This week’s livestream brought a packed agenda of updates across the React and React Native ecosystem. As always, the discussion was based on insights from the This Week in React newsletter. Here’s a summary of the key topics and announcements.

React Native Harness: fast and real testing

The highlight of the stream was a conversation with Szymon Chmal, author of React Native Harness a new testing solution that bridges the long-standing gap between fast unit tests and real-world end-to-end scenarios.

Testing in React Native has traditionally meant choosing between speed and realism:

• Fast: Jest-based unit and component tests.
• Real: Full E2E tests covering complete user flows.

Native modules and spec compliance often didn’t fit neatly into either category. React Native Harness introduces a middle ground that delivers both.

Why it matters

• Runs tests directly on device or emulator.
• Uses familiar Jest syntax.
• No mocks by default.

Harness enables native testing that’s both fast and real, making it practical again for complex native integrations.

It’s already in action in react-native-mmkv, where real-device tests validate native functionality.

Read the full article here.

Framework updates

Next.js 16 Beta

Released just before Next.js Conf, the Next.js 16 Beta marks a major step forward for the framework:

• Turbopack is now stable
• React Compiler support is stable (opt-in)
• React 19.2 adds <Activity>, View Transitions, and useEffectEvent
• Persistent caching in dev mode for faster reloads

Read more on the Next.js blog.

Remix v3 “pre-drop”

Another big announcement this week came from the Remix team: Remix v3 is no longer built on React.

In a detailed three-hour presentation, Ryan Florence and Michael Jackson outlined a new architecture built on web platform primitives.

Key highlights include:

• JSX remains, but re-renders are manual.
• A composable event system exists outside components.
• The new <Frame> component reintroduces a Suspense-like flow.
• The framework is now focused fully on web-native primitives.

Watch the full presentation on YouTube.

React Alicante 2025 recap

React Alicante 2025 delivered a strong lineup of speakers, engaging talks, and a vibrant community atmosphere.

For a comprehensive summary of the event, check out Kate Marshalkina’s recap.

Other highlights

• Expo is introducing first-class CSS and Tailwind support, as announced by Evan Bacon.
• This represents a major step toward consistent styling across React Native and web.
• React Native Screens will soon include Native Split View support, enabling multi-pane layouts powered by native navigation primitives. See the announcement.
• React Conf 2025 brought several React Native updates, summarized in our latest newsletter.
• The latest episode of the React Universe on Air podcast features the NFL team, exploring how React Native powers large-scale applications. Watch on YouTube.
• Additional Callstack-related highlights from the newsletter include:‍
  
  • React Native discussions & proposals‍
  • Real-time audio pipelines in React Native‍
  • React Native Harness repository

Final thoughts

This week’s stream covered a broad spectrum, from framework breakthroughs to new tooling for more realistic testing in React Native.

Special thanks to Szymon Chmal, Kewin Wereszczyński, and theThis Week in React team: Sebastien Lorber, Kacper Kapuściak, and Krzysztof Piaskowy for curating yet another rich edition of the newsletter.