Is rewriting your native app really the only way to go cross-platform?

In this Coffee Talk episode, we explore how React Native Brownfield offers a smarter path forward.

Łukasz Chludziński invites Oskar Kwaśniewski and Burak Güner—who work directly on React Native Core and brownfield tooling—to discuss how recent advances in React Native have made brownfield integration far more viable, stable, and scalable.

You’ll learn:
➡️ Why brownfield isn’t what it used to be (goodbye, brittle bridging)
➡️ How `RootViewFactory` and `ReactNativeFactory` APIs simplify setup
➡️ What’s new in React Native Brownfield 1.0.0
➡️ How to keep your architecture clean while integrating React Native
➡️ What this means for modern native stacks like SwiftUI, Jetpack Compose—and future-facing platforms like visionOS

Whether you’re maintaining a legacy app or building for what's next, this episode gives you a blueprint for hybrid success.

Explore React Native Brownfield 🙌 https://github.com/callstack/react-native-brownfield
Check out episode resources on our website 📚 https://bit.ly/3ESW3Lf
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Timestamps
00:00 Welcome to the React Universe
02:00 Meet our guests: Oskar & Burak
02:50 Let’s talk brownfield app development
03:37 Craziest brownfield setups our guests have seen
08:19 Greenfield vs. brownfield React Native
14:14 How we used to approach brownfield development
18:20 Callstack’s React Native Brownfield
23:30 RootView Factory & React Native Factory
28:50 New Features in React Native Brownfield 1.0
35:35 Sharing data between native and JavaScript
41:00 How about using different React Native versions
43:30  Cost of complexity
47:00 Learn more and get in touch with our guests

You Don’t Need a Rewrite, You Need React Native Brownfield | React Universe On Air Coffee Talk #27

React Universe On Air is your go-to podcast about building cross-platform apps with React and React Native, featuring practical lessons, forward-looking ideas, and talks with industry leaders.