React Universe On Air

Vercel’s v0 iOS app is built with React Native, but it looks and feels like a fully native iOS product.

In this episode of React Universe On Air, we go deep into how the v0 mobile app was built: from choosing Expo and going iOS-first, to writing native modules, fixing low-level React Native issues, and upstreaming improvements back to the ecosystem. This is a hands-on engineering conversation with Fernando Rojo, Szymon Rybczak, and Oskar kwaśniewski about real trade-offs, real constraints, and what it takes to ship a polished app under real deadlines.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome to the React Universe
00:50 Meet our guests
02:42 v0 app overview
03:45 Iterating to greatness
05:07 Choosing Expo and initial tech decisions
07:55 Code sharing with v0 website
11:03 Open Source contributions
13:20 React Native Core fixes
15:40 Android version?
18:42 Modal issues we fixed
23:20 Working with React Native Core
26:16 Balancing deadlines and root cause analysis
27:23 Native Modules and custom solutions
29:16 Minimalistic UI challenges
30:44 Floating Composer concept
33:41 Feature flags and testing
36:48 WebView swiping and custom forks
45:16 Launch experience and security concerns
50:17 Final thoughts

This year, React Universe On Air is doing something different for Christmas. No guests, demos, or framework updates. Instead, Ola Desmurs Linczewska tells a Christmas story.

A (Secure) Christmas Carol is a holiday fairytale for JavaScript and React Native developers. Set on Christmas Eve, it follows Npmezer Scrooge, a senior engineer who believes deadlines matter more than holidays, and warnings can always wait.

Over the course of one long winter night, he’s visited by unexpected guides who show him what his choices look like across time: the optimism of the past, the quiet damage of the present, and a future no one wants.

All technical details, real-world security issues, and references mentioned in the story are explained in the show notes 📚  https://clstk.com/4pEVYwv

We’ll be back in January with regular episodes. Until then, stay kind, stay curious, and have yourself a very merry Christmas.

It’s a practical, developer‑focused look at the early days of React Native on VR: what works today, what’s different from mobile, and why so many app ideas translate better than you might expect.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to React Native on Meta Quest
01:10 Meet the guests: Jan Jaworski and Ram N
01:28 Ram’s background and experience
04:10 Jan’s background and experience
06:09 Exploring React Native on Meta Quest
07:09 How Meta Quest started
11:00 Getting started with React Native on Meta Quest
14:30 Betting on AOSP
17:00 First-mover advantage and developer opportunities
21:32 Differences between mobile and VR
24:45 Running Expo projects on the headset
25:28 React Native on Meta Quest, now for real
27:27 Starting a React Native project on Meta Quest
28:49 Developing and debugging on Meta Quest
30:19 Do you need a headset or an emulator?
31:57 Virtual Reality Development Experience
38:09 AI tooling
40:02 Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition
45:02 Conclusion and final thoughts

The NFL runs on tight deadlines. Every kickoff and Super Bowl demands that millions of fans get flawless live video, stats, and fantasy features, whether they’re on iPhones, Xboxes, or connected TVs.

In this episode of React Universe On Air, Mike Grabowski talks with Michael Blanchard (Director of Engineering at the NFL), about how React Native became the backbone of this high-pressure, multi-platform ecosystem.

Michael shares his journey from web engineer to leading NFL’s engineering teams across nfl.com, three mobile apps, a cross-platform video player, and a suite of connected TV apps. Together with Mike, he explores the NFL’s migration strategy, the transition from Haul/Webpack to Metro and Expo, and the cultural shifts that helped merge web and native engineers into one collaborative team.

You’ll learn:
➡️ Why the NFL went full Greenfield (twice)
➡️ How NFL+ shaped their second rewrite
➡️ Lessons from moving from Haul/Webpack to Metro
➡️ How Expo SDKs gradually replaced community libraries
➡️ How GitHub Actions + EAS Build reshaped their CI/CD pipeline
➡️ Strategies for handling 20–30 PRs daily in a monorepo
➡️ How React Native powers mobile, web, and multiple connected TVs
➡️ What cultural shifts enabled true cross-platform collaboration

Catch more React Universe On Air episodes 🎧 https://clstk.com/4gp8Cw5
Sign up for our newsletter ✉️ https://clstk.com/4mfmRof
Follow us on X 🐦 https://x.com/callstackio

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to the React Universe
01:35 Meet Michael Blanchard from NFL
03:03 NFL's digital presence and platforms
04:24 React Native in NFL's mobile apps
08:32 How React spread across all platforms
11:47 Collaboration between web and native teams
18:11 Technical decisions regarding different platforms
23:48 V2 of NFL's flagship app
25:14 Choosing migration strategy
30:10 Maintaining more product versions
34:33 Adopting Expo
42:10 Modernizing CI/CD
46:48 Team structure and workflow at NFL
53:29 Final thoughts

What really happens when React Native’s core contributors gather behind closed doors?

In this episode of React Universe On Air, recorded live at React Universe Conf 2025, host Łukasz Chludziński sits down with Joel Arvidsson, Jay Meistrich, and Thibault Malbranche to unpack the hottest debates and wisest insights from the Core Contributor Summit.

They dive into:
➡️ How the cooperation between consultancies, big organizations like Meta or Microsoft, and OSS contributors looks like
➡️ 2025 as the “year of stability” for React Native
➡️ The promise (and pain) of React Native for desktop apps
➡️ Flipper’s decline and new community-driven DevTools
➡️ Whether React Native 1.0 is just a marketing label or a true milestone
➡️ How agencies and individuals balance open source with client work
➡️ Practical advice for engineers who want to contribute and join the conversation

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to the React Universe
01:21 Meet our guests: Thibault Malbranche, Joel Arvidsson, Jay Meistrich
02:33 What is Core Contributor Summit
04:02 Meta vs. community usage of React Native
07:19 Year of stability & tooling challenges
09:00 Surprise session: React Native for Desktop
16:10 Concrete outcomes vs. planting seeds
21:02 Open Source dynamics & collaboration
27:30 React Native 1.0
33:45 Future directions & getting involved
36:50 Final thoughts

Catch more React Universe On Air episodes 🎧 https://clstk.com/423vF9D
Sign up for our newsletter ✉️ https://clstk.com/3Kb23kM
Follow us on X 🐦 https://x.com/callstackio