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How to Create a React Native App

How to Create a React Native App

Are you eager to embark on an exhilarating journey into mobile app development using React Native? This comprehensive tutorial is tailored for beginners, guiding you step-by-step in crafting your very first React Native application. Leveraging React Native, you have the unique opportunity to apply your web development expertise in the realm of native mobile applications, crafting sophisticated and high-performance apps with ZEGOCLOUD that seamlessly runs on both Android and iOS platforms.

Why We Use React Native to Create App

React Native is a powerful framework for building mobile applications, utilizing JavaScript and React. It’s favored for several key reasons:

  1. Cross-Platform Development: React Native enables developers to write their application code once and deploy it on both iOS and Android platforms. This significantly reduces the time and effort needed to develop separate apps for each platform, leading to faster development cycles and lower costs.
  2. JavaScript and React: By leveraging JavaScript—among the most popular programming languages—and React, developers can use existing web development skills for mobile app development. This eases the transition for web developers into the mobile space and allows for a shared codebase between web and mobile platforms in some cases.
  3. Performance: React Native bridges the gap between the performance of native apps and the flexibility of web app development. While it might not match the performance of fully native apps, React Native’s use of real native components allows for a highly responsive and fast user experience.
  4. Development Efficiency: Features like hot reloading make the development process more efficient by allowing developers to immediately see the results of their latest changes without rebuilding the app. This speeds up the iteration process.
  5. Community and Ecosystem: React Native benefits from a large and active developer community, providing a vast array of libraries, tools, and frameworks that enhance its functionality and ease of use. This community support helps in quickly finding solutions to problems and sharing best practices.
  6. Access to Native Features: Through React Native, apps can easily access and utilize the device’s native features like the camera, GPS, and accelerometer, enabling a richer, more integrated user experience.

Top 3 Popular Apps Built With React Native

React Native continues to underline its dominance in the app development sector by being the framework of choice for several leading companies. This cross-platform development tool enables the creation of native-like apps for both iOS and Android from a single codebase, offering efficiency, performance, and flexibility. Here are the top 3 examples of React Native apps:

1. Facebook

As the pioneer and primary contributor to the React Native framework, it’s no surprise that Facebook itself showcases one of the best implementations of this technology. The Facebook Ads Manager app, built with React Native, offers a seamless, intuitive user experience across both major mobile platforms. The choice to use React Native was driven by the need for a single development team to manage the app across platforms, significantly reducing development time and costs.

facebook react native app

2. Walmart

Walmart took its customer service to the next level by revamping its mobile app with React Native, achieving a near-native performance that significantly improved the shopping experience for its users. The decision to switch to React Native was part of Walmart’s strategy to improve efficiency and reduce costs, as it allowed them to use 95% of the codebase between iOS and Android, without sacrificing performance or user experience.

walmart react native app

3. Instagram

Instagram embraced React Native to facilitate the development of its app across different platforms. The move allowed for a more streamlined development process, with developers being able to push updates for both iOS and Android simultaneously. React Native was chosen for its ability to blend seamlessly into the existing native codebase, ensuring that Instagram could incrementally adopt React Native for new features without disrupting the app’s overall performance.

instagram react native app

What Need to Consider to Create a React Native App

When considering creating an app with React Native, it’s essential to evaluate several key factors to ensure the success and efficiency of your project:

  1. Project Requirements: Evaluate if React Native aligns with your app’s performance needs and functionalities. For highly specialized native features, consider the necessity of custom native development.
  2. Development Skills: Ensure your team is proficient in JavaScript and familiar with React. Knowledge of native development for iOS and Android is also beneficial for integrating custom native modules.
  3. UI/UX Design: Plan for platform-specific design variations. React Native facilitates cross-platform development, but maintaining a native look and feel on both iOS and Android may require additional effort.
  4. Third-party Libraries: Investigate the libraries and tools available for React Native. Check their compatibility and maintenance status, as relying on outdated or poorly supported libraries can hinder your project.
  5. Maintenance and Updates: Factor in the ease of updating your app. React Native allows for over-the-air updates, which can streamline the process of pushing updates to users without app store approvals.

How to Develop React Native App with ZEGOCLOUD

Whether you are a seasoned developer or just getting started, this tutorial will provide the foundation to build your first React Native app using ZEGOCLOUD API.

Why ZEGOCLOUD API for React Native Apps

ZEGOCLOUD is a cloud-based platform that offers a range of tools and services for video chat, voice chat, app chat, and live streaming. With these tools, you can easily add real-time communication capabilities to your React Native app, whether for one-on-one video calls, group video conferences, live streaming events, or in-app messaging.

