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React Native App Architecture That Actually Scales

A simple, scalable folder structure and state management approach. What breaks at scale, how to avoid rewrites, and why most apps start too complex.

December 22, 2025

React Native App Architecture That Actually Scales

Most React Native apps don't fail because of bad code. They fail because the architecture painted them into a corner.

You start simple. One screen, a few components, some local state. Then you add features. The app grows. Files pile up in random folders. State gets passed down through five components. Changing one screen breaks three others.

At some point, you're spending more time working around the architecture than building features. The codebase is messy, but it's also working in production with real users. You can't just stop and rewrite everything.

This is what scaling actually looks like. Not the theoretical stuff in architecture diagrams—the real, messy process of evolving a codebase without breaking it.

Let's talk about how to set up architecture that grows with you instead of fighting you.

The Problem with Over-Engineering Early

The instinct is to start complex. Set up Redux from day one. Build a folder structure with 10 layers of abstraction. Create a design system before you've designed anything.

This feels responsible. You're "doing it right" from the start.

But here's what actually happens: you build a ton of infrastructure for an app that doesn't exist yet. You make architectural decisions before you understand the problem. You create abstractions that don't match how your app actually works.

Then you spend months fighting your own architecture. Redux actions for data that never changes. Design system components that don't fit your actual screens. Folder structures that made sense at 5 screens but are nonsense at 50.

The right architecture for a 3-screen prototype is not the right architecture for a 30-screen production app. Start simple. Evolve as you learn what you're actually building.

Start Here: Simple Folder Structure

For the first version of your app, this is enough:

/src
  /screens
    HomeScreen.tsx
    ProfileScreen.tsx
    SettingsScreen.tsx
  /components
    Button.tsx
    Card.tsx
    Avatar.tsx
  /hooks
    useAuth.tsx
    useAPI.tsx
  /utils
    formatDate.ts
    validation.ts
  App.tsx

That's it. Screens are top-level components tied to routes. Components are reusable UI. Hooks are shared logic. Utils are pure functions.

When does this break? Around 15-20 screens, or when you have multiple teams working on different parts of the app.

What Breaks First: Feature Isolation

The first thing that breaks is finding things.

Where does the "post creation" logic live? Is it in /screens/CreatePostScreen.tsx? Or /components/PostForm.tsx? Or /hooks/useCreatePost.tsx? All three?

When related files are scattered across folders-by-type, changes require hunting through the entire codebase. Adding a field to a post means touching 5+ files in 5+ folders.

The solution: organize by feature, not by file type.

Feature-Based Structure

/src
  /features
    /auth
      LoginScreen.tsx
      SignupScreen.tsx
      useAuth.tsx
      authAPI.ts
      types.ts
    /posts
      PostListScreen.tsx
      PostDetailScreen.tsx
      CreatePostScreen.tsx
      PostCard.tsx
      useCreatePost.tsx
      usePosts.tsx
      postsAPI.ts
      types.ts
    /profile
      ProfileScreen.tsx
      EditProfileScreen.tsx
      useProfile.tsx
      profileAPI.ts
      types.ts
  /shared
    /components
      Button.tsx
      Card.tsx
    /hooks
      useTheme.tsx
    /utils
      formatDate.ts
  App.tsx

Now everything related to posts is in /features/posts. Want to change how posts work? Open one folder, not five.

This scales because features are isolated. New team members can own entire features without touching the rest of the codebase. You can refactor one feature without risking others.

When to Make the Switch

If you have fewer than 10 screens, don't bother. The simple structure is fine.

Switch to feature-based when:

  • You have 15+ screens
  • Multiple people are working on the app
  • Changes to one feature keep breaking others
  • You spend more time searching for files than editing them

State Management: Start with Context, Migrate When It Hurts

Everyone asks: Redux or Context?

Wrong question. The right question is: what's the simplest thing that works right now?

Start with useState and Context

For most apps, local state with useState and shared state with Context is enough:

// AuthContext.tsx
const AuthContext = createContext(null);

export function AuthProvider({ children }) {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);

  const login = async (email, password) => {
    const user = await loginAPI(email, password);
    setUser(user);
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login }}>
      {children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
}

export function useAuth() {
  return useContext(AuthContext);
}

This works until it doesn't.

When Context Breaks

Context has one major problem: every consumer re-renders when the context value changes.

If you have a context with { user, posts, settings, notifications } and you update notifications, every component using that context re-renders—even if they only care about user.

You'll notice this when:

  • Typing in a form feels laggy
  • Scrolling a list drops frames
  • The app freezes when updating frequently-changing data

Migrate to Zustand or Jotai

When Context causes performance problems, switch to a library that handles granular subscriptions.

Zustand is the simplest:

import create from 'zustand';

const useStore = create((set) => ({
  user: null,
  posts: [],
  setUser: (user) => set({ user }),
  setPosts: (posts) => set({ posts }),
}));

// Components only re-render when their specific data changes
function UserProfile() {
  const user = useStore((state) => state.user);
  // Only re-renders when user changes, not posts
}

Jotai is similar but uses atoms instead of a single store.

Redux still works, but it's overkill unless you have complex requirements like time-travel debugging or middleware-heavy workflows.

