--- title: "Lessons from Shopify's Migration to React Native with Mustafa Ali" description: "Learn how Shopify's migration to React Native led to 86% code unification, reduced build times, and seamless feature parity across platforms." url: https://www.callstack.com/podcasts/lessons-from-shopifys-migration-to-react-native-with-mustafa-ali updated: 2026-10-24T08:39:42.691Z --- # Lessons from Shopify's Migration to React Native with Mustafa Ali Learn how Shopify's migration to React Native led to 86% code unification, reduced build times, and seamless feature parity across platforms. _Guest: Mustafa Ali, Director of Engineering @ Shopify · Host: Mike Grabowski, CEO & Founder @ Callstack · Published 2025-01-13 · Duration 42:16 · Category: Brownfield_ Listen: [YouTube](https://youtu.be/WFoO-GDvrY8) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GXTUHdKhlzAaHwsGaseLo?si=lLuC_xKySyaBLkHnAi9SRA) · [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lessons-from-shopifys-migration-to-react-native-with/id1525543072?i=1000683890061) · [SoundCloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-985069846/lessons-from-shopifys-migration-to-react-native-with-mustafa-ali-react-universe-on-air-46-react-native-at-scale/s-nykcQK9qtQe?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=121a3fd171794e37a41bb394ace0e901) This React Universe On Air episode is the culmination of a four-year-long journey. How come? In 2020, Shopify decided to switch to React Native for both new and existing apps. In November 2024, the migration of their mobile app was officially over, resulting in a remarkable 86% unification of code across platforms and a streamlined development process that stems from eliminating 1.8 million lines of redundant code, reducing build times, and achieving seamless feature parity between iOS and Android. Much like every transformative journey, this migration to React Native is a rich source of lessons learned about embracing the cross-platform approach for a better development process, app performance, and business results. ## How Shopify benefits from migration to React Native This episode is a double comeback: not only is [React Native At Scale](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3MwD-soTTEpXbEa8jFEkJpNoRDRV-Yt&si=3iz2CH1KZyMIOI9P) back, but we’re also happy to see Mike Grabowiski again as the podcast host! The third reason to celebrate is the topic of this episode: Shopify finishing the migration of its mobile app to React Native. To take a closer look at the decision-making process involved in this transformation, we invited Mustafa Ali, Shopify's Director of Engineering. Throughout the episode, Mustafa shares the motivation behind the change, including the desire to avoid duplicating efforts across platforms and enable developers to work smoothly across both web and mobile. He discusses the challenges faced during the migration, such as ensuring performance parity in their high-usage point-of-sale app, where speed and reliability are crucial. Mustafa also shares how Shopify initially evaluated various technologies, ultimately choosing React Native because of its alignment with their existing JavaScript and TypeScript expertise and the framework’s support from Meta. He emphasizes the critical role of native developers in maintaining high performance and user experience, detailing how they tackled performance issues head-on. ## More on Shopify’s migration to React Native - [Mustafa’s X thread](https://x.com/mustafa01ali/status/1853619638141071573) on finishing Shopify’s migration to React Native - Shopify’s article: [React Native is the Future of Mobile at Shopify](https://shopify.engineering/react-native-future-mobile-shopify) - Shopify’s article: [Migrating our Largest Mobile App to React Native](https://shopify.engineering/migrating-our-largest-mobile-app-to-react-native) - Shopify's article: [Five years of React Native at Shopify](https://shopify.engineering/five-years-of-react-native-at-shopify) Insights ## Learn more about Brownfield Here's everything we published recently on this topic. [View all](https://www.callstack.com/insights) - [React Native Brownfield Deep Dive: How RN Moves Into Native Applications](https://www.callstack.com/events/react-native-brownfield-deep-dive-how-rn-moves-into-native-applications) (Oct 9 · Talk): Artur Morys-Magiera will explain how React Native can move into an existing native app without forcing a big-bang rewrite. - [React Native in .NET MAUI: A Practical Brownfield Integration Guide](https://www.callstack.com/blog/react-native-in-net-maui-a-practical-brownfield-integration-guide) (Aug 27 · Article): Learn how to embed React Native inside a .NET MAUI app with a brownfield setup. This guide covers runtime packaging, lifecycle wiring, navigation, and shared state across both runtimes. - [Adoption of Brownfield in React Native](https://www.callstack.com/events/adoption-of-brownfield-in-react-native) (Aug 27 · Talk): Artur Morys-Magiera will explain how teams can adopt React Native incrementally inside existing native applications. - [Migration to React Native in 2026 Starts With a Delivery Question](https://www.callstack.com/blog/migration-to-react-native-in-2026-starts-with-a-delivery-question) (Aug 3 · Article): Choosing between brownfield and greenfield React Native migration? Learn where risk sits, when to use a checkpoint, and what to prove before committing. - [How we made Hybrid iOS apps compile 39% faster with React Native Brownfield](https://www.callstack.com/blog/how-we-made-hybrid-ios-apps-compile-39-faster-with-react-native-brownfield) (Jul 8 · Article): See how React Native Brownfield uses iOS prebuilts to cut packaging times by up to 39% for hybrid apps, with details on setup, internals, and benchmark results. - [How We Made the Brownfield Gradle Plugin 22% Faster](https://www.callstack.com/blog/how-we-made-the-brownfield-gradle-plugin-22-faster) (Jun 18 · Article): See how task-driven Gradle optimization made the Brownfield Gradle Plugin 22% faster for clean Android release builds. - [AI-Supported Brownfield Migration to React Native](https://www.callstack.com/blog/ai-supported-brownfield-migration-to-react-native) (Jun 3 · Article): See how AI-supported workflows cut brownfield React Native evaluation from weeks to days by speeding up setup, planning, implementation, and QA. - [Unlocking Expo Updates in an Isolated Brownfield Architecture with SDK 55](https://www.callstack.com/blog/unlocking-expo-updates-in-an-isolated-brownfield-architecture-with-sdk-55) (May 18 · Article): Learn how to enable Expo Updates in an Isolated Brownfield setup with Expo SDK 55, including iOS packaging, Android patching, and OTA testing. - [State of Brownfield in React Native](https://www.callstack.com/events/state-of-brownfield-in-react-native) (Apr 23 · Talk): A practical look at Brownfield React Native adoption in mature native apps, architecture, tooling, and real-world tradeoffs.