Swift Vs. React Native: Which Is The Best Platform For Your iOS App?
Comparing Swift Vs. React Native in some terms is very justifiable but in others would mean comparing apples to oranges. There are many overlaps while also they have different intended purposes and benefits. After giving this statutory warning let’s move on to the discussion between Swift Vs. React Native and which is better for your iOS app development needs.
iOS has
always been a synonym to high quality and both these app development platforms
suffice to this belief. Earlier it was considered that React native is only
good if you wish to build an app for multiple platforms but if you have a goal
to only build the app for a single platform (in this case iOS) then you must go
with the native development platform (Objective-c or Swift for iOS), this stays
true even at present but there are some advantages of developing your iOS app
in React native as well.
Here we will be discussing the Pros and Cons of both the platforms without supporting or opposing anyone for another. So let’s dive into the article and find out which platform is better for you from Swift Vs. React Native.
Learning curve
React Native uses JavaScript (JS) as its programming language. JS is generally considered a moderately easy language to learn but Swift is relatively easy to learn, as it is similar to many languages (Java, C++). But learning Cocoa Touch (the iOS framework) is a much harder task.
Apple’s Xcode (IDE) is used for developing the native app and it is very advanced and user-friendly while React Native builds apps that you can use on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.). You should not confuse React Native with other hybrid platforms. It does not build a mobile web app but complies the JS codebase and gives the benefits of Native as well as hybrid technology.
Development Process
The development process for both React Native and iOS is almost similar with the main difference being in the order of consecutive tasks. But this difference gives the advantage to React native over Swift, React native also provides hot reloading which saves almost 30% of mobile development time and cost.
On the other hand, sometimes developers have to build the required modules themselves to React Native. For instance, if you wish to make the shadows look exactly like the ones seen in a native iOS app then you need to tweak existing modules to your needs or build new from scratch.
Performance
Performance can be measured for Swift Vs. React Native by using 3 modules; CPU usage, GPU measurement, and Memory usage. Performance of both the apps, in general, are not very different and both work seamlessly with some minor pros on both sides. The CPU usage of React Native is slightly better than Swift while Swift takes the cake away for GPU measurements. Swift has a significantly better GPU usage stats than React Native. Finally, memory usage is also better for Swift. But, React Native does need nearly 20 MB of memory for RCTbridge.
React Native uses JavaScript (JS) as its programming language. JS is generally considered a moderately easy language to learn but Swift is relatively easy to learn, as it is similar to many languages (Java, C++). But learning Cocoa Touch (the iOS framework) is a much harder task.
Apple’s Xcode (IDE) is used for developing the native app and it is very advanced and user-friendly while React Native builds apps that you can use on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.). You should not confuse React Native with other hybrid platforms. It does not build a mobile web app but complies the JS codebase and gives the benefits of Native as well as hybrid technology.
Development Process
The development process for both React Native and iOS is almost similar with the main difference being in the order of consecutive tasks. But this difference gives the advantage to React native over Swift, React native also provides hot reloading which saves almost 30% of mobile development time and cost.
On the other hand, sometimes developers have to build the required modules themselves to React Native. For instance, if you wish to make the shadows look exactly like the ones seen in a native iOS app then you need to tweak existing modules to your needs or build new from scratch.
Performance
Performance can be measured for Swift Vs. React Native by using 3 modules; CPU usage, GPU measurement, and Memory usage. Performance of both the apps, in general, are not very different and both work seamlessly with some minor pros on both sides. The CPU usage of React Native is slightly better than Swift while Swift takes the cake away for GPU measurements. Swift has a significantly better GPU usage stats than React Native. Finally, memory usage is also better for Swift. But, React Native does need nearly 20 MB of memory for RCTbridge.
Now, let’s
take a look at a quick Pros and Cons list for Swift Vs. React Native:
Aspects (Values are based on average apps)
|
React
Native
|
Swift
|
App Development Time
|
1.5 months
|
2 months
|
Memory Usage
|
50 MB
|
30 MB
|
Integrations needed
|
React Storybook, Shoutem UI, RN
Firebase, etc.
|
Cocoa Touch, Swift AI, Apache
OpenWhisk, Reactant, etc.
|
Platforms
|
Works for Multiple Platforms
|
Works only for iOS
|
APIs
|
Declarative high-level APIs
|
Less dependent on 3rd party
APIs
|
Compilation
|
Hot reloading saves a lot of time in
compilation.
|
Compilation takes more time than RN
|
Modules
|
Lack of custom modules
|
Has a custom module for almost every
app development need
|
Companies using this platform
|
Instagram, Hike, ZeeMee, Webedia, etc.
|
Lyft, Square, Pandora, Zillow, etc.
|
Conclusion
The decision
between Swift Vs. React Native is a personal one. Whether you find Swift app development platform a better fit for you or React Native Platform. Both the platforms have their own
benefits and drawbacks and the aim of this article was to give you a simplified
description of them so that you can come to a clear decision about which the platform is better for your iOS app development needs.
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