Advice: Start with Context. Switch to Zustand when performance matters. Only reach for Redux if you have a specific reason.

API Layer: Keep It Simple Until You Can't

Don't build a generic API abstraction layer on day one. You'll get it wrong because you don't know your API yet.

Start with plain fetch in hooks:

export function usePosts() {
  const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('https://api.example.com/posts')
      .then((res) => res.json())
      .then((data) => setPosts(data))
      .finally(() => setLoading(false));
  }, []);

  return { posts, loading };
}

When does this break?

  • You're duplicating auth headers in every request
  • Error handling is copied across 10+ API calls
  • You need request caching or retries

At that point, extract to a shared API client:

// api.ts
const API_URL = 'https://api.example.com';

async function apiRequest(endpoint, options = {}) {
  const token = await getAuthToken();

  const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}${endpoint}`, {
    ...options,
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      ...options.headers,
    },
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error('API request failed');
  }

  return response.json();
}

export const api = {
  getPosts: () => apiRequest('/posts'),
  getPost: (id) => apiRequest(`/posts/${id}`),
  createPost: (data) => apiRequest('/posts', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: JSON.stringify(data),
  }),
};

Now your hooks use the shared client:

export function usePosts() {
  const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    api.getPosts()
      .then(setPosts)
      .finally(() => setLoading(false));
  }, []);

  return { posts, loading };
}

If you need more power (caching, background refetching, optimistic updates), use React Query or SWR. But don't start there—add them when you need them.

Navigation: Expo Router vs React Navigation

Two choices in 2025: Expo Router or React Navigation.

Expo Router uses file-based routing (like Next.js). Your folder structure defines your routes:

/app
  index.tsx          → /
  posts/[id].tsx     → /posts/:id
  profile.tsx        → /profile

This is simpler and scales well for apps with many screens. No manual route configuration.

React Navigation uses code-based routing:

<Stack.Navigator>
  <Stack.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
  <Stack.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
</Stack.Navigator>

This gives you more control over navigation behavior, custom transitions, and nested navigators.

Which to choose? If you're using Expo, default to Expo Router. It's simpler and the ecosystem is moving that direction. Use React Navigation if you need fine-grained control or you're not using Expo.

What Actually Breaks at Scale

Here's what causes rewrites in real apps:

Global State Everywhere

When everything lives in a giant global store, every change touches every component. Performance tanks, debugging is impossible.

Fix: Keep state as local as possible. Only lift to global state when multiple disconnected parts of the app need it.

Tight Coupling Between Features

When the posts feature imports from the profile feature which imports from the auth feature, you've created a dependency nightmare. Changing one breaks the others.

Fix: Features should only import from /shared, not from each other. If two features need to communicate, create a shared abstraction.

No Boundaries Between Layers

When screens make API calls directly, and components manage their own data fetching, and hooks render UI, you lose all separation of concerns.

Fix:

  • Screens orchestrate. They compose components and hooks.
  • Components render. They receive props and display UI.
  • Hooks handle logic. They manage state and side effects.
  • API layer handles requests. It's pure data, no UI knowledge.

Premature Abstractions

Creating generic, reusable components before you know how they'll be used leads to components with 20 props and 50 lines of conditional logic.

Fix: Wait until you've used a component 2-3 times before abstracting it. Duplication is cheaper than the wrong abstraction.

The Scalable Mindset

Good architecture isn't about building the perfect system upfront. It's about building something simple that can evolve.

Here's the pattern:

  1. Start simple. One folder, basic state, inline API calls.
  2. Notice pain. Where are you fighting the structure?
  3. Refactor incrementally. Fix the pain point, don't rebuild everything.
  4. Repeat.

The apps that scale well didn't get architecture right on day one. They started simple and evolved thoughtfully as requirements became clear.

The apps that don't scale tried to predict the future, got it wrong, and now live with their bad guesses.

Recommended Structure for Production Apps

Here's what I recommend for apps serious about scaling:

/src
  /features
    /auth
      screens/
      components/
      hooks/
      api/
      types.ts
    /posts
      screens/
      components/
      hooks/
      api/
      types.ts
  /shared
    /components
      /ui (Button, Input, Card)
      /layout (Screen, Container, Header)
    /hooks
      useTheme.tsx
      useAPI.tsx
    /utils
      formatDate.ts
      validation.ts
    /types
      common.ts
  /navigation
    index.tsx
  /theme
    colors.ts
    typography.ts
    spacing.ts
  App.tsx

This structure:

  • Organizes by feature for isolation
  • Keeps shared code separate and well-defined
  • Makes it clear where new code belongs
  • Scales to 100+ screens without modification

Conclusion

Architecture that scales isn't about choosing the right tools. It's about choosing the simplest tools that work, then evolving as you learn what you're actually building.

Start with basic folders, local state, and inline API calls. When pain emerges, refactor. When performance matters, optimize. When complexity grows, add boundaries.

The apps that scale started simple and evolved. The apps that don't tried to be clever from day one.

Build what you need today. Refactor when it hurts. Repeat.

Sources:

Tags

react-nativearchitecturebest-practices

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