Microsoft has released React Native Windows 0.81, with support for the same Hermes debugger used by mobile versions, but the framework lags behind the Android and iOS releases which are now at 0.83.
The framework is used by Microsoft for mobile applications including Outlook and Teams, and on the desktop for part of Office and in its Power Apps low-code development platform. This is in contrast to MAUI (Multi-platform App UI), a .NET cross-platform framework which is promoted to developers but appears to have little internal adoption.
Hermes is the default JavaScript engine for React Native and is optimized for fast start-up using ahead-of-time optimization. The new release enables use of React Native DevTools (based on Chrome DevTools) to debug JavaScript in React Native, including breakpoints, variable inspection, profiling, memory snapshots, and component inspection. According to the team, “Windows developers now get the same debugging experience as Android and iOS.”
This appears to be not quite the case though, since the network and performance tabs in the DevTools are not yet enabled, but will be when the Windows release reaches 0.83.
The React Native Gallery is in the Windows Store, with code available on GitHub, demonstrating a range of components and resources
