How do you create a React Native app without a framework in 2026, and what happened to the old react-native init command?

## The command today React Native apps that do not use a framework are created with the **React Native Community CLI**: ```bash npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init PetSitter ``` `npx` downloads and runs the CLI package for this one command, so nothing needs to be installed globally. The result is a new folder with a TypeScript app (`App.tsx`), a `package.json`, Metro and Babel configuration, and full **`ios/` and `android/` native projects**. Since 0.77 the iOS app in the template is written in Swift (`AppDelegate.swift`), although an Objective-C++ variant remains supported. ## Useful options | Option | What it does | When you use it | |---|---|---| | `--version X.Y.Z` | creates the project for a specific React Native release | matching a company's pinned version, or reproducing a bug | | `--template <name>` | starts from a custom template instead of the default one | an internal template with your navigation, linting and CI already set up | To pin both the CLI and React Native versions, the docs show the pattern `npx @react-native-community/[email protected] init AwesomeProject --version X.XX.X`. ## What happened to react-native init For years `npx react-native init` was the standard way to start. Its retirement happened in steps: 1. **0.75 (August 2024):** the default template moved out of the `react-native` package into the separate `@react-native-community/template` package, and `react-native init` began printing a deprecation warning. It was sunset on 31 December 2024. 2. **0.76 (October 2024):** `react-native` stopped depending on `@react-native-community/cli`. In a bare app the `react-native` commands (`start`, `run-android`, `run-ios`) and the default autolinking config command still delegate to that CLI, so the project lists it as its own dev dependency. 3. **0.77 (January 2025):** the deprecation was completed; `react-native init` no longer creates projects. The alternatives are a framework (`npx create-expo-app`) or calling the Community CLI directly. The reason was the framework-first recommendation: the React Native team did not want core to ship an opinionated starter, and moving the template out let it change without a React Native release. ## Custom templates The default template is deliberately minimal: an `App.tsx`, the native projects and tooling configuration. Teams that create several apps often maintain an **internal template** that already includes their navigation setup, lint rules, test configuration and CI files, and pass it with `--template`. The trade-off is ownership: a custom template must be updated for every React Native release, or each new app starts on an outdated native setup and inherits an upgrade on day one. The template format itself is documented by the Community CLI. ## Global CLIs cause trouble Older tutorials told you to `npm install -g react-native-cli`. The current docs say to remove any global `react-native-cli` or `@react-native-community/cli` install: ```bash npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli ``` A global install can shadow the project's own CLI version and produce confusing, version-mismatched output. ## After init - Start Metro with `npm start`. - Build and launch with `npm run android` or `npm run ios`. - On iOS, if dependencies are out of sync, `cd ios`, `bundle install`, then `bundle exec pod install`. ## Checking what you got 1. `package.json` lists `react-native` at the version you asked for, plus `@react-native-community/cli` in `devDependencies`. 2. `ios/` contains the Xcode project and a `Podfile`; `android/` contains `settings.gradle` applying the React Native settings plugin. 3. `npm run ios` and `npm run android` build and launch the app with Metro running. ## When not to use init The docs say you do not need it when you are integrating React Native into an existing native app (brownfield), when your project already uses Expo, or when you are adding Android support to an existing React Native project. Third-party starters exist too, but the Community CLI is the documented default for no-framework apps.