React Native 0.76 Release: New Architecture

Six years in the making, React Native 0.76 just dropped with the New Architecture enabled by default. This is the production-ready moment the mobile dev community has been waiting for.

The React Native team at Meta has released version 0.76, marking a major milestone in the framework's evolution. After years of development and testing, the New Architecture—a complete rewrite of React Native's internals—is now the default for all new projects. The release also introduces a rebuilt debugging experience and significant performance improvements.

Key Takeaways

• New Architecture enabled by default after 6 years of development work
• Metro bundler now 15x faster with 4x improvement in warm builds
• React Native DevTools replaces old debugger with Chrome DevTools foundation
• Android apps shrink by 3.8MB through native library merging
• New boxShadow and filter style props bring web-like visual effects

The release includes breaking changes that will affect how you initialize Android apps and handle debugging—here's what you need to update in your codebase.