Happy New Year everyone! Let’s kick off the 2026 event season. 🔥
First stop: React Universe Meetup x Zalando in Berlin on Jan 29. RSVP: clstk.com/4suY4ky
We’re also looking for speakers, so apply now to take the stage at Zalando’s headquarters: clstk.com/4soAqWN
OTA: centralized hotfix tool or decentralized deployment?
Adam Mruk (Klarna) uses it as a "fire extinguisher" for critical bugs. Zack Chapple (Zephyr Cloud) argues for Module Federation, giving teams deployment power across the full stack ▶️ youtu.be/GmOsE3qRSo0
We played the newlyweds game with Cedric van Putten, Tommy Nguyen & Delphine Bugner. What we learned?
➡️ Everyone hates class components.
➡️ Build fix horror stories: "wrote my own CLI" & "unplugging the external screen".
➡️ Don't put everything in one `index.ts` file!
Full game 📺 youtu.be/otjBIPLn5WU
"The biggest performance issue in React is just rendering too much". @jayz.us argues the real bottleneck in RN isn't lists, it's state. React's top-down render isn't performant by default. His fix: a signal-based system where components subscribe only to the state they need ▶️ youtu.be/W8ThNQDZtYI
Tired of rewriting CSS for React Native? Xuan Huang introduces Lynx, a framework-agnostic engine. It features native CSS support (port web CSS directly) and a two-thread model (BTS/MTS) for better hybrid UI. He also discusses React as a spec & community Vue/Svelte ports ▶️ youtu.be/L_u08K7xc18
Node-API for React Native wasn't built in a weekend. Khalef Hosany (Microsoft) & @kraenhansen.dk (MongoDB) detail the community effort, from a Windows-specific prototype to a public standard. They discuss "nerd sniping" & why they need your feedback now ➡️ youtu.be/TN4ENNf31vs
React Native is 10 years old, but stability is the new hot topic. Chris Trag & Steven Moyes (Amazon) argue stable core just means more expansion (TVs, AR, Web). This puts a huge burden on library devs. They explain why brownfield is the real path to adoption ▶️ youtu.be/4LpXTepmgec
Meet Uniwind! @jpudysz.bsky.social (Codemask) discusses his new, blazing-fast styling library for Tailwind fans in React Native. He explains why he built it, how it shares the same core as Unistyles (which isn't going away!), and the power of JSI ▶️ youtu.be/ERAKXQDXbwM
How do you teach an AI to write better code? @rojo.bsky.social (Vercel) shares how he uses his own talk slides to train AI on composition. Plus, he gives the scoop on the upcoming native v0 app and his AI-driven workflow ▶️ youtu.be/jnYn9ww-YQs
What does a Developer Advocate actually do? @anisha.dev (Amazon) pulls back the curtain on DevRel. It's not just talks; it's being "Developer Zero”, testing APIs, and acting as the developer's best friend to add the final salt and spice ▶️ youtu.be/8HYW3nWCMec
Is AI just "crypto rubbish"? @mattpocock.com shares his journey from skeptic to believer. Then, @szymonrybczak.bsky.social (@callstack.com) tackles AI's privacy problem with react-native-ai, bringing secure, offline LLMs to your mobile app ▶️ youtu.be/DCfn1UlSZzs
How do you create software that runs the world and lasts till 2050? D. Richard Hipp, the creator of SQLite, shares its origin story, the power of aviation-grade testing, and why it's so reliable ▶️ youtu.be/5zQdYx-fqJg
When will we get React Native 1.0? @grabbou (@callstack.com) discussed the roadmap. Plus, @mrousavy.com (@margelo.com) explains why Nitro isn't just "faster Turbo Modules" but a fundamentally different, high-performance alternative ➡️ youtu.be/YlyI_PD0DeE
Stop recompiling native modules! Vladimir Morozov (Microsoft) & Mariusz Pasiński (@callstack.com) explain how Node-API brings ABI stability to React Native, ending the update nightmare and allowing polyglot modules (Rust, Go!) ⬇️ youtu.be/MsWmfBlx6jw
“Learn once, write anywhere” is the React motto, but what does it really take to deploy across mobile, web, desktop, AR/VR & TVs? Leaders from Amazon, Expo, Microsoft & OSS shared the tradeoffs, tools & patterns behind building apps for every device.
