Alexey Gerasimov -

React Native lets you write (JavaScript + React) that works on both iOS and Android, while feeling completely native to the user. Alexey’s insight : Don’t embed a web browser in the app (like Cordova or PhoneGap). Instead, translate React components into real iOS/Android widgets. Key Lessons from Alexey Gerasimov’s Approach 1. Start small, but think about the bridge Gerasimov’s prototype focused on one thing: the "bridge" — the mechanism that lets JavaScript talk to native code. That’s still the heart of React Native today.

: A great project without a welcoming community will die. He built both. 3. Don’t chase hype React Native has been called “slow,” “not truly native,” and “a fad.” Yet it powers thousands of production apps. Gerasimov ignored the noise and focused on making the developer experience faster.

Next time you use an app that feels fast, fluid, and cross-platform, there’s a decent chance it owes something to a quiet Russian engineer and his hackathon project. Share it with a mobile developer friend — or anyone who’s ever wondered who actually creates the tools we use every day.

The goal? Allow developers to write mobile apps using React — a web framework — but render real native UI components instead of HTML.

If you’ve ever used Instagram, Facebook, or UberEats on your phone, you’ve directly benefited from the work of Alexey Gerasimov — even if you’ve never heard his name.