Considering the popularity of iOS devices and the number of iOS applications on the app store, it is needless to say that developing applications for iOS is beneficial. And there are plenty of frameworks that can help build a robust and feature-rich application. But, which framework to use for developing your iOS mobile app successfully?
While Swift is strictly used for native iOS app development, React Native is used to develop cross-platform mobile applications for iOS as well as Android. Unless you decide which is for the best, you won’t be able to hire React Native programmers or Swift developers and get started with your project.
So, let’s help you decide which one is better and trending in 2022.
Swift
Swift came around 8 years ago in 2014, to help with the development of native iOS applications. It was developed and released by Apple Inc. and the open-source community to support iOS, macOS, iPadOS, WatchOS, TvOS, etc. Later, its support extended to Android, Linux, and Windows 10 as well.
It is best known for its rich user experience, enhanced error handling, scalability, security, and performance. Not only is it easy to learn and work with, it also boasts an active community of contributors.
Swift app examples – Twitter, Airbnb, SlideShare, Lyft, Uber, Whatsapp.
React Native
Developed by Meta Platforms, React Native was released around 2015 for developing cross-platform mobile apps for Android, iOS, MacOS, tvOS, web, etc. It gained immense popularity for app development as about 70% of the code could be shared between platforms.
Some significant reasons for choosing React native are – its hot reloading feature, rich library support, native-like performance, seamless integration, reliability, and minimal debugging.
React Native app examples – Facebook, Bloomberg, Walmart, SoundCloud, Gyroscope, Facebook Ads.
Swift Vs React Native: Comparison
You are already aware of the two platforms and how they can contribute to the development of iOS applications. Now, let’s differentiate the two platforms to see which one is more in trend in 2022.
- Popularity
If you consider the last five year’s data, the popularity of React Native is surely not dying down. As per a report presented by Statista, React Native is the most popular cross-platform app development framework in 2021 after Flutter, with 38% of survey respondents preferring it.
Released around the same time, Swift also has become one key player in the industry when it comes to native iOS development solely because of its performance and coding ease. In fact, Swift makes it to the list of top 20 programming languages available for mobile app development.
- User interface
Since Swift is used for native app development, creating aesthetically pleasing user interfaces is much easier and more efficient. The native hardware and software work in sync to provide a seamless user experience.
Much like native apps, React Native can also help build attractive user interfaces using Javascript libraries. While building feature-rich and engaging UI/UX is not an issue, React Native developers may face issues updating the app with a constantly evolving native environment.
- Stability
While React Native is one of the leading cross-platform app development frameworks, it may still lack in terms of stability. The app uses heavy JS code and APIs for various features and might become unstable if there is more burden on JS threads.
However, this problem is not seen with Swift applications. As long as you hire Swift programmers from reputed agencies, your app will be stable and perform excellently on iOS devices.
- Performance
The performance of React Native applications is the absolute best because of improved GPU speed and optimized memory usage. It also allows programmers to embed various native elements and code to improve the performance of the app. Whereas, Swift is much better when it comes to CPU consumption.
In a nutshell, React Native provides more opportunities to developers to create high-performance, feature-rich applications.
- Development cost
The cost of development might not seem to differ much when you hire React native app developer or Swift app developer for a small project or when you need one or two developers. But, if you have a larger project to work on, the development cost for building React Native applications will be lower compared to Swift iOS development. The native development is expensive and might over-exhaust your budget if not planned properly.
- Availability of developers
React Native is based on Javascript, which is one of the most popular languages we have today for development. Thus, it won’t take much effort for you to find and hire dedicated React native developers.
However, Swift is comparatively new because it has been used less. Developing native iOS applications is much less compared to cross-platform development. Thus, finding a team of diligent Swift developers might be a bigger hassle than you would imagine.
Takeaway
If you look at the popularity aspect, both React Native and Swift are thriving as cross-platform and native development technologies respectively. However, one may outperform another based on the points mentioned above. You can check which one would best suit your iOS project’s needs and decide accordingly.
To be precise, if you happen to develop an app for multiple platforms and have budget constraints, React Native would be your best bet. However, if your app is going to have more native dependencies, then choosing Swift would be a better option.
Summary
When it comes to mobile app development, React Native and Swift, both are popular names. However, which one is better in 2022 depends on multiple factors as mentioned in this article. Read it to the end to unfurl answers!
Author Bio
Maulik Shah is the CEO of BiztechCS, a development company. He often takes the front seat in the company’s development projects, because he enjoys solving problems through technology. When it comes to writing for any blog, his contribution is priceless. Maulik ensures that his interaction with development is frequent enough, and his industry knowledge is ever-evolving, that he can share it. Despite his packed days, Maulik’s door is always open and he is generous with sharing this knowledge and experience.
