We break down what’s new, what’s next, and what’s actually worth your time in the evolving React Native ecosystem. Expect a dose of humour and plenty of memes.
Joined August 2024
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Our QA agents can finally stop waiting for 9 a.m., Bob Ross paints straight to the GPU, and a README confesses its own bugs. The React Native Rewind #63 👇
React Native 0.88 is out.
I read the whole changelog looking for the breaking change.
There isn't one, and frankly I don't know what to do with my afternoon.
Web-style event dispatching by default, variable fonts, ArrayBuffer in Java TurboModules.
🧵
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲
➡️ fontVariationSettings on Text/TextInput, iOS + Android
➡️ ArrayBuffer for Java TurboModules (copy borrowed bytes)
➡️ iOS SceneDelegate support, which Xcode 27 apps need to launch
➡️ Experimental SPM, React 19.3.0, Metro 0.87
Catch: 0.85 is now unsupported, Expo gets it in SDK 58.
Link in comments.
#ReactNative #iOS #Android #TurboModules #Xcode #OpenSource
A React Native release with no breaking changes is rare enough that we wrote it up in The React Native Rewind 👇
Join The React Native Rewind: trnrw.com/YLLZyR
React Native 0.88: reactnative.dev/blog/2026/10…
"What do I need for that chilli egg toast I saved?"
For once the phone answers from your app instead of a random website.
expo-app-intents from @expo wires RN apps into Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight and Apple Intelligence's on-screen context.
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲
➡️ Intents declared in Swift via inline modules (app-intents/)
➡️ Invocations queue natively until JS is ready
➡️ Templates: counter, restaurant, mail, minimal
Catch: alpha, iOS only. iOS 16.4+, Xcode 27 / iOS 27 recommended, on-screen context needs 18.4+.
Link in comments.
#ReactNative #Expo #Siri #AppIntents #iOS #Swift
Getting Siri to talk to your React Native app is the sort of thing we write up in The React Native Rewind 👇
Join The React Native Rewind: trnrw.com/YLLZyR
expo-app-intents: docs.expo.dev/versions/lates…
Product want three PDFs stitched into one scrolling document.
You were going to merge them on the server and pretend that was the plan.
react-native-better-pdf 1.1 by @jkasprzyk17 takes an array as source instead. Native PDFKit/PdfRenderer, no WebView.
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲
➡️ source={[a, b, c]} plus base64 sources
➡️ Android: 1 byte/pixel for text pages (144.7 to 110.4 MB peak, 500 scans)
➡️ iOS search next/prev from over a second to 10 to 19 ms
Catch: it needs RN 0.83+ / Expo SDK 55+, so SDK 54 apps stay on 1.0.1 for now.
Link in comments.
#ReactNative #PDF #NitroModules #Expo #iOS #Android
Native PDFs that stop eating your Android RAM are the sort of upgrade we write up in The React Native Rewind 👇
Join The React Native Rewind: trnrw.com/YLLZyR
react-native-better-pdf: github.com/gmi-software/reac…
Xcode 27 shipped without Simulator.app.
I found out by double-clicking an icon that wasn't there anymore.
expo-device-hub from @expo streams your sims and emulators into a browser tab. In the GIF, Codex builds an Expo game and plays it through the stream.
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲
➡️ Live iOS sim + Android emulator streams you can tap, swipe and type into
➡️ Boot/shutdown plus appearance, Liquid Glass and text size toggles
➡️ CPU, memory and network graphs next to the device
Catch: pre-1.0, no docs page yet, and no physical iPhone streaming. SDK 58 (works on 57+).
Link in comments.
#ReactNative #Expo #Xcode #iOS #Android #DevTools
Simulator.app going missing is exactly the sort of Xcode drama we write up in The React Native Rewind 👇
Join The React Native Rewind: trnrw.com/YLLZyR
expo-device-hub: github.com/expo/expo-device-…
Bit of news.
We've been sneaking AI agent stuff onto this account for weeks.
It's now moved out and got its own place: @TheAgenticRwd
The Agentic Rewind is our weekly newsletter on AI agents and dev tooling that actually ships, minus the hype.
Follow over there if that's your thing. This account goes back to being wall-to-wall React Native.
Want it in your inbox every week? Join The Agentic Rewind 👇
trnrw.com/arw-x
I asked the agent to test the photo zoom name tag.
It pinched the simulator, read the overlay, and said it worked.
I did not touch the trackpad.
Argent by Software Mansion (@swmansion) is an agentic toolkit (CLI + MCP + skills) that lets coding agents drive the iOS Simulator, then debug and profile the app. The GIF is their official showcase: Cursor Agent taps a gallery photo, pinch-zooms, and confirms the "Oskar - ENGINEER" name tag.
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵?
iOS Simulator focused for now, so Android is not the headline. You still need Xcode and a booted sim, and giving an agent simulator control means watching what it taps. It complements tools like agent-device rather than replacing a full cross-platform device cloud.
Link in comments.
#AIAgents #Argent #ReactNative #iOS #SoftwareMansion #AgenticRewind
Correction: Argent isn't iOS-only. It also works with Android emulators and real devices (thanks @blazejkustra_ for the nudge).
The real catch is the usual one: you're handing an agent the controls, so keep an eye on what it taps.
Excited to be in London for another day-another conference type of game haha
Come say hi, dude!
@ReactAdvanced & @TheTechLeadConf
You open a sheet.
Then a sheet on that sheet.
On Android the backdrop used to get darker twice. Screens 5 alpha (FormSheet stacking) from @swmansion fixes that.
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲
➡️ Android FormSheet stacking with cascaded dismiss + steady dim
➡️ Stack v5 header item props and scroll minimisation
➡️ iOS 26.1+ UITab API, custom tab icons, SPM
Catch: still 5.0.0-alpha.4 (14 Oct). Pin it and test before production.
Link in comments.
#ReactNative #ReactNativeScreens #Navigation #Android #iOS #OpenSource
Screens 5 FormSheet stacking is the sort of navigation fix we write up in The React Native Rewind 👇
Join The React Native Rewind: trnrw.com/YLLZyR
react-native-screens 5 alpha: github.com/software-mansion/…