Supported target operating systems are >= Android 4.1 (API 16) and >= iOS 9.0. You may use Windows, macOS, or Linux as your development operating system, though building and running iOS apps is limited to macOS by default (tools like [Expo](https://expo.io) can be used to get around this).
Follow the [Getting Started guide](https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html). The recommended way to install React Native depends on your project. Here you can find short guides for the most common scenarios:
React Native lets you build mobile apps using JavaScript. It uses the same design as [React](https://facebook.github.io/react), letting you compose a rich mobile UI from declarative components.
With React Native, you don't build a "mobile web app", an "HTML5 app", or a "hybrid app". You build a real mobile app that's indistinguishable from an app built using Objective-C, Java, Kotlin, or Swift. React Native uses the same fundamental UI building blocks as regular iOS and Android apps. You just put those building blocks together using JavaScript and React.
React Native lets you build your app faster. Instead of recompiling, you can reload your app instantly. With hot reloading, you can even run new code while retaining your application state.
React Native combines smoothly with components written in Objective-C, Java, Kotlin, or Swift. It's simple to drop down to native code if you need to optimize a few aspects of your application. It's also easy to build part of your app in React Native, and part of your app using native code directly - that's how the Facebook app works.
The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native. You can learn more about our open source roadmap in this blog post: [Open Source Roadmap](https://facebook.github.io/react-native/blog/2018/11/01/oss-roadmap).
The full documentation for React Native can be found on our [website](https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html). The source for the React Native documentation and website is hosted on a separate repo, <https://github.com/facebook/react-native-website>. Releases are discussed in the React Native Community, <https://github.com/react-native-community/react-native-releases>, and larger discussions and proposals are in <https://github.com/react-native-community/discussions-and-proposals>.
The React Native documentation only discusses the components, APIs, and topics specific to React Native (React on iOS and Android). For further documentation on the React API that is shared between React Native and React DOM, refer to the [React documentation](https://facebook.github.io/react/).