▶️ youtu.be/bzhde_qlUgw
From Expo apps to GraphQL servers to publishing packages - Christoph Nakazawa demonstrates how good defaults and open source tooling let you focus on your product instead of endless setup decisions.
▶️ youtu.be/rxPTEko8J7c
Cross-platform at scale is more than “just add React Native".
Rene Eichorn (Zalando) shows how his team is migrating the Zalando app: brownfield integration, React Strict DOM, and unifying patterns across web & mobile.
▶️ youtu.be/U76fQ_9A89Q
Distributed web dev is standard. But what about mobile? @Zackary_Chapple (Zephyr Cloud) shows how Re.Pack 5 + Module Federation unlock true distributed mobile development, with independent modules, release velocities & instant rollbacks.
▶️ youtu.be/VqigrlCaB58
Async operations don’t have to mean flickering UIs and messy state management. @aurorascharff.no (Crayon Consulting) shows how concurrent rendering + Actions fix these pain points in React 19, and what’s next with View Transitions.
▶️ youtu.be/I3AsmAWWGEs
Fastest list in React Native & React DOM? Legend List v2. @jayz.us (Legend / Bravely) reveals the optimizations behind it: signals, minimized renders, and platform-specific tricks for web & mobile.
▶️ youtu.be/Ui3qVl80Pzg
At HelloFresh, migrating existing iOS and Android apps to React Native meant rethinking how to deliver consistent cross-platform UI at scale. @ohansemmanuel.bsky.social presents a battle-tested case study of how GenAI accelerated cross-platform React Native adoption.
▶️ youtu.be/sNQh10QxSk4
React Native is moving beyond single-threaded JavaScript.
@_tjzel (@swmansion) showed how react-native-worklets unlocks concurrent JavaScript, pushing single-threaded JS to its multithreading limits.
▶️ youtu.be/Td2aADUYMwg
React Native DevTools are powerful, but they still lack one crucial piece: extensibility. @chmal.it (Senior Software Engineer at @callstack.com) introduces Rozenite - a plugin framework that fills the gap by providing a way to extend React Native DevTools with custom plugins.
▶️ youtu.be/J0rXmTIGGRk
Node-API in React Native means cross-runtime, type-safe, and faster React Native development. @kraenhansen.dk (@MongoDB) shows how Node-API brings faster builds, fewer native module failures, and better testing.
▶️ youtu.be/Wco3uHxik8w
Is zero-cost runtime styling in React Native possible @jpudysz.bsky.social reveals both the engineering challenges and future opportunities of runtime styling in React Native, showing why the quest for zero-cost styling continues.
▶️ youtu.be/DCCWkTbNzhI
OTA sounds simple - ship updates instantly like the web. But at scale, it’s an illusion. Adam Mruk (Klarna) shares what it really takes to build a reliable OTA system for millions of users.
▶️ youtu.be/hBoAD6sYDYo
Composition is React’s most powerful tool, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. @rojo.bsky.social, Head of Mobile at @vercel.com, showed how composition is the key React pattern for scaling codebases - from one component to thousands - while staying maintainable.
▶️ youtu.be/4KvbVq3Eg5w
A React Universe Conf 2025 highlight: a panel marking 10 years of React Native with @tomocchino.com (Vercel),
Christoph Nakazawa (Nakazawa Tech), @ccheever.com (Expo) & @grabbou.com (Callstack). Milestones, key learnings, and most importantly, opportunities for the future.
▶️ youtu.be/V5rgg9w25AY
Is your app built on guesswork or backed by data? @popovaviolina.bsky.social (ClipMyHorse.TV) showed how A/B testing in React Native helps teams move from intuition-driven to data-driven development.
▶️ youtu.be/XZjnxHCnGI0
Bridging C++ into React Native has always been painful. Dr. Kubilay Küçük (Oxford University) introduced cpp.js.org - an automated toolset for bringing modern C++ libraries into React Native & WebAssembly with ease.
▶️ youtu.be/TjrZIrgKQWM
