Many businesses today are using React Native development services to become digitally empowered and deliver a seamless user experience through mobile apps. However, React Native is not limited to mobile only. Check out this blog to see how Windows 11 Settings app is taking full advantage of React Native for Windows to offer new features and functionalities to users quickly and with the excellent visual fidelity as Windows 11. In this article, we will discuss how and why Microsoft is leveraging React Native for Windows to provide the ‘Your Microsoft Account’ page in Windows 11 Settings app.
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22489 debuted with Your Microsoft account Settings page, an initial point in Settings that shows information about your Microsoft account, which contains
your subscriptions for Microsoft 365, links to order history, payment information, and Microsoft Rewards.
This page presents a new mechanism that allows Windows to enhance the Your Microsoft account page over time through Online Service Experience Packs which make updates to Windows outside of significant major OS updates. This primary infrastructure will allow other Windows 11 experiences to enjoy the benefits of the Online Service Experience Pack feature over time.
Online Service Experience Packs use React Native for Windows to deliver the Your Microsoft Account page in Settings. Now, let’s see how and why Microsoft is leveraging React Native for Windows to enhance the productivity and integrity of the team with the look and feel of the Windows 11 0S.
Get to Know “Your Microsoft Account” Page
Your Microsoft Account page allows you to manage your account details directly from the Windows 11 Settings. Before the introduction to Windows 11, you had to manage these settings by visiting the account.microsoft.com website (‘AMC’). The team wished to have a reliable set of functionality and user experience between the native and web versions. They considered various options to address this such as:
Challenges Faced with the Three Options
The first option needed separate codebases and therefore, it was quite difficult to maintain a consistent set of features between the two. Moreover, as services iterate faster than the pace at which Windows ships, it becomes even more challenging. Also, the team would require expertise in both web and native WinUI technologies.
The use of a WebView lowers the maintenance cost; however, it faces a few problems. The visual look of the controls would not match the rest of the Windows 11 Settings app. Additionally, the accessibility and performance of WebView UX are not as appealing as a native equivalent. And finally, interfacing between code executing within the WebView and the platform is limited and burdensome.
This resulted in the implementation of the third option – using React Native for Windows in the Settings app. React Native for Windows allows you to use JavaScript to drive app logic while sharing a single code across experiences.
This technology enhances the teams’ productivity by enabling them to quickly iterate on a change, without spending time rebuilding. It’s because it uses WinUI for rendering UI, it seamlessly integrates with the appearance of the OS, with excellent performance, accessibility, and an amazing set of features.
The Combination of React Native for Windows and Your Microsoft Account Page
One of the main objectives for the Your Microsoft Account page was to share business logic between both web and native platforms. React Native for Windows allows sharing essential business logic while maintaining visual consistency between the web and native without replicating the code.
Moreover, the visual reliability of the native experience is truly native since the page itself is native, which leads to more beautiful animations, accessibility, and new Windows 11 styles.
Other than the great user experience, the Microsoft team also experienced plenty of developer productivity benefits. React Native development enhanced our ‘dev inner loop’ by offering features like a fast refresh. So, any changes to the JavaScript could be seen instantly without rebuilding the app.
Moreover, with a custom hook implementation inside the Windows Update service, the Microsoft team can safely deliver JavaScript bundles to its users faster, whether it’s a new feature or an issue resolution.
The Your Microsoft Account page uses the React Native WinRT extension to access the crucial native WinRT platform directly from JavaScript.
If you need to enable service delivery within your React Native app, you can always hire React Native developers from a reputed React Native application development company. They can implement a solution for building, testing, distributing, and monitoring React Native applications.
Wrapping Up
React Native for Windows enables the Windows team to offer new features to end-users more quickly and share business logic across web or native while leveraging the native platform’s visual fidelity, accessibility, and performance.
Whether you invest in React Native development services or are interested in developing a Windows-first app, you can leverage React Native for Windows to bring your app to Windows with the quality as good as built-in Windows components like the Your Microsoft Account page.
As a renowned React Native application development company, we offer a wide range of React Native development services and solutions to empower businesses with digital capabilities, productivity, accessibility, and performance.
If you want to use React Native for Windows, you can hire React Native developers at ReactJS India. Get in touch with us to discuss your project requirements today.
FAQs
Q.1. Is React Native suitable for mobile?
Ans. React Native development does not require developers to build separate codes for different platforms like Android, iOS, Windows, etc. as they can use JavaScript for multiple platforms. The technology gives the ability to reuse code which enhances efficiency and results in fast development and significant cost reduction.
Q.2. Is it possible to use React Native for desktop apps?
Ans. Microsoft is investing in React Native for Windows which enables you to develop apps for app devices supported by Windows, including PCs, tablets, 2-in1 PCs, mixed reality devices, Xbox, etc. Microsoft React Native also provides support for macOS.
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