Canonical has announced that its Ubuntu operating system will support the React Native framework, allowing for the porting of iOS or Android React Native applications to Ubuntu. Canonical says that React Native apps that are built on, or ported to Ubuntu will “react” to converged environments, meaning the app can be run on desktop, tablet or mobile.
Support for React Native will also benefit the Snaps ecosystem:
“The development tools are fully supportive of snaps and incorporate an easy basis to create a snap and publish it to any Snappy Store, therefore giving the app much greater relevance across devices built for mobile, desktop, IoT etc.”
React Native allows developers to build applications using Facebook's React.js, but provides developers with the ability to make their application feel like a first-class app, no matter what operating system it runs on, by using native user interface components directly.
Ubuntu Phone has been lacking well-known applications on its platform, which has stunted its growth. By introducing support for this framework, Canonical might be able to rope in apps from iOS and Android to Ubuntu Phone. Developers wanting to know more can head over to Github, where Canonical has set up a repository dedicated to getting started with React Native. Over the next days and weeks, the Ubuntu Developer site will upload more posts on creating, developing, packaging, and releasing React Native apps.
Source: Ubuntu Insights
