Management of Native Code and React Native at Shopify - Shopify

This post details how Shopify leverages Kotlin Multiplatform Modules (KMM) to write native code for background processes in their React Native mobile applications, specifically for the Point of Sale app. It explains the challenges of single-threaded JavaScript and UI threads impacting responsiveness during background jobs and how KMM allows for shared, OS-agnostic code for tasks like database synchronization. The post also discusses the decision to keep UI components in React Native, leveraging tools like Reanimated 2 for complex animations and gestures, and outlines the process of integrating KMM libraries into existing React Native projects.