React Native’s Architectural Revolution: The Bridge vs. The New World

If you have been working with React Native for a while, you’ve likely heard terms like JSI, Fabric, TurboModules, and Codegen thrown around. These aren’t just buzzwords; they represent a fundamental shift in how React Native talks to your device.

AkshayEddula

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4 min read

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Nov 20, 2025

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To understand where we are going, we first need to understand where we came from. Let’s break down the Old Architecture (The Bridge) versus the New Architecture to understand why this change is revolutionary.

Part 1: The “Old” Architecture (The Bridge)

For years, React Native relied on a mechanism affectionately (and sometimes painfully) known as “The Bridge.”

How it Works

Imagine two isolated islands.

1. Island 1: The JavaScript Realm. This is where your React code lives
2. Island 2: The Native Realm. This is where the actual mobile UI (iOS/Android) lives.

These two islands cannot speak the same language. JavaScript doesn’t know what a generic UIView or android.view.View is. To communicate, they used a Bridge.