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While I don't disagree with your premise, "need to be an expert at both layers" is absolutely still true if you build your app natively for each platform (more

While I don't disagree with your premise, "need to be an expert at both layers" is absolutely still true if you build your app natively for each platform (more so, even). At least with a common platform, if nothing else, you can share quite a bit of code, and that alone might make it worth the extra layers.

chii 8y ago
But the draw of cross platform is that you don't need to be an expert in them! Or at least, that's the advertised advantage.
- eropple 8y ago
  For the happy path, you don't. And many apps can stick very comfortably on the happy path. I wrote a controller for a video mixer[0] that ran out-of-the-box on Android and iOS using websockets and everything Just Worked. (I still haven't released the iOS version due to lack of test equipment, but it runs just fine.) [0] - http://bit.ly/buymyapp http://bit.ly/buymyapp
jiaweihli 8y ago
I understood 'both layers' to mean both the abstraction layer, and the underlying layer being abstracted. Actually, you might even understand it as 'all 3 layers' here - iOS, Android, React Native.
LeoNatan25 8y ago
And “developing” in RN requires you to be an expert in three fields: iOS, Android and the RN layer, which is often buggy. How is that better?
- dwild 8y ago
  If you are already using React for the web (which I would believe is the biggest reason to use React Native), then the RN layer is pretty much already taken care of in term of expertise. For the iOS and Android side, that's a constant between the two possibilities. It's better because now your iOS and Android experts can concentrate much more on what they do best and your React experts can keep working on your UI like they always did.
  - LeoNatan25 8y ago
    React “experts” are not mobile experts, and often lack (and refuse to learn) basic mobile principles such as platform standards and accessibility.

chii 8y ago

But the draw of cross platform is that you don't need to be an expert in them! Or at least, that's the advertised advantage.

eropple 8y ago
For the happy path, you don't. And many apps can stick very comfortably on the happy path. I wrote a controller for a video mixer[0] that ran out-of-the-box on Android and iOS using websockets and everything Just Worked. (I still haven't released the iOS version due to lack of test equipment, but it runs just fine.) [0] - http://bit.ly/buymyapp http://bit.ly/buymyapp

jiaweihli 8y ago

I understood 'both layers' to mean both the abstraction layer, and the underlying layer being abstracted. Actually, you might even understand it as 'all 3 layers' here - iOS, Android, React Native.

LeoNatan25 8y ago

And “developing” in RN requires you to be an expert in three fields: iOS, Android and the RN layer, which is often buggy. How is that better?

dwild 8y ago
If you are already using React for the web (which I would believe is the biggest reason to use React Native), then the RN layer is pretty much already taken care of in term of expertise. For the iOS and Android side, that's a constant between the two possibilities. It's better because now your iOS and Android experts can concentrate much more on what they do best and your React experts can keep working on your UI like they always did.
- LeoNatan25 8y ago
  React “experts” are not mobile experts, and often lack (and refuse to learn) basic mobile principles such as platform standards and accessibility.