TV App Development With React Native, and December News
Welcome to this month's edition of Community Orbitals, your go-to newsletter for React Universe insights and updates.
TV App Development with React Native
This month, we're zooming in on TV app development with React Native. Explore resources designed to help you address the unique challenges of building for TV while leveraging React Native's cross-platform capabilities-all to deliver delightful experiences on the big screen.
Aiming for Success in TV App Development?
Our latest blog post takes a closer look at what it takes to build high-quality TV apps with React Native. From handling platform-specific requirements to making the most of its ecosystem, the article provides practical insights and tips for React Native teams planning to expand to a TV space.
Learn how React Native can help you create smooth user experiences on TV screens while meeting technical and business goals.
Want to Master the Big Screen?
Get your copy of our new ebook then! 🙌 Created with Amazon Developers, this comprehensive guide explores advanced strategies for TV app development with React Native. Packed with insights on architecture, performance tuning, and feature integration, it's your go-to resource for building exceptional TV apps.
React Universe Conf 2025: Dates Announced
React Universe Conf returns to Wrocław on September 2-4, 2025 🎉 This is your chance to connect with React leaders, explore the latest in tech, and share your ideas with a global community. A limited batch of blind bird tickets is now available, so grab yours before they're gone!
What's Up in the Community?
The tech landscape is changing fast. To help you stay on top of the game, our Technology Team has picked top news, releases, and stories from the world of React and React Native.
New Tools & Releases
- The Release Candidate for React Native 0.77 is here, bringing Swift templates for iOS, native API stability progress, better tvOS integration, improved Animated performance, and React DevTools v6. Dive into the full changelog for all the details!
- React Native Bottom Tabs 0.7.0 has been released! It comes with smoother navigation with React Navigation v7 support, a handy
useBottomTabBarHeighthook, and a round of small bug fixes. - Watching node-modules in Rsbuild v1.1.6 doesn't happen by default anymore. This change brings up to 40% faster startup times, 30% faster hot module reloading (HMR), and a 20% reduction in memory usage. It has been applied in Rsbuild v1.1.6 and will also be applied in Rspack v1.2.0.
- Meet Cali, the new AI-powered agent designed to build React Native apps. Cali can help you manage your devices and emulators, find and install libraries, and much more. It's powered by Vercel's AI SDK and crafted by Mike and Oskar.
- React Native Testing Library v13 is now in beta! It supports React 18 and 19, with concurrent rendering enabled by default. Also, Jest matchers are now extended by default. The migration process is easy, so give the beta a try and share your feedback to help shape the future of RNTL!
- Unistyles 3.0 came out! The release includes updated styling tools, improved flexibility, and new options that cater to a variety of project needs. Check the details here.
- React Scan, a new tool for inspecting React re-renders, has just released a PR with React Native support. Created by the team behind Million.js, this tool is designed to optimize performance by helping developers identify unnecessary re-renders in their React Native apps.
- Legend List 0.1 is now available for testing! This early release, consisting of around 600 lines of code, offers a fast, dynamic sizing solution fully written in JavaScript. It supports both new and legacy architectures.
Other Tech News
- Kudo's proposal to extract JavaScriptCore support from React Native for Android could potentially reduce dev Android builds by 32MB, leading to shorter build times. More context here.
- React Navigation linking now supports regex matching. If you need more complex matching logic, use regular expressions to match the path. For example, to match a user's profile with the pattern '@username,' use a regex for the path. This lets you reuse path patterns for multiple screens while fine-tuning the logic for specific screens.
- Andrei Shikov shared insights into Bluesky's Android performance by building a release version of the app and tracing potential optimizations. He promises ongoing updates on his findings. Follow this thread to stay tuned.
Tech Leadership Insights
As a tech leader, you already have too much on your plate. That's why we've curated a digestible portion of recent insights at the intersection of business and tech.
- Explore McKinsey's analysis of 15 transformative tech trends, including generative AI, electrification, and advanced connectivity. The report discusses adoption patterns, scaling challenges, and investment strategies that are shaping enterprise technology landscapes.
- This article highlights strategies for leaders to navigate challenges like AI integration, hybrid work environments, and team retention. It emphasizes human-centered skills such as fostering team learning or maintaining psychological safety while embracing technological advancements.
- Is being a better leader going to be your New Year's resolution? Then you should check this year's guide, which discusses essential leadership traits to work on. It combines data-driven insights with expert advice, helping leaders refine their skills and approach.
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