Agentic data science with the Data Agent Kit
cloud.google.com·6h ago
Data Science
Simon Willison's Blog·Sep 10·5 min read
Native is now the future of mobile at Shopify
TL;DR
Shopify is transitioning from React Native back to native development using Swift and Kotlin for their mobile apps. This shift aims to enhance value delivery by leveraging improved implementation capabilities.
✦ Why It Matters
Consider evaluating your mobile development strategy to determine if a shift back to native is beneficial for your projects.
Key Takeaways
- Assess the trade-offs between React Native and native development for your apps.
- Explore how agent capabilities can streamline your development process.
- Prioritize feature delivery over maintaining cross-platform parity.
- Stay updated on advancements in mobile development frameworks.
Full Summary
In 2020, Shopify adopted React Native to streamline their mobile app development across iOS and Android platforms. However, they have now decided to revert to separate native codebases in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android.
This change is driven by the realization that while native development requires maintaining two codebases, advancements in agent capabilities have reduced the overhead associated with this approach. Agents can now handle much of the implementation, translation, testing, and review processes, allowing Shopify to focus more on delivering features rather than just achieving parity across platforms.
The decision acknowledges the strengths of React Native, which Shopify utilized effectively for six years, but ultimately prioritizes the benefits of native development in their current context.