React Native Mobile Design

This skill guides creation of distinctive, production-grade React Native mobile applications. Implement real working TypeScript/React Native code with attention to aesthetics, performance, and platform conventions.

Design Thinking

Before coding, understand context and commit to a design direction:

• Purpose: What problem does this app solve? Who uses it?
• Platform: iOS, Android, or both? Consider platform-specific patterns.
• Tone: Vibrant & playful, calm & professional, bold & expressive, minimal & clean.
• Design System: React Native Paper (M3), NativeBase, Tamagui, or custom.

Recommended Stack

Quick Patterns

NativeWind Styling

<View className="flex-1 bg-white p-4">
  <Text className="text-xl font-bold text-gray-900">Title</Text>
  <Pressable className="bg-blue-500 py-3 px-6 rounded-xl active:opacity-80">
    <Text className="text-white font-semibold text-center">Button</Text>
  </Pressable>
</View>

Zustand Store

import { create } from 'zustand';

interface AuthStore {
  user: User | null;
  login: (user: User) => void;
  logout: () => void;
}

export const useAuthStore = create<AuthStore>((set) => ({
  user: null,
  login: (user) => set({ user }),
  logout: () => set({ user: null }),
}));

Navigation Setup

const Stack = createNativeStackNavigator<RootStackParamList>();

function RootNavigator() {
  return (
    <Stack.Navigator screenOptions={{ headerShown: false }}>
      <Stack.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Stack.Screen name="Detail" component={DetailScreen} />
    </Stack.Navigator>
  );
}

Optimized List

import { FlashList } from '@shopify/flash-list';

<FlashList
  data={items}
  renderItem={({ item }) => <ItemCard item={item} />}
  estimatedItemSize={100}
  keyExtractor={(item) => item.id}
/>

Project Structure

src/
├── app/                    # Expo Router or entry
├── components/
│   ├── ui/                 # Button, Input, Card
│   └── features/           # ProductCard, CartItem
├── hooks/                  # Custom hooks
├── stores/                 # Zustand stores
├── services/               # API calls
├── utils/                  # Helpers
└── types/                  # TypeScript types

Platform-Specific Code

import { Platform } from 'react-native';

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  shadow: Platform.select({
    ios: {
      shadowColor: '#000',
      shadowOffset: { width: 0, height: 2 },
      shadowOpacity: 0.1,
      shadowRadius: 8,
    },
    android: {
      elevation: 4,
    },
  }),
});

Quality Checklist

• TypeScript strict mode
• Dark mode support (useColorScheme)
• Safe area handling
• Accessibility labels
• Loading & error states
• Keyboard avoiding for forms
• 60fps animations

Advanced Topics

For detailed implementation guides:

• Performance & Optimization: See references/optimization.md for startup time, memory, bundle size, rendering optimization
• Component Patterns & Architecture: See references/patterns.md for reusable patterns, animations, advanced navigation

Code Style

// Prefer: TypeScript, memo, proper typing
import { memo, useCallback } from 'react';

interface Props {
  item: Product;
  onPress?: (id: string) => void;
}

export const ProductCard = memo(function ProductCard({ item, onPress }: Props) {
  const handlePress = useCallback(() => onPress?.(item.id), [item.id, onPress]);

  return (
    <Pressable className="bg-white rounded-2xl p-4">
      <Text className="text-lg font-semibold">{item.name}</Text>
    </Pressable>
  );
});

Restricted

NEVER use generic AI-generated aesthetics like overused font families (Inter, Roboto, Arial, system fonts), cliched color schemes (particularly purple gradients on white backgrounds), predictable layouts and component patterns, and cookie-cutter design that lacks context-specific character.

Generate distinctive, crafted React Native code. Avoid generic boilerplate.