Design Stunning React Native Apps with CSS-in-JS and Design Principles and Best Practices
In React Native, you will need the ability to style components with CSS-in-JS. This can be overwhelming for those who are not familiar with it – but don’t let that discourage you!
I am here to provide an overview of both approaches and guidelines for achieving a polished look in your React Native app.
What is CSS-in-JS?
CSS-in-JS is a unique approach to bringing CSS styles into your React Native app. Rather than defining and overriding styles in JavaScript, you’ll be able to declare value types, such as colors or sizes; these attributes will then be processed by the browser and transformed into either presentable JS stylesheets or native equivalents.
This means that you can leverage several promising web design principles without needing to become an expert on JavaScript boilerplate by hand – simply define style rules and run them through PostCSS. This tool from Airbnb provides thematically appropriate stylesheets for each platform (Win8/iOS) so it’s easy to keep your code consistent across multiple apps!
How does CSS-in-JS differ from traditional CSS?
The preceding section examined how React Native is a hybrid app framework built upon JavaScript. The fact that it utilizes native APIs for its components and animations is what sets it apart from other cross-platform approaches like Vue or Angular.
If you have worked with either of these frameworks, you will experience no major differences in the development process between React Native and their counterparts. You still need to understand JavaScript and utilize NodeJS to build your application; however – unlike JavaScript-in-HTML development – there are no constructs such as classes or IDs within the source code!
This unique feature of CSS-in-React would be difficult to replicate using any other method of frontend script generation. If you’re interested in exploring this approach further, check out our article on how CSS-in-JS works!
How does CSS-in-JS apply to React Native?
In React Native, styling is a delightfully simple affair. You can assign styles to individual components and Axios requests, as well as deeper logic within your JSX files.
Because CSS classes are assigned programmatically in JavaScript, they cannot be utilized in the same way you would use them with native UI components. Instead, they must be used like any other property – a little more effort may be required when compared to utilizing native counterparts!
1. Styled Components
If you’ve used styled-components in the past, you may be wondering why there appears to be no mention of them here. While it may seem that way initially, don’t let this perception impede your progress!
Let’s get a sense of what this means and how they could aid you in your endeavors as a developer building apps with React Native.
2. Styled System
Relying solely on JS for styling is an integral part of the React Native ecosystem. The Styled System makes it possible to leverage HTML attributes in your app and utilize them as styling options.
Let’s take a look at an example. To achieve this, we’ll use nodes as our content; each time a button is pressed, we’ll increment its count by one:
We then incorporate some web font into our layout, but when we do so, we’re able to utilize our existing knowledge of relative positioning – such as margin or padding – alongside absolute positioning (such as top margin or leftmost position) while maintaining perfect alignment all along!
3. Theme UI
When designing for React Native, one can choose from a variety of predesigned themes for their app’s UI. This includes options like Material Design, Flat UI, or Lollipop Red – among many others! Alternatively, users may opt to create their unique theme based on their preferences. To craft an outstanding design, select your desired theme and apply its color palette seamlessly throughout your application.
4. Grommet
Grommets are an essential design pattern that can be utilized to embellish your app’s interface with a dash of style. Whether you’re creating a button, toggle switch, or sliders, for example, this method will provide you with unparalleled flexibility for its placement!
All things considered, grommets are ideal for adding visual interest when organizing components instead of being purely functional. This can add spice to the layout and give it a more lively appearance as well as help foster cohesion within apps’ UIs.
5. NativeBase
Don’t fear the native! Prioritize accessibility and complex layouts with NativeBase, a collection of React Native modules that help you create an ideal user interface.
Utilizing NativeBase, you can elegantly craft captivating apps. Its design principles are all about creating an app that is accessible to all users, regardless of their level of expertise with technology.
6. Shoutem
If you’d like to answer your app’s aesthetic needs without worrying about CSS-in-JS, then consider Shoutem. Shoutem is a powerful cloud-based tool that enables you to design beautiful interfaces without writing a smidgen of markup!
As an agency-grade app design platform, Shoutem can effortlessly create stunning user interfaces using only JavaScript and WebGL. Plus – if you’re not into coding – don’t worry! You can create mockups for each screen within minutes by simply clicking away with your mouse. This utility also grants access to numerous prebuilt components as well as custom widgets so developers can quickly jumpstart their app!
Design principles for styling in React Native
For a design-oriented project, choosing the right styling can be a challenge. It’s important to familiarize yourself with certain design principles when it comes to using JavaScript for web design, and React Native has its fair share of conventions that should be taken into consideration – such as ensuring consistency in font sizes, color values, and more across UI components.
To set the stage for a successful project, we must first establish our fundamentals: what makes a successful design?
The following design principles can help you achieve an effective look for your app:
1. Use a consistent color palette
If you’re creating a native app, it’s imperative to stick with a set of purples, blues, and greens. Avoid browns, oranges, or reds – these colors may look enticing when used in other applications’ interfaces; however they make things appear more dated than they should!
For styling your React Native app, one of the most important aspects to consider is consistency across elements. Don’t employ any more than two or three different shades of blue for example – in favor of using just one type of color that appears across all examples so as not to overwhelm visitors’ eyes.
2. Use typography to support your content
Enabling a text-only layout with the component or selecting from within the Components section of your app’s settings, you can remove any images or embedded video of your design. This approach is ideal for creating a straightforward page layout where emphasis should be placed on the main points of text content; especially when contrasted against colorful and eye-catching graphics.
To further increase readability, consider employing sans-serif fonts. While it’s possible to employ more complex typographic treatments when crafting an app’s UI, this choice will still yield meaningful results while maintaining focus on the message being conveyed – all at once!
3. Make your app accessible to everyone
React Native is an excellent choice when it comes to accessibility, as the framework has been crafted with consideration of those with disabilities in mind.
The situation is analogous to the one we have when building a web app: If a non-specialist user attempts to navigate your app, they might not even know what a button or link signifies! Thus, we must always provide them with an accessible experience whenever possible.
4. Make your app look good on all screens
To give your app the utmost attention, consider ensuring it looks good on mobile devices as well as larger displays such as television sets and laptops.
By employing appropriate design principles, you can ensure that your apps look attractive across various sizes and resolutions.
5. Create a style guide for your app
When it comes to styling your app, it is important to create a style guide for its various components. This will allow the team members on hand to manage their files easily and be confident that they have all the information needed regarding each element.
By creating one of these documents, you’ll ensure that no matter where any UI element is placed within the application – it will always maintain a consistent appearance!
Wrapping up
To sum things up, React Native is a fantastic platform for crafting applications that take advantage of the latest mobile technology without sacrificing the user experience.
Indeed, it can be an arduous task attempting to optimize one’s app across multiple platforms when you consider all the varying versions of each OS and device. But with React Native you can leverage your JavaScript codebase and keep building apps on top of it!
Conclusion
To create a more dynamic and engaging user experience, you must employ CSS-in-JS. This approach can help your app retain users and attain high engagement levels on both mobile devices as well as in the browser; this can positively impact conversions.
While developing your next React Native app, consider taking advantage of CSS-in-JS to create a captivating user experience. Utilize these helpful guidelines along with practical examples to help design an effective interface for your product.