React Native Version 0.81 Release

React Native 0.81 just dropped with a game-changing performance boost: iOS builds up to 10x faster. But there's a catch that'll affect every Android developer.

The React Native team at Meta released version 0.81, bringing mandatory Android 16 edge-to-edge support and experimental precompiled iOS builds developed in collaboration with Expo. This release includes over 1,110 commits from 110 contributors and marks a significant shift in how the framework handles platform-specific UI constraints.

Key Takeaways

• Experimental precompiled iOS builds cut compile times by up to 10x
• Android 16 now mandatory with edge-to-edge display (no opt-out available)
• SafeAreaView officially deprecated, migrate to react-native-safe-area-context
• JavaScriptCore moved to community package (Hermes users unaffected)
• Requires Node.js 20+ and Xcode 16.1+ minimum

The Android 16 changes include a predictive back gesture requirement that could break custom navigation implementations if you're not careful.