FrameLog - React Native

Learning iOS development with React Native

I wanted to get more familiar with building iOS apps since it feels like a natural next step after working on desktop apps. React Native felt like the right move for me since I already have experience with React.

For this project, I followed a JS Mastery React Native Movie App tutorial on YouTube. I built along with the home page and search page to get a feel for how everything works.

For styling, I used NativeWind, which is basically TailwindCSS for React Native. I really liked it because it felt familiar, so I didn’t have to learn a completely new styling system.

For the backend, I used Appwrite, which was new to me since I’ve only worked with Supabase before. It was actually really straightforward and easy to pick up. The backend stores the metrics database, like how many times a movie is searched, which is then used for the trending algorithm.

After following the tutorial, I wanted to try building something on my own using the same patterns. I scaffolded out the Saved and Profile pages. For the Saved page, I used a similar approach to the trending logic to store and display saved movies.

The Profile page is mostly UI right now. I still need to come back and add the logic later.

For future improvements, I’d like to add a TV show API so users can save shows as well. I also want to build out a watched list where users can leave their own reviews.

Overall, this project felt like a good introduction to React Native. It helped me see how much carries over from React, while also getting used to how mobile apps are structured.TV show as well. Another feature I would like to add is user's watched list which includes the user's review!

What I learned:

React Native felt more familiar than I expected. It’s basically React, just with different components. Div becomes View, text goes in Text, and buttons are usually TouchableOpacity.

NativeWind made styling easy since I could keep using Tailwind. Appwrite was also pretty straightforward and helped me see how backend logic ties into features.

Biggest takeaway was that I understand things way better when I try to build on my own after following a tutorial.