If you want to create an iOS app, you have a variety of languages to choose from. The most popular languages for designing iOS mobile apps are Swift and React Native. The language you choose for the mobile app will influence not just app cost estimates and development time but also the app’s potential to scale in the future.
The first thing to ask yourself before choosing between these two languages for iOS development is whether you want to build a cross-platform app or an iOS-native app. Of course, there are additional aspects to consider before making this decision. In this blog, we’ll compare Swift vs React Native and contrast these two technologies on a variety of criteria, ranging from performance to simplicity of use.
But before that, let’s have a look at the basic overviews of both these technologies.
Overview Of React Native
Facebook originally launched the React Native project in 2015. It is an open-source UI software framework. React Native development, or simply “RN”, is a popular JavaScript-based mobile app framework that lets you create native-looking iOS and Android apps. Using this technology, you may construct applications for a variety of platforms with the same codebase. It allows developers to leverage the React framework alongside native platform features to create apps for iOS, Android, Android TV, macOS, tvOS, Windows, Web, and UWP.
It has become one of the most popular mobile development options in just a few years. Some of the world’s most popular mobile apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, Skype, etc use React Native development.
Pros Of React Native Programming
Faster development
React Native is a JavaScript-based technology. You can easily find a great percentage of the code for your project on the Internet. So, if you start building your iOS app with React Native technology, it will take much less time than Swift.
Debugging
React Native technology requires less effort for bug tracing and debugging.
Less Budgeting
With React Native, you can create amazing iOS applications at a very low budget. You can start building your project with a smaller team, which eventually reduces costs.
Hot Reloading
Developers can use this feature to visualize their code. The hot reloading feature makes the whole development process easier and more productive.
Scaling
You can easily scale your mobile applications’ functionality with custom or existing JavaScript modules.
Cons Of React Native Programming
Apple App Store Restrictions
The Apple App Store will reject your React Native application if it uses libraries that dynamically update native code.
Complex Design
IOS and Android both have different design guidelines. That means developing a high-quality custom UI with React Native is difficult for programmers.
Slow Testing Process
React Native allows developers to build mobile apps faster, but it takes a lot more time than Swift to test a React Native app. React Native applications need extra precision and time for running tests.
Regular Updates
Updates are very frequent in React Native technology. That means if you develop your app with React Native, you have to release your app updates regularly.
Overview Of Swift
Apple Inc. created and released Swift in 2014. It is a general-purpose, compiled, and multi-paradigm, programming language. The Swift programming language is mainly designed for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It is both powerful and easy.
Swift is basically an extension of Apple’s Objective-C programming language, which has been in use since co-founder Steve Jobs licenced it as part of the formation of NeXT decades ago. Swift is designed to be a simpler and highly expandable version of Objective-C. For many years, it was simply assumed that Swift was not suitable for Windows users. This, however, proved to be a misconception.
Swift officially published toolchain images for Windows 10 in September 2020, with the package having practically everything a developer may need to create and run Swift programs on Windows.
Pros Of Swift Programming
Open-Source
Swift is an open-source programming language that is distributed under the Apache License.
Error-Handling
Swift provides strong typing and a better error handling system. That means it is good at preventing errors and code crashes in production.
Easy Scaling
Swift is easily scalable. It can be extended with new features as needed. So, it is future-proof as it allows you to scale your app seamlessly when needed.
Less Line Of Code
Swift is very easy and concise. It needs less code to perform a task that will need more code when performed using React Native.
Fast Coding
As Swift needs less code to perform any task and is also easy to understand and code, developers, can build applications faster with Swift.
Cons Of Swift Programming
Only Build Apps For Apple Devices.
Apple developed Swift for only its native platform. Therefore, it is only used to build Apple platform applications.
Swift vs React Native: Detailed Differences
Now, let’s see Swift vs React Native to decide which is best for IOS development.
Cost-Efficiency
If you want to build your mobile app with the minimum possible cost, then JavaScript will definitely win the battle of Swift vs React Native on the basis of cost-efficiency. According to PayScale, the average salary of a React Native developer is $97K in the United States.
At the same time, the average salary of a Swift developer is more than $108K in the United States.
Therefore, if you want to hire someone or work with a team of developers to build your IOS mobile application, you have to pay more to developers when choosing Swift.
Usage
According to Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey, Javascript is number 1 in the list of most widely adopted programming languages whereas Swift is not even present in the top 10 list.
