The Battle for Mobile App Supremacy: React Native vs. Capacitor

What is Capacitor?

Capacitor is a cross-platform tool built by the Ionic team that allows developers to turn their web applications into native iOS and Android apps. With Capacitor, you can create mobile applications using your existing JavaScript code, which is then rendered on devices using the native WebView. This enables access to native features like the camera, speaker, and more through plugins and APIs.

import { Plugins } from '@capacitor/core';

const { Camera } = Plugins;

Camera.takePicture({
  quality: 90,
  allowEditing: true,
}).then((image) => {
  console.log(image);
}).catch((error) => {
  console.error(error);
});

What is React Native?

React Native, on the other hand, is a framework that enables developers to build native mobile apps for Android and iOS using React syntax. It provides native components like Text, Image, and View as building blocks for a native UI, and is open-source and maintained by Facebook.

import React from 'eact';
import { View, Text } from 'eact-native';

const App = () => {
  return (
    
      Hello, World!
    
  );
};

export default App;

Common Ground

Both React Native and Capacitor are cross-platform tools that eliminate the need to learn native languages like Java, Kotlin, Swift, and Objective-C. They also share a common approach to integrating custom native code into projects as modules or plugins.

Functionality

React Native offers an unopinionated framework that gives developers the freedom to structure apps and solve problems using community-developed third-party libraries. Capacitor, on the other hand, is built on top of Cordova and is backwards-compatible with most Cordova plugins. It’s also more modern and better-maintained, with support for PWA and faster startup times.

• React Native: Unopinionated framework with community-developed third-party libraries
• Capacitor: Built on top of Cordova with backwards-compatibility and modern features

Performance

When it comes to performance, React Native takes the lead. Its native apps interact directly with a platform’s native components, making them faster and more efficient. Capacitor, on the other hand, renders apps using the native WebView, which can lead to issues with rendering animations, CSS effects, and complex layouts.

Community

React Native has a large community of over 2,000 contributors and 700,000 users on GitHub, as well as a strong presence on Stack Overflow. Capacitor, while still relatively new, has a smaller but growing community, with comprehensive documentation and paid support services for enterprise users.

1. React Native: Large community with 2,000+ contributors and 700,000+ users on GitHub
2. Capacitor: Smaller but growing community with comprehensive documentation and paid support

Learning Curve

React Native uses JSX as its templating language, which can take some time to get used to, especially for developers accustomed to HTML and CSS. Capacitor, on the other hand, is framework-agnostic and can be introduced into projects at any stage, making it a great option for web developers looking to create mobile experiences.

Demand for Skills

Due to its popularity and strong backing by Facebook, there is a higher demand for React Native skills in the developer market. However, Capacitor’s ease of use and flexibility make it an attractive option for developers looking for a more streamlined development process.

The Verdict

Ultimately, the choice between React Native and Capacitor depends on your specific needs and goals. If you’re looking for a framework with a strong community and high performance, React Native may be the way to go. But if you’re looking for a more flexible and easy-to-use framework that can help you create mobile experiences quickly, Capacitor is definitely worth considering.

Learn more about React Native and Capacitor