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Comment by cercatrova | Hacker News Reader

React Native Web exists [0]. But I agree, having parts be third party doesn't mesh well with being a complete framework for building apps (on whatever platform you need).

[0] https://github.com/necolas/react-native-web

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It exists, but it's a third-party thing, the value proposition here is not the same, Flutter plans to address to entire problem itself, React Native is only concerned with mobile basically, for everything else you are at the mercy of a third-party, which among other things may just stop maintaining the very platform you depend on, how can one build anything serious on top of that?

Yep agreed. I tried to once wrangle together all the React frameworks to make something like what flutter offers, but in the end I gave up and used Flutter just because of how easy it makes it to run everything cross platform. Since the RN versions for desktop are third party, I didn't have much confidence in them being supported well, as you said.

The Facebook team has alluded a number of times about making some of the “third party” platforms become first class members of react native. They haven’t officially announced anything but I’m guessing Microsoft’s work on react native for Windows/macOS will be folded into the main repo at some point in the near future. Facebook (seemingly based on git commits) has a number of full time employees collaborating with Microsoft on the Windows and macOS ports. Facebook messenger for desktop is already built with it.

I haven’t seen any type of movement on react native web becoming something official, but it works amazingly well at the moment and is in use in production at Twitter.

We just need a Linux port and the react native ecosystem will be pretty complete.

Last I checked Facebook Messenger has yet to use RNW: https://twitter.com/Eli_White/status/1422790525694844928?s=2...

RNW actually has about three teeny tiny customers that no one has heard of except for the Microsoft Store on Xbox. So much for Microsoft's "Universal" Windows Platform! Lmao

Hard to say from that tweet what they mean. I found two blog posts from the React Native team that mention RN on Desktop and Messenger. Both are similarly vague if this is some internal test happening or if the actual production app is using it. https://reactnative.dev/blog/2021/08/26/many-platform-vision and https://reactnative.dev/blog/2021/08/19/h2-2021

I've seen the same posts you have linked and can only conclude that they've currently been using either React Native for Web or are using a React website in an Electron app, and are planning on releasing a RNW app. The current app could perhaps be using RNW but targeting win32.

But note that someone from Microsoft linked that tweet in response to a question of who uses RNW: https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/issues/6050#i...

There's some suspiciously React Native macOS looking components in Messenger for macOS (native macOS text boxes, native macOS blurred backgrounds, etc). I'm thinking this is either fully React Native, or they have some sort of RN/Electron hybrid going on (which is a thing, apparently).

yeah idk about the macos app personally but i can say that the windows app is definitely electron. at least last time i checked.

by 'react native' i'm guessing you're referring to RNW, although a port of their iOS app is possible Facebook had previously just used a port of their iOS for their Windows app too.

I think we need a new acronym. RND (React Native Desktop)? Microsoft is doing React Native for macOS alongside of React Native Windows. The macOS port is a little bit behind the Windows one, but actively being worked on by Microsoft and Facebook employees, afaik.

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