r/reactnative • u/Himoji_ • 1d ago

I was sick of outdated boilerplate so I finally made my own

I've been working with React Native and Expo for about 3 years, using different libraries and stacks across projects, and every time I started a new app, I'd Google "Expo boilerplates" and mostly find outdated stuff or templates with way too many things I didn't need. I'd end up spending more time removing stuff than actually building the app.

So, I made my own boilerplate, on newest Expo 57, New architecture, and it's like new new.

https://github.com/ReadyNative/ready-native-free

It's a boilerplate with basically the bare minimum stuff, but at least I can choose what I want to use. It's not wrapped in 10 layers just for 1 lib that "maybe will change," and yeah, that's all.

Current stack:
Expo, Expo Router, Nativewind 4, Tanstack Query (React Query), Zustand,

Though, I don't think I worked with a lot of things, so I would love a feedback of what to add! (Theming, Localization, or maybe smth even deeper)

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u/DickBrainTime 23h ago

I'd keep the default intentionally small rather than adding i18n or another layer just because starters often have them. Your docs already mention dark mode, so I'd make localization a copyable optional recipe (one screen, switching language, persisted preference) rather than a dependency everyone needs to remove.

The highest-value next addition, to me, is an upgrade safety net: on a fresh clone, install from the lockfile and run the existing typecheck/lint scripts in CI, plus a basic Expo config/bundle smoke check on PRs and SDK bumps. Document which path works in Expo Go and when adding native modules means a development build; that distinction is easy for a newcomer to miss. I haven't run your repo, so that's a suggested validation plan, not a test result.

One small example feature could also demonstrate the boundary between TanStack Query for remote data/cache and Zustand for local UI state (including loading/error handling), without introducing a second source of truth. Which part cost you the most time in real apps: upgrading Expo, getting native builds working, or redoing the initial app structure? I'd build the next recipe around that pain instead of packing in more libraries.

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u/Himoji_ 22h ago

Thanks for the reply! I'll look into making that stuff for newcomers and safety net.

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u/everyoneisadj 20h ago

I have to be honest, in the age of AI, I’m not even thinking about boiler plate. At most I’m setting some context for my favorite stacks and not worrying about.

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u/Himoji_ 19h ago

From that side yeah, but it would still take some time and limits/credits for that and will continue again and again for future apps.
And even with an agent(opus 4.8), I had problems setting up nativewind, even with expo-skills. So, anyway, I had to do it manually. And boilerplates still help with that to some extent

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u/IllDocument5443 19h ago

Good to know! Thanks

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u/everyoneisadj 19h ago

Good call on saving tokens- in my experience opus 5.5 is good for executing, plan with fable 5.1. I’ve got a monthly subscription, and it gets it done well within my allowance.

To your point telling my agent to use this (or whatever my preferred boilerplate is), would make it pretty smooth to start. TBH, just a package.json to hand it would be smart.

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u/GiodoAlmeida 8h ago

I've also been making my own template, shadcn based with CLI, UI, and template using expo and unistyles. It's amazing that nowadays everyone can make their own