Part 5 of a 6-part series on React Native for enterprise. Start with Part 1.
React Native projects don't fail because React Native is bad. They fail because teams make predictable mistakes that compound over time.
We've audited dozens of troubled codebases. The same patterns appear again and again. The good news: these mistakes are avoidable. The bad news: by the time most companies recognize them, they've already lost months of development time.
Here are the six most expensive mistakes — and how to sidestep them.
Mistake 1: Over-Engineering from Day One
What it looks like:
Three months building a "scalable architecture" before shipping a feature. State management involving five libraries. Twelve levels of folder nesting. Custom design system, homegrown component library, abstractions for abstractions.
Why it happens:
Engineers love solving interesting problems. Building architecture feels productive. And everyone's read horror stories about codebases that didn't scale.
Why it's expensive:
- Features that should take a week take a month
- New developers need weeks to understand the codebase
- The abstractions often solve problems that never materialize
- When requirements change (they always do), the elaborate architecture needs rewriting
The fix:
Start simple. Use the standard libraries. Follow conventional patterns. Let architecture evolve from actual pain points, not hypothetical ones.
Rule of thumb: If you're adding abstraction before you have three concrete use cases for it, you're probably over-engineering.
Mistake 2: Ignoring Platform Conventions
What it looks like:
iOS and Android apps look identical. Navigation doesn't match platform norms. Custom UI components feel foreign on both platforms. Android users complain about back button behavior. iOS users miss swipe-to-go-back.
Why it happens:
"Write once, run anywhere" is seductive. If you customize for each platform, what's the point of cross-platform?
Why it's expensive:
- Lower App Store ratings ("feels like a web app")
- Higher user churn — the app feels wrong even if users can't articulate why
- Platform rejection risk
- Accessibility issues when native patterns are ignored
The fix:
Share logic, customize presentation. Use platform-specific navigation patterns. Respect the design languages of iOS and Android even when underlying code is shared.
Rule of thumb: Users should never think "this was clearly built for the other platform."
Mistake 3: Poor Navigation Architecture
What it looks like:
Unpredictable navigation state. Deep links don't work reliably. Back button does unexpected things. Navigation-related crashes in production. Engineers dread touching navigation code.
Why it happens:
Navigation seems simple at first. A few screens, wire them together, done. But then you add modals, tabs, deep links, authentication flows... and suddenly it's a tangled mess.
Why it's expensive:
- Every new screen becomes a negotiation with existing navigation
- Deep linking never works reliably, breaking marketing campaigns
- State bugs proliferate (wrong screen, stale data, zombie screens)
- Major refactoring required to fix, touching every screen
The fix:
Invest in navigation architecture early. Use React Navigation or Expo Router correctly — read the docs, understand the mental model. Define your navigation structure explicitly. Test deep links from day one.
Rule of thumb: If you can't draw your navigation structure on a whiteboard, it's already too complex.
Mistake 4: State Management Complexity
What it looks like:
Redux for everything, including data that doesn't need to be global. Thousands of actions. Reducers spanning hundreds of files. Nobody can trace data flow. Or the opposite: scattered useState hooks with no coherent pattern, prop drilling everywhere.
Why it happens:
State management in React is hard. There's no single right answer, and the ecosystem offers dozens of solutions.
Why it's expensive:
- Performance issues from unnecessary re-renders
- Bugs from state getting out of sync
- Cognitive load — developers can't hold data flow in their heads
- Refactoring becomes terrifying
The fix:
Match state management to the problem:
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Server state | React Query or SWR |
| Global app state | Zustand or Jotai |
| Local component state | useState |
| Form state | React Hook Form |
Rule of thumb: If you're storing server-fetched data in Redux and writing loading/error/success actions, you're doing it wrong in 2026.
Mistake 5: Neglecting Testing Infrastructure
What it looks like:
No tests, or tests nobody runs, or tests so flaky they're ignored. Manual QA is the only line of defense. Releases involve crossed fingers.
