I Tried Snap’s Valdi – Is It Better Than React Native?

Snapchat has been built with Valdi for about eight years, and now Snap has open sourced it as a React Native competitor. It compiles TypeScript straight to native views, no bridge, no web views. I set it up from scratch in the video and give you my honest, unsponsored take.

What's inside

• How TypeScript components compile directly to native iOS and Android views
• View recycling, viewport-aware rendering, and a C++ layout engine
• Familiar flexbox styling through Yoga, the same engine React Native uses
• Animations and gestures built in, no Reanimated required
• The setup pain I hit with Android NDK paths
• Where it falls short: class components and no inline styles

Resources

CourseReact Native course

17 sections and 800+ minutes, from fundamentals to shipping on the stores.