Development Time
React Native is a javascript based technology and javascript is one of the most widely used languages. If you try to build a mobile app with React Native, you can easily find a large number of resources on the Internet. So, you don’t need to build your app from scratch. On the other hand, Swift developers have very few resources. So, they most have to start their app from scratch in most cases. So, React Native is the clear winner of the battle of swift vs React Native development time.
UI Comparison
The UI components in React Native are designed to look like those in native apps. Because React Native manages native components, app components must be updated whenever the platform’s OS is updated. However, when there is a fatal issue, this feature can cause the app’s UI to crash. Material design components must be accessed through third-party libraries if developers want to employ a consistent UI across all devices and OS versions.
Apple Inc., on the other hand, created Swift for native development on its own platform. As a result, it naturally employs UX principles and smoothly combines iOS UI designs. However, development for the Switch must begin from the ground up, with each UI component being developed separately.
Performance
Because using React Native to build graphical effects is cumbersome, the framework integrates native programmes into projects. This method enables the developer to produce a variety of assets and tools to help in the development process. When compared to apps built with frameworks, Swift apps perform better in general. Despite the fact that Swift Apps need a lot of processor power, they run better than React Native apps.
The Learning Curve
As told earlier, React Native is a JavaScript-based technology. So, any JavaScript programmer can easily learn and start their mobile app development with React Native.
On the other hand, Swift was created by and for Apple. Swift guarantees power and easiness of learning. So, this round of Swift vs React Native learning curve is a tie.
Stability
React Native is powered by JavaScript, which is one of the most popular coding languages; however, React Native does not produce truly native apps. It uses internal APIs and libraries to make the app function. Therefore, placing a middleman between the code and the platform is necessary.
On the other hand, Swift creates native applications that can fully take advantage of the platform’s capabilities. Swift performs better when dealing with graphic effects and computationally intensive jobs. So, Swift can be a better option for juicing out the platform.
Documentation and Community Support
React Native is an open-source platform that allows contributions from developers across the globe. Swift developers can get technical advice from the public platform and forums.
React Native offers accurate, clear, concise, and informative documentation. Swift is also a convenient programming language with regularly updated documentation.
Platform Maturity
React Native and Swift both are fairly new technologies. Swift was introduced in 2014, whereas React Native was introduced in 2015. Both are in the development process, and there are no notable differences between them. Swift was created to replace Objective-C.
Developing a new programming language to replace the old one is a complex process as many software may be using that old technology.
On the other hand, React Native is a new technology that JavaScript, a well-known technology, supports. Therefore, examining the code, identifying issues with the framework, and finding errors are simpler.
Popular Apps
Popular Applications Created With React Native
- Walmart
- Bloomberg
- Townske
Popular Applications Created With Swift Programming
- Facebook.
- Uber.
- Slack
- Accenture
Swift vs React Native: Head To Head Comparison
Here is the head to head comparison of Swift vs React Native-
| Parameters | Swift | React Native |
| User Interface | Native | The UI components in React Native are designed to look like those in native apps. |
| Stability | More Stable | Less Stable |
| Performance | Better Performance | Poor in comparison to Swift |
| Learning Curve | Easy | Easy |
| Usage | Less used | Most Widely Used |
| App Development | Slower | Faster |
| Popularity | Average | High |
| Cross-Platform | No | Yes |
| Salary | High | Low |
| Developers Availability | Difficult to find | Easily available |
| Development Cost | High | Relatively Low |
| Documentation | Great and Elegant | Great and Elegant |
| Popular Examples | Lyft, Uber, Slack, Accenture, etc. | Facebook, Instagram, Walmart, Airbnb, etc. |
Summary
In this blog we have provided detailed information on Swift vs React Native. To sum up, both React Native and Swift are great technologies for building mobile applications. Both these technologies are easier to learn and come with great and elegant documentation. React Native is very popular provides cross-platform support and low development cost. On the other hand, Swift applications are more stable, easier to learn and have better performance.
If performance is your priority and you can manage to pay the high development cost, you should go with Swift. However, if your budget is low and performance is not much important for you, React Native will better serve your purpose. Moreover, if you need any JavaScript assignment help or programming assignment help, our experts can help you with their best services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I learn React Native or Swift?
If you want to build mobile applications, particularly for the iOS operating system, no other language will perform better than Swift. However, if you want to build cross-platform mobile apps, you should go with React Native.
Is Swift good for beginners?
Swift comes with great and elegant documentation and is very easy to learn for beginners. If you are the kind of person who loves to create cool visual stuff, then Swift is the best option for you.