React native on windows App

Javier Aparisi Valdés
3 min readMay 24, 2020

Really? If you are a react frontend dev if do yoy want create mobile app you can use react native, but if do yo want create app windows for the store … mmm … maybe i need create a c# app?, no!, you can create a react native windows.

React native windows is a react native branch, you can follow the Getting Started and dont jump any step.

Getting started, wow!, you need take a coofe cup, we begin:

  1. Check if your machine are windows 10 with Windows 10 SDK, check if your Windows version is 10.0.15063.0 or higher.
  2. Install latest node versión with chocolatey optional.

3. Install Visual Studio and customize the options follow the Windows Development Dependencies -> https://microsoft.github.io/react-native-windows/docs/rnw-dependencies

4. Install Visual Code with React Native Tools Extension.

4. Follow the React Native Cli Quickstart (Windows + Android) up the development environment : https://reactnative.dev/docs/environment-setup

Now you are ready for create your first App, you need open your visual code like admin and follow this steps:

Install global packages only the first time:

npm i react-native -g
npm i react-native-windows-init -g

And now you can do

npx react-native init <project name> --version ^0.61.5
cd <project name>
npx react-native-windows-init --overwrite
npx react-native run-windows

The first time you will be waiting 3/5 min, you can see on your terminal

The command run-windows show a second cmd window with metro task to build the bundle like this

When the bundle is loading:

And when then App is loaded:

Yeah!, we do it, we have a fantastic react native app, you can search your app on the windows task bar

And if do you want you can up to microsoft store

Enjoy it :)

Main documentation: https://github.com/microsoft/react-native-windows

Examples: https://github.com/microsoft/react-native-windows-samples

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