Migrating to React Native's New Architecture
Article Summary
Shopify just migrated two massive apps to React Native's New Architecture without pausing weekly releases or breaking production for millions of merchants.
Staff Engineer Thiago Magalhaes shares how Shopify's mobile team navigated this fundamental framework change across hundreds of screens and 40+ native modules. This is a detailed playbook from the trenches of a large-scale migration.
Key Takeaways
- Maintained dual architecture support throughout to enable continuous testing and prevent regressions
- App launch times improved 10% on Android and 3% on iOS immediately after migration
- Most bugs were fixed by upgrading React Native versions before touching app code
- Phased rollout started Android at 8%, iOS at 1% to catch issues early
- Avoided migrating to TurboModules initially, focusing only on compatibility breaking changes
Critical Insight
Shopify successfully migrated to React Native's New Architecture while shipping weekly, proving large-scale migration is achievable with the right strategy and gradual rollout approach.
