Hey notJust Developers,

The wait is over — React Native 0.76 stable was released last week! Plus, the Expo team launched the SDK 52 beta. Exciting stuff! Let’s see today's highlights.

1. React Native 0.76 stable out 🚀
2. Expo SDK 52 beta released 🔥
3. New React Native Edge-to-Edge SDK 💯

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Now, let’s explore each news story in detail.

React Native 0.76 stable out 🚀

Back in September, at React Universe Conf, the team announced they'd start working on 0.76. After 6 Release Candidates, they finally released the stable version last week. Major updates are:

1. New Architecture now Default
2. New React Native DevTools
3. 15x Faster Metro build 😱
4. New boxShadow style props added
5. Android Apps now ~3.8Mb smaller and ~15ms less startup time 💯

New Architecture now Default

​Since 2018, the React Native team worked on a New Architecture to replace the slow bridge (JSON communication) between JS and Native code (Swift, Kotlin). They created a C++ layer called JSI to speed up the communication. This new flow of communication is called New Architecture. In March 2022, it became an experimental option in React Native 0.68. Now, in 0.76, the New Architecture is production-ready 🔥. Check out our detailed post on New Architecture explained like I’m 10.

New React Native DevTools

After 6 years of hard work and learning from all previous DevTools (JSC Debugger, Remote JS Debugger, Hermes Debugger, Flipper, Dev Menu), the team finally released the next-gen debugging stack & made it the default in 0.76. It can debug nearly every component of the Dev Environment (Hermes, Metro, React code). So, from 0.76 you don’t need any other Debugging Tools—just Chrome or Microsoft Edge installed on your device. No other setup is required 🤩.

NOTE: Keep an eye on notjust.dev/blog - we’ll soon publish a detailed blog post on the React Native 0.76 release! 🚀

Expo SDK 52 beta released 🔥

The Expo team released SDK 52 beta (stable within 2 weeks) with lots of exciting features, including React Native 0.76. The most exciting are:

1. Expo DOM Component
2. Experimental Tree Shaking

Expo DOM Component

​DOM Components are super helpful for migrating a web app (like a React or Next.js app) to a mobile app (like a React Native app) or if you have a web library that isn't yet available for native Android or iOS. To save months of work, you can just create a DOM Component, and copy-paste your web code (like code with <div>, <h1>, etc.) into your Expo project, and write “use dom” at the top of the component (Expo JS file). Boom, your React (web) code now works smoothly in your native app 🔥. Isn’t it crazy? Kudos to Evan and his team.

Experimental Tree Shaking

SDK 52 adds experimental Tree Shaking support. This allows Expo to automatically remove unused imports and exports from your app. For example, if you use the lucide-react library and only need ChevronLeft and ChevronRighticons, Tree Shaking will keep just those icons in your app's JS bundle. Unused icons will be removed. One benchmark showed this can reduce bundle size by up to 87% 🚀.

New React Native Edge-to-Edge SDK 💯

​Mathieu, with Expo, released react-native-edge-to-edge to support Android 15's edge-to-edge enforcement by Google. Edge-to-edge means that the app content will use the entire screen, including areas under the device status bar(the bar that shows you time, battery charge, etc.) and the device navigation bar. Currently, edge-to-edge is optional for apps, but from Android 15, with the app's Target SDK level set to 35 or higher, edge-to-edge will be the only choice, and the status & navigation bars will be transparent. However, React Native 0.76 still uses Target SDK Level 34 as the default.

The important thing to consider is that Mathieu mentioned we can expect Google to force all apps to update their Target SDK level to 35 by August 2025, based on previous years' experience. This means it will be mandatory for every React Native app to handle edge-to-edge by this time. But yeah, this new SDK supports Immersive mode (the mode where both the status bar and navigation bar get hidden) without any extra hassle (as shown in the above image).

Community with Positive Feedback

The library got over 500 stars in just 2 weeks. Developers started using the SDK and removed old dependencies like expo-navigation-bar from their apps. Even, the React Native team recommended it for Android 15's edge-to-edge enforcement. Popular libraries like react-native-keyboard-controller and React Native Bottom Tabs are also adopting it. Try it and keep your app safe from Google policy 🙋.

That’s it 🙌

Last week felt like the payoff of many years of hard work. As Nicola said, after 3 years of effort, the New Architecture is finally ready for production. Plus, the next-gen debugging stack now combines features from all the debuggers Meta created in the last 6 years 💯.

🔴 Join me live

This Friday we will check the latest updates of Expo SDK 52 & React Native 0.76. It's going to be a tutorial packed with value, so set a reminder and don't miss it out 👇

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🔁 In case you missed it

Build Headspace Clone with React Native, Expo and RevenueCat We'll build a fully functional meditation app inspired by Headspace using React Native, Expo, and Expo Router. This project covers audio playback for meditations, animations for a beautiful user experience, and monetization with in-app subscriptions powered by RevenueCat. Watch now

Integrate Stripe Payments in Your React Native E-commerce App In this part we’ll integrate Stripe payments into the application, enabling secure and fast transactions. From setting up Stripe to handling payments within our React Native app, this tutorial will guide you through everything needed to add a smooth checkout experience. Watch now

🔥 Press worthy

1️⃣ Join me at RNLConf next week! Get 10% off with the code NOTJUSTDEV

2️⃣ New blog by the React Native team: Overview of the New Architecture and its future impact.

3️⃣ React Native Reanimated v3.16 is out. Added support for React Native 0.76, React Compiler, better log, and many more.

4️⃣ NativeWind v4 is officially live for production use with lots of improvements like fast(er) refresh & Enhanced animations 💯.

5️⃣ React Native visionOS 0.76 is out! Supports React Native 0.76, the new React Native Debugger, and makes the New Architecture the default.
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The newsletter was written by Anis and edited by Vadim Savin.

Vadim Savin Helping you become a better developer together with the notJust.dev team