, where you need to recompile your app on every change, React Native allows for quick iteration on the UI layer. For a lot of native devs this is a game changer. (SwiftUI now has previews, but they are finicky at best.)

• Cost-efficient

  Again being able to re-use code and developers directly translates to costs - a small team is able to deliver more functionality.

• Large community

  Over the years the React Native community has grown quite large and there are many libraries, from UI components to integration with third-party APIs and vendors. (However, support has been left entirely to the community so you might find your favorite library is not well supported.)

• Performance

  React Native apps are far smaller and faster than embedded web alternatives, performing at around 80% - 90% the speed of a native app!

Cons#

• Compromises on the experience

  Sometimes you will not be able to replicate a pure native experience, due to either limitations of the framework itself or lack of libraries.

• No escape from native constraints

  While it is meant for web developers to quickly pick up, there is no escaping from the truth that sometimes you will stumble into problems that will require native knowledge to solve.

• Performance