Live Dev Session: Node-API, Wallets & Worklets in React Native
Featuring
This week’s Live Dev Session was all about tools that push React Native further: into native territory, payments, and deep into the UI thread.
Kewin and Łukasz delivered an opinionated recap of Week 29’s biggest news, libraries, and odd rumors. From C++ add-ons to native LLMs, they explored what’s new, and what’s still confusing.
Live stream breakdown
Node-API in React Native
Łukasz recapped his in-depth stream with Mario from Callstack and Karan from MongoDB on how NODE-API brings C/C++ native add-ons into React Native. The current setup uses a forked Hermes engine and a custom host package to expose Node-native functions to RN. It’s not plug-and-play with npm yet, but it opens up a whole new lane for native module development with stable, cross-platform APIs.
react-native-wallet
A new open-source lib from Expensify and Software Mansion lets devs add payment cards directly to Apple and Google Wallet from RN. It handles the messy provisioning flows (issuer profiles, push tokens, certificates) across platforms with one clean API.
Useful for fintechs, travel apps, and anyone dealing with cards.
react-native-worklets
This library, pulled from Reanimated internals, lets you write and run JavaScript on the UI thread via runOnUI(). It’s exciting... but also confusing. A similar library from Margelo has existed for years, raising questions about naming, duplication, and direction. Łukasz and Kewin talked through the overlap and called for better clarity in the ecosystem.
ChromeOS + Android merging?!
Google’s platform convergence rumor made the news this week, and could signal a shift in how developers think about Android’s long-term future. The team speculated on the impact: will this simplify cross-platform dev? Or just shift fragmentation somewhere else?
Apple LLMs in React Native
@react-native-ai/apple, a Callstack package bridging Apple’s new on-device language models into RN. With privacy-first, offline-ready support and zero latency, it brings local ML to mobile apps. Kewin called it a “superpower” for devs working on assistants, local inference, or any LLM use case that needs speed and data protection.
TinyBase
Łukasz and Kewin finally took a closer look at this SQLite-meets-spreadsheets reactive store. The new release adds RN support via persister-react-native-sqlite, making it a solid local-first state layer for apps that need reactivity + persistence. They praised its hook-based design and flexibility: “Redux + SQLite” but without the boilerplate.
Rock 0.8
This new Rock release adds RN 0.80 and CLI 19.1 support, but also a reworked CLI UI with color-coded output that improves developer experience. It’s not a huge leap, but shows ongoing polish for Callstack’s enterprise toolkit.
Module Federation in Metro
Callstack shipped a working prototype of Module Federation support for Metro. That means you could soon load remote JS bundles without Webpack, making super apps and micro frontends easier to ship natively, on Android and iOS. Łukasz previewed how it fits into the Re.Pack ecosystem and why this could be a big win for modular mobile development.
