Guide

SwiftUI vs React Native for your first app

SwiftUI or React Native for a first iPhone app: the language, the platforms, the tools and testing, side by side, and how Borel writes SwiftUI for you.

Updated 18 October 2026

In short

Borel writes SwiftUI for you: describe the app, and it comes out as a native iPhone app, built with Xcode on Borel's Mac.
SwiftUI is Apple's own way of drawing an app's screens, in Swift, for Apple's platforms.
React Native uses JavaScript and React to create real iOS and Android views, so one codebase can serve both.

With Borel

Borel writes iPhone apps in Swift with SwiftUI and builds them with Xcode on its own Mac, so you get a native iPhone app without a Mac or either toolkit on your computer. If you also want an Android app, React Native covers both platforms; see iOS and Android in Learn.

See how Borel works.

Side by side

SwiftUI and React Native compared for a first app
	SwiftUI	React Native
Language	Swift	JavaScript, with React
Platforms	All of Apple's platforms	Android and iOS
What draws the screen	Apple's own views, described in a declarative style	The platform's own views, created at runtime from React components
Building for iPhone	Xcode on a Mac	Xcode on a Mac, or a cloud build service such as EAS Build
Trying it while you learn	Xcode's previews, or Swift Playground on an iPad	Expo Go on your phone
Going further	Mix in UIKit or AppKit views	Build your own native component, or use one the community made

The same screen in each

A counter with a label and a button, the first thing most tutorials build:

SwiftUI

import SwiftUI
struct WaterView: View {
    @State private var glasses = 0
    var body: some View {
        VStack(spacing: 12) {
            Text("Glasses today: \(glasses)")
            Button("Add a glass") { glasses += 1 }
        }
    }
}

React Native

import { useState } from "react";
import { Button, Text, View } from "react-native";
export default function Water() {
  const [glasses, setGlasses] = useState(0);
  return (
    <View style={{ gap: 12 }}>
      <Text>Glasses today: {glasses}</Text>
      <Button title="Add a glass" onPress={() => setGlasses(glasses + 1)} />
    </View>
  );
}

Both describe what the screen shows and let the framework redraw it when the number changes. SwiftUI calls that a declarative syntax; in React Native, React components stand for the platform’s native views.

SwiftUI suits you if

The app is for iPhone, or for Apple's devices.
You want Apple's own documentation, tools and frameworks, with UIKit alongside when you need it.
You have a Mac, an iPad with Swift Playground, or Borel to build it.

React Native suits you if

You want Android as well, from one codebase.
You already know JavaScript or React.
You're on Windows and want to code it yourself: Expo Go runs your code on an iPhone, and EAS Build builds the iOS app in the cloud.

The same either way

Apple's Developer Program to publish, and App Review for every app.
Installs with a free Apple ID that run for 7 days at a time.
Xcode 26 or later on a Mac for App Store builds.

Make your iPhone app in Borel

Describe it in your own words. Borel writes it in Swift, builds it on its own Mac and puts it on your iPhone.

Start building How it works

More guides

Make your own iPhone app, just for you Make an iPhone app without a Mac (2026)Install your own iOS app from Windows Publish to the App Store from Windows Free Apple ID vs Apple Developer Program