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This looks very interesting. I still question whether teams need this or React Native when they could just bring their existing React web app to mobile with Cap

This looks very interesting. I still question whether teams need this or React Native when they could just bring their existing React web app to mobile with Capacitor. The benefit to that approach is being able to use React web frameworks like Next or Tailwind, without having to use a system specifically designed for native mobile or React Native. Regardless, different solutions work for different teams and this looks like a very interesting project that I need to spend some time with.

fernandorojo 4y ago
I wouldn't let its native support pigeonhole it as a React Native-only library. In my experience, it rivals other web-only libraries, especially with the compiler.
nikodunk 4y ago
Didn't know Capacitor! Very cool. This is still such a problem - as a small startup we still have two completely separate code bases that we need to maintain with a tiny team (though we share Redux and Tailwind thanks to https://www.npmjs.com/package/twrnc https://www.npmjs.com/package/twrnc). If we could "flutterize" our apps and make them run everywhere like this lib allows us to that'd save a huge amount of time. Wrote an essay about our current solution here: https://nikodunk.com/2022-05-10-the-tech-stack-for-maximum-efficiency https://nikodunk.com/2022-05-10-the-tech-stack-for-maximum-e...
- 411111111111111 4y ago
  Ionic uses capacitor by default, you might know that one.
  - echelon 4y ago
    I've never done mobile, but I'm learning so much here. Thank you everyone! We need to launch a mobile app because someone started impersonating our web app and abusing our API. Their Google Play app has 100k+ installs, and it's rapidly growing. They're giving us a bad name too by injecting ads and degrading performance. We have a React/TypeScript app (in a monorepo if that matters) and need to launch something on Android to get rid of these copycats. Us: https://FakeYou.com https://FakeYou.com Not us: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.headbreyz.hear.fakeyou https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.headbreyz.... (NB: I'd love to contract or hire someone to do this, in case anyone on HN is interested.)
shroompasta 4y ago
Capacitor uses WebView which is less performant than RN
- teg4n_ 4y ago
  I do not think it’s that straightforward actually. WebViews are JIT compiled which leads to big performance gains. React Native only can use a JIT with Hermes and Hermes is just plain worse than something like V8 with JIT enabled.
  - yesimahuman 4y ago
    I don’t think RN can use a JIT at all on iOS. Only WKWebView processes can due to Apple’s security model. This makes Capacitor JS significantly faster for certain workloads
    - redbar0n 4y ago
      You should try to communicate more forthcomingly that CapacitorJS bundles the webapp with the native binaries, which means that you get better startup performance, but at the cost of not being able to serve the webapp fresh from the web (instead having to go through app store review process on every update like with native apps).
kritr 4y ago
It might be good to explicitly disclose in your post that you are affiliated with Capacitor/Ionic.

fernandorojo 4y ago

I wouldn't let its native support pigeonhole it as a React Native-only library. In my experience, it rivals other web-only libraries, especially with the compiler.

nikodunk 4y ago

Didn't know Capacitor! Very cool. This is still such a problem - as a small startup we still have two completely separate code bases that we need to maintain with a tiny team (though we share Redux and Tailwind thanks to https://www.npmjs.com/package/twrnc https://www.npmjs.com/package/twrnc). If we could "flutterize" our apps and make them run everywhere like this lib allows us to that'd save a huge amount of time. Wrote an essay about our current solution here: https://nikodunk.com/2022-05-10-the-tech-stack-for-maximum-efficiency https://nikodunk.com/2022-05-10-the-tech-stack-for-maximum-e...

411111111111111 4y ago
Ionic uses capacitor by default, you might know that one.
- echelon 4y ago
  I've never done mobile, but I'm learning so much here. Thank you everyone! We need to launch a mobile app because someone started impersonating our web app and abusing our API. Their Google Play app has 100k+ installs, and it's rapidly growing. They're giving us a bad name too by injecting ads and degrading performance. We have a React/TypeScript app (in a monorepo if that matters) and need to launch something on Android to get rid of these copycats. Us: https://FakeYou.com https://FakeYou.com Not us: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.headbreyz.hear.fakeyou https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.headbreyz.... (NB: I'd love to contract or hire someone to do this, in case anyone on HN is interested.)

shroompasta 4y ago

Capacitor uses WebView which is less performant than RN

teg4n_ 4y ago
I do not think it’s that straightforward actually. WebViews are JIT compiled which leads to big performance gains. React Native only can use a JIT with Hermes and Hermes is just plain worse than something like V8 with JIT enabled.
- yesimahuman 4y ago
  I don’t think RN can use a JIT at all on iOS. Only WKWebView processes can due to Apple’s security model. This makes Capacitor JS significantly faster for certain workloads
  - redbar0n 4y ago
    You should try to communicate more forthcomingly that CapacitorJS bundles the webapp with the native binaries, which means that you get better startup performance, but at the cost of not being able to serve the webapp fresh from the web (instead having to go through app store review process on every update like with native apps).

kritr 4y ago

It might be good to explicitly disclose in your post that you are affiliated with Capacitor/Ionic.