Native Module
Also called Native modules
- Part of
- React Native Glossