The takeaway
Choose around the product’s requirements, the team and the libraries you need. React Native can share substantial code across iOS and Android; native development can suit platform-specific experiences. Prototype demanding interactions on representative devices before committing. Cost savings and frame rates depend on implementation.
Understand the framework, then measure your app
React Native’s New Architecture replaces the legacy bridge with JSI and improves rendering and native module integration. These capabilities can reduce some overhead, but do not remove every bottleneck.
Hermes is a JavaScript engine optimized for React Native. Assess startup, memory use and interaction smoothness in your release build; an engine choice alone does not guarantee a particular result.
Compare team and maintenance responsibilities
Separate iOS and Android implementations require platform expertise and coordinated releases. One team may cover both, depending on its skills and workload.
Shared code can reduce duplicated work, but platform-specific behavior, libraries, testing and store releases still need attention. Compare the real delivery and maintenance plan.
Prototype the difficult parts
Deep platform integration, demanding media processing or existing platform expertise may favor native development. Cross-platform applications can also use native modules.
Evaluate offline behavior, accessibility, integrations, release cadence and maintenance cost. Verify library compatibility and document the tradeoffs in the proposal.