React Native apps that need a developer to finish them

React Native lets teams build iOS and Android apps with JavaScript or TypeScript and React, while still producing real native interfaces. Many products start this way because web developers can contribute quickly. Projects tend to get stuck where the JavaScript world meets the native one: upgrades that touch Xcode and Gradle files, native modules that stopped being maintained, and release steps that only one person ever understood.

What stuck React Native projects look like

There are two broad kinds of React Native app. Expo-based apps use Expo's tools and services, often building in the cloud with EAS Build, and may not have ios and android folders committed at all. Bare React Native apps, or Expo apps that were prebuilt, keep full native projects in the repository, which gives more control and more to maintain.

A stalled project might be several versions behind, fail to build on a current Mac, or run on Android but crash on launch on iOS. Sometimes the app is live but nobody can ship an update, because signing credentials or the build account belonged to a previous developer.

Common problems in React Native apps

• Version lag. Apps that skip several React Native or Expo SDK versions can face a long upgrade path. Moving to the New Architecture adds more work where native modules have not been updated.
• Unmaintained native modules. A library for maps, payments or camera access may have no release for the current version, so it needs patching or replacing.
• Build configuration. CocoaPods, Gradle settings, minimum OS versions and permission strings must all be correct before the stores accept a build.
• Environment handling. API URLs and keys are sometimes placed directly in JavaScript, where they ship inside the app bundle. Anything secret belongs on a server. /tools/secret-leak-scanner can find keys in the repository.
• Navigation and state. Older versions of navigation libraries and mixed state approaches make screens fragile to change.

If store review is your blocker, /problems/app-store-rejection-help walks through common rejection reasons.

Preparing a React Native takeover listing

Make it easy for a mobile developer to see the size of the job:

• the React Native version, and the Expo SDK version if Expo is used;
• whether native folders are committed or generated during builds;
• where builds happen today: local machines, EAS Build or another CI service;
• the backend and key services, such as payments, push notifications or analytics;
• the app's store status and the goal, such as "release version 2 with subscriptions".

Crash reports are among the most useful things you can share. If the app uses a service such as Sentry or Firebase Crashlytics, write a short summary of the most frequent crashes and the app versions affected, and plan to invite the developer to that service once you agree to work together. Real stack traces from users often point to the native module or screen that needs attention first, which turns a vague "the app crashes sometimes" into a task someone can estimate.

Running /tools/dependency-freshness-check before you post shows how far behind the project is, which helps everyone estimate fairly. The /tools/handover-checklist-generator can gather the remaining details. Then /post your app for free.

Access a React Native developer will need

Use invitations everywhere and keep ownership with you:

• add the developer as a collaborator on the repository;
• invite them to your Expo organisation if you use Expo, with a role that fits;
• add them to your Apple Developer team via App Store Connect and to Google Play Console, with limited permissions;
• add them to backend, analytics and crash-reporting services through team features.

If a previous developer controlled the build account or signing credentials, recover those first; /guides/developer-disappeared-secure-your-accounts can help. Developers new to the codebase may find /guides/first-week-on-an-inherited-codebase useful. Price, scope and payment are agreed directly between you and the developer; TakeoverWork plays no part in that agreement.