Shopify killed React Native, but that argument doesn't apply to Flutter at all
rseroter · x · 2026-10-03
Shopify's September 10, 2026 announcement that it's going native (Swift/Kotlin) — shipping its Shop app from proof of concept to app stores in 12 weeks — was widely read as the death of cross-platform. Mike Miller argues that's the wrong read: Shopify rejected the specific bargain React Native offered, where the "real native components" pitch bought a benefit users never cared about, at the cost of negotiating with two foreign component systems. That argument doesn't transfer to Flutter, which makes a different trade with a different failure mode. His verdict: if you're starting a mobile app this quarter, build it in Flutter. A key enabler: coding agents got good enough to make React Native's bargain unnecessary in the first place.
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