Hey notJust Developers,

Last week, Software Mansion released ExecuTorch v0.4.1. That delivers even smoother on-device AI execution with a wide range of LLMs into your React Native app. Let’s dive into today’s highlights!

1. React Native ExecuTorch v0.4.1 Released 💯
2. Radon IDE v1.6 published 🔥
3. Re.Pack v5.1.0 Out 🚀

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React Native ExecuTorch v0.4.1 Released 💯

Last week, Software Mansion released React Native ExecuTorch v0.4.1, significantly enhancing on-device AI execution in React Native applications.

What is React Native ExecuTorch?

React Native ExecuTorch is the React Native version of ExecuTorch - an AI framework that makes it easy to run PyTorch machine-learning models on devices like mobile phones. With React Native ExecuTorch, your app can run AI models entirely on the device, without connecting to the internet.

What's new in v0.4.1?

1. Text Embedding Models: App can now use text embedding models - AI models that turn words and sentences into lists of numbers to capture their meaning and relationships. By using this, you can add advanced AI features in your app, like finding similar content, grouping related information, or powerful features like smart search and recommendations, right inside your React Native App.
2. Multilingual Speech Recognition: Your app can listen to speech in different languages and turn it into text. This means you can build voice-controlled features - like voice commands or dictation - that work accurately across multiple languages without sending data to the cloud.
3. Advanced Image Segmentation: With this Image Segmentation (object outlining) feature, your app can automatically detect each object in a photo and draw a precise mask (outline) around it. This means you can do things like blur the background behind a person’s silhouette, count how many items are on a shelf, or apply filters to just the sky in a landscape - right inside your React Native application.

Radon IDE v1.6 published 🔥

Last week, Krzysztof Magiera and his team from Software Mansion released Radon IDE v1.6. Now, Radon IDE can work with React Native 0.79, Expo SDK 53, and Expo Router v5. Let’s take a look at what’s new in v1.6:

1. New React Profiler integration
2. Conditional & Expression Breakpoints
3. Built-in Compatibility with RN 0.79, Expo 53 & Expo Router v5

New React Profiler integration

In v1.6, Radon IDE adds a dedicated React Profiler panel so you can see exactly how your components are rendering, right inside your editor. Record a profile (performance snapshot), spot slow or unnecessary renders, and get clear suggestions on how to speed up your app.

Conditional & Expression Breakpoints

You can set a breakpoint on any line of code. To add one, click on Click to add a breakpoint button on the left margin next to your target line—Radon IDE will show a red dot and automatically pause execution when it hits that spot.

NOTE: Radon IDE is a VS Code and Cursor (an AI code editor) extension that turns your editor into a full-featured IDE for React Native and Expo apps. Learn more on the notjust.dev/blog.

Re.Pack v5.1.0 Out 💯

Last week, Jakub from Callstack officially released Re.Pack v5.1. This is a replacement for Metro, the default “bundler” in React Native. A bundler is just a tool that packages all your JavaScript and assets (like images or SVGs) into files that your app can load. Let's delve into the new features.

1. Preloading Remote Modules 🔄
2. Runtime Hooks for ScriptManager 🪝
3. Experimental Persistent Cache ⚡

Preloading Remote Modules 🔄

In Re.Pack 5.1, you can now preload remote modules—this means parts of your app that live outside the main app (like micro-apps or shared features) can start loading in the background before they’re actually needed. When your app needs these remote parts, they’ll already be ready, making things feel faster and smoother for the user.

Runtime Hooks for ScriptManager 🪝

This release introduces a new runtime hooks system (tiny bits of code that run when something happens) within the ScriptManager(script loader), giving you more control over how and when your scripts are loaded

It also introduces a new runtime hook system—tiny pieces of code that let you interact with the script loading process. This gives you full control over what happens when a remote module starts loading. You can tap(gain access to and interact with) key moments like before a script loads or after it’s found, allowing you to do things like check if the script is safe, retry if loading fails, or even adjust the script before it runs.

Experimental Persistent Cache ⚡

Re.Pack 5.1 brings a new feature to help your app start much faster, especially during development. It’s called persistent cache, and it saves and uses your previous builds so Re.Pack doesn’t have to rebuild everything from scratch each time.

To try it out, just run this command in your terminal:

REPACK_EXPERIMENTAL_CACHE=1 npx react-native start

This can speed up your startup time by up to 6×, making development smoother and faster. If you ever need to clear the cache and start fresh, just add --reset-cache to the command:

REPACK_EXPERIMENTAL_CACHE=1 npx react-native start --reset-cache

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That’s it 🙌

If you've ever found yourself in a loop of debugging with an AI assistant—repeating prompts, receiving the same incorrect suggestions, and watching your code break in new and unexpected ways—you know the struggle is real.

🔁 In case you missed it

Build a Netflix App in React Native You’ll learn how to build a Netflix-style streaming app using Expo and React Native. You’ll learn how to create a modern UI with FlatList, Expo Router, and reusable components, all powered by TypeScript. This is the perfect project to improve your frontend skills, practice working with dynamic data, and build something that looks like a real-world app. Watch now

Build an AI Text-to-Speech app in React Native with ElevenLabs We’ll use ElevenLabs voice models to convert text into realistic speech, and to go a step further with speech-to-text and voice cloning. The skills you’ll learn here can be applied to building audiobook apps, voice note recorders, meeting transcription tools, and more! Watch now

🔥 Press worthy

1️⃣ App.js Conf - Happening May 28–30 in Kraków.

2️⃣ ByteDance drops Lynx v3, the first stable release of Lynx.

3️⃣ React Native Legal v1.2 can now automatically adapt to Android’s dark/light mode.

4️⃣ React Native Skia v2.0.0 requires React 19 and React Native 0.78 or newer.

5️⃣ Software Mansion released Reanimated 4.0.0-beta.4 with support for React Native 0.78, 0.79, and 0.80.
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The newsletter was written by Anis and edited by Vadim Savin.

Vadim Savin Helping you become a better developer together with the notJust.dev team

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