To create an app with React Native by using ZEGOCLOUD SDK, you’re leveraging a powerful platform known for its extensive features designed to enhance real-time communication experiences. ZEGOCLOUD’s key features include:

  • Video conferencing: ZEGOCLOUD offers a range of video conferencing tools, including support for one-on-one and group calls, screen sharing, and whiteboarding.
  • Voice calls: The platform includes tools for high-quality voice calls, including support for call forwarding and voicemail.
  • Chat: ZEGOCLOUD offers in-app chat capabilities, including group chat and messaging support for React Native chat app.
  • Live streaming: The platform includes tools for live streaming, including support for real-time interactions and engagement.
  • SDKs and APIs: ZEGOCLOUD offers SDKs and APIs to seamlessly integrate its real-time communication tools into your applications.
  • Customization options: The platform includes various customization options, including customizing branding and the user interface.

ZEGOCLOUD pricing typically starts at $0.99 per 1000 minutes, but don’t miss out on our special offer – sign up now and get 10,000 free minutes.

zegocloud sdk

How to Build React Native Apps With ZEGOCLOUD SDK

Ready to start building your React Native application for video chat with ZEGOCLOUD? Here’s how to get your app credentials:

Getting app credentials:

1. First, sign up for a ZEGOCLOUD developer account.

sign up to react native app

2. Once you’ve signed up, go to the ZEGOCLOUD admin console and create a new project.

create react native app

3. When creating your project, select the appropriate app use case – in this case, we recommend selecting “video and voice” for a video call app.

 create react native application project

4. Enter a name for your project, choose UIKit, and wait for the build process to complete.

name react native apps project
apps built with react native

5. Next, select the platform for your app – if you’re building a React Native app, be sure to choose that option.

select platforms for react native app

6. Finally, copy your credentials from the project files. With these credentials, you can integrate ZEGOCLOUD into your app.

create react native app with zegocloud

Integrating and using ZEGOCLOUD:

  1. Install the package: You can install the package using either Yarn or npm. For Yarn, run the following command:
yarn add @zegocloud/zego-uikit-prebuilt-call-rn
For npm, run the following command:
npm install @zegocloud/zego-uikit-prebuilt-call-rn
  1. Install other dependencies: To ensure that @zegocloud/zego-uikit-prebuilt-call-rn can work properly, you will need to install some additional dependencies.
yarn add @zegocloud/zego-uikit-rn react-delegate-component zego-express-engine-reactnative
For npm, run the following command:
npm install @zegocloud/zego-uikit-rn react-delegate-component zego-express-engine-reactnative
  1. Locate the app.js file add the following codes inside it, and replace the appID and appSign parameters with the credentials we got initially.
// App.js
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import ZegoUIKitPrebuiltCall, { ONE_ON_ONE_VIDEO_CALL_CONFIG } from '@zegocloud/zego-uikit-prebuilt-call-rn'

export default function VoiceCallPage(props) {
    return (
        <View style={styles.container}>
            <ZegoUIKitPrebuiltCall
                appID={yourAppID}
                appSign={yourAppSign}
                userID={userID} // userID can be something like a phone number or the user id on your own user system. 
                userName={userName}
                callID={callID} // callID can be any unique string. 

                config={{
                    // You can also use ONE_ON_ONE_VOICE_CALL_CONFIG/GROUP_VIDEO_CALL_CONFIG/GROUP_VOICE_CALL_CONFIG to make more types of calls.
                    ...ONE_ON_ONE_VIDEO_CALL_CONFIG,
                    onOnlySelfInRoom: () => { props.navigation.navigate('HomePage') },
                    onHangUp: () => { props.navigation.navigate('HomePage') },
                }}
            />
        </View>
    );
}

Configure your project (Android):

  1. Add the following to the [project]/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml file:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
  1. Add the following to the[project]/android/app/proguard-rules.pro file:
-keep class **.zego.**  { *; }

Configure your project (iOS):

  1. Add the following to the [projec]t/ios/my project/Info.plistfile:
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>We need to use the camera</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>We need to use the microphone</string>

Run a demo

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully completed this tutorial on creating a React Native app. Now you have the skills and knowledge to build your mobile apps using this robust framework.

Build great real-time React Native applications with ZEGOCLOUD by checking out our demo sample source code. If the need for support and inquiries arises, please contact our technical support team.

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