Why it happens:
Testing mobile apps is genuinely harder than web. Simulators are slow, device fragmentation is real, E2E tests are notoriously brittle. Easy to rationalize skipping when under pressure.
Why it's expensive:
- Regressions slip into production regularly
- Refactoring is terrifying
- Release cycles slow as manual QA becomes the bottleneck
- Developer confidence erodes
The fix:
Build testing infrastructure from the start:
- Unit tests for business logic (fast, reliable)
- Component tests for UI behavior (React Native Testing Library)
- Integration tests for critical flows (Detox or Maestro)
- Snapshot tests sparingly, for stable components
Rule of thumb: If you can't confidently refactor a module without manual testing, you don't have enough coverage.
Mistake 6: Underestimating Native Module Needs
What it looks like:
Project starts purely in JavaScript. Then a feature requires Bluetooth, biometric auth, or custom camera experience. Suddenly the team is writing native code — except nobody knows Swift or Kotlin. Native modules become fragile, poorly tested, and crash-prone.
Why it happens:
React Native sells the dream of pure JavaScript development. Easy to assume you'll never need native code.
Why it's expensive:
- Hiring crunch — suddenly need native developers you didn't budget for
- Velocity drops while team learns native development
- Native modules become least-maintained, most-crashed parts of the app
- JS/native integration issues are notoriously tricky
The fix:
Audit requirements before starting:
- What native functionality will you need?
- Does it exist as a well-maintained library?
- If not, who will build it?
Consider Expo if your requirements fit — it handles many native needs without custom native code.
Rule of thumb: If you need custom native modules, budget native development time from day one — don't treat it as an afterthought.
The Meta-Mistake: Not Investing in Architecture Early
All six mistakes share a common thread: cheap to fix early, expensive to fix late.
| When | Cost to Fix Navigation | Cost to Fix State Management |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | An afternoon | A day |
| Month 1 | A few days | A week |
| Month 6 | Multi-week refactor | Multi-week refactor |
| Post-launch | Touches every screen | Restructure entire app |
The teams that struggle most treat architecture as something they'll "clean up later." Later never comes.
Warning Signs You're Making These Mistakes
- Velocity is declining, not improving. Early in a project, velocity should increase. If it's dropping, something is wrong.
- Features keep breaking each other. Suggests tangled dependencies and unclear state management.
- New developers take weeks to become productive. Codebase is too complex.
- Nobody wants to touch certain areas. "No-go zones" are usually fragile, untested, or incomprehensible.
- The same bugs keep reappearing. Whack-a-mole debugging suggests architectural issues.
Recovery: What to Do If You're Already Here
If you're recognizing your own project, don't panic. Troubled codebases can be fixed.
- Stop digging. Stop adding features on a broken foundation.
- Diagnose before prescribing. Audit systematically. Don't assume you know what's wrong.
- Prioritize by pain. Rank issues by current slowdown. Fix those first.
- Fix incrementally. Don't attempt a "big rewrite." Fix one module at a time while continuing to ship.
- Establish new patterns. As you fix issues, document new patterns. Make it easier to do things right.
Summary
The six million-dollar mistakes:
- Over-engineering early — Build simple, evolve based on real pain
- Ignoring platform conventions — Share logic, customize presentation
- Poor navigation architecture — Invest in navigation structure upfront
- State management complexity — Match the tool to the problem
- Neglecting testing — Build test infrastructure from day one
- Underestimating native needs — Audit requirements, plan for native
The patterns are known. The solutions exist. The hard part is having the discipline to invest in architecture when there's pressure to ship.
A few weeks invested at the start saves months of pain later. And if you've already made these mistakes, it's never too late to start fixing them — one step at a time.
Next: Part 6 — When to Bring in Help (and Next Steps)
About the Author
Abhinav Miryala is the founder of Lotus Innovations, a mobile consultancy specializing in React Native and enterprise mobile development. He's helped companies from Series A startups to Fortune 500 enterprises modernize their mobile platforms.
Struggling with one of these patterns? Let's talk.
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