Snapchat open source cross-platform mobile framework. Looking for beta testers

18 points by FactoryReboot 326 days ago | 3 comments

Hi HN,

We're thrilled to announce that Snapchat is open sourcing our in house cross platform mobile framework, and we're looking for beta testers to help shape it before we open-source it! With components written in TypeScript, it feels familiar to React Native but tackles common pain points with better performance and easier native integration.

Why Our Framework? For 6 years, we've used this framework internally at Snapchat to power features with native-like performance and easy code reuse. Here's what sets it apart: • Blazing Fast: Benchmarks show 2x faster time-to-first-render and 1/4 the memory usage compared to the other frameworks. • Native UI: Renders directly to platform-native components (no WebViews) for a truly native look and feel on iOS and Android. • TypeScript-Powered: Write your apps in TypeScript with a React-like component model and hot reload for fast iteration. • Flexible Integration: Start from scratch or adopt incrementally into existing codebases. Seamlessly integrate with Swift/Kotlin native modules. • Lightweight: Smaller app sizes and optimized resource usage. •

We've designed this to address frustrations like bridging overhead, UI inconsistencies, and complex native integrations—issues many of you have likely encountered with other frameworks. Join Our Beta Program! We're looking for developers to test the framework and provide feedback on: • Ease of Use: How intuitive is the API and workflow? • Documentation: Are our docs clear and comprehensive? • Developer tooling • Comparisons: How does it stack up against React Native, Flutter, or other tools?

To join, sign a lightweight NDA (to protect proprietary code during beta). You'll get: • Access to our private GitHub repo with the framework and sample projects. • An invite to our Discord server for direct support from our team. • A chance to shape a framework used by Snapchat and be credited in our open-source launch.

How to Get Started Email me at ccrawford@c.snap.com or drop a comment below. We'll send the NDA and onboarding details within 24 hours. The beta is open to all experience levels, whether you're a React Native veteran or new to cross-platform dev. Let's Chat!

What's your biggest pain point with cross-platform frameworks? Have you tried alternatives like Flutter or Ionic? We'd love to hear your thoughts to make this framework as developer-friendly as possible.

johnecheck 325 days ago |

I'm a flutter developer, I'm relatively satisfied with it. There is a few missing things that could get me to switch if your framework does them better.

First, 3d rendering. I'm already using Flutter to back a 2d game and I'm not alone. A cross-platform framework has a lot of appeal for game devs who'd like to release everywhere and are okay sacrificing a little performance for it. Flutter has some 3d rendering support, but it doesn't work on web.

Bundle size is a pain point for flutter, an improvement here could be great.

Web is an important platform. SEO still matters. Cross-platform frameworks tend to struggle here. How does this do?

FactoryReboot 324 days ago | |

Hello,

I wouldn't suggest us for 3D rendering or games tbh, as it's react native like.

Our bundle size is pretty good.

We don't currently have web support but are investigating it.

Would you still be curious in checking it out?

johnecheck 324 days ago | | |

Ah, unfortunate. I wasn't expecting the 3d stuff, but web is the most important platform to me. It's just the most accessible distribution platform. Users won't blink at clicking a link and loading a page, but might balk if you ask them to install an app.

Web is also why bundle size matters to me. As many apps have made clear, you can succeed with a stupidly large bundle. No so with a long initial page load.

If you supported web with those small bundles, I'd be very interested. As it stands, I wish you the best of luck.