React Native Adopts TypeScript-First Approach
Article Summary
React Native just made TypeScript the default. No more @types/react-native dependency, no more version lag, and a completely TypeScript-first developer experience starting with version 0.71.
The React Native team announced a major shift in their TypeScript support strategy with the 0.71 release. After years of relying on community-maintained type definitions, React Native now ships with built-in TypeScript declarations and a TypeScript-first approach across the entire framework.
Key Takeaways
- New React Native apps now generate with App.tsx and TypeScript by default
- TypeScript declarations now ship with React Native, eliminating @types/react-native dependency
- Over 170 documentation examples updated to pass TypeScript type-checking
- @types/react-native will be deprecated for versions 0.73 and beyond
React Native 0.71 marks the end of community-maintained type definitions and establishes TypeScript as the framework's primary language with built-in declarations and tooling.
About This Article
TypeScript declarations for React Native lived in DefinitelyTyped separately, which meant @types/react-native lagged behind. It only had types for stable releases, so pre-release development was inaccurate and error-prone.
Starting with version 0.71, React Native moved TypeScript declarations into its source repository. This removed the need for manual inspection and kept types in sync with each release.
The React Native team will deprecate @types/react-native for versions 0.73 and later. Versions 0.71 and 0.72 will get identical types from both sources during the transition before switching fully to built-in declarations.