[dj_doh]

The biggest barrier to high fidelity ECMAScript apps on native platform is simple economics. Apple is guaranteed a $99 bounty when you push something on the appstore. Making Safari or WebView compatible with their native APIs and performance is a risk for AppStore.

Having built 3 non-trivial iOS apps using phonegap and JavaScript. I have come to the conclusion that I'm never going to build native apps using web stack. I have struggled with API support, DOM limitations and performance.

Disclaimer: I have not tried react native.

I think it'll fail for mission critical and non-trivial apps. If you just want an AppStore presence for your browser app or your app is trivial like one in the post. You are probably going to be fine.

[iLoch]

You also appear to not know how it works. React Native doesn't use a web view at all. It uses JavaScriptCore to process UI updates to native views.

[dj_doh]

Good luck sir getting web stack to work with native that's at par with Swift/Obj-C perf. Also, do share some non-trivial apps that you/your team has built using web stack on iOS.

p.s. I've explored JavaScriptCore the first day it was available to developers.

p.p.s. I noticed you are a "React fanboy," so that's normal.

[hamburglar]

What exactly do you think is "web stack" about React Native? The fact that there's javascript involved in the high level UI state code? I really don't think you grasp the difference between React Native and the various "wrap a web app" approaches.

[dj_doh]

I've dabbled with this JavaScript for native code since 2010-11. Appcelerator Titanium SDK (now Appcelerator), Telerik, RubyMotion, Xamarin and of course PhoneGap (including PhoneGap Build). I've not used Xamarin, but putting it there to give a broader picture.

Please don't get me wrong, I'd love to use ECMAScript(, CSS and markup) to do all web, native and server side development. Unfortunately they are marred by poor API support, performance and customization. Last two are extremely critical for non-trivial apps.

If you are building run of the mill simple apps like - news feed, photo, video and reading etc. You'll be okay with anyone of the above 'web stack'.

Here's the litmus test. Ask the Reactive Native team to port their non-trivial paper app or mission critical messenger app or main app to Reactive Native. They are using Reactive Native for a lame duck Groups and some ad manager app.

JavaScriptCore is one layer deeper than wrapping a UIWebView, but it's several layers from true native.

[frontendbeauty]

> Here's the litmus test. Ask the Reactive Native team to port their non-trivial paper app or mission critical messenger app or main app to Reactive Native.

Facebook is rewriting the News Feed in RN. That's not a trivial example.

[dj_doh]

Correct, it's not a trivial app by a long shot. Also, a validation for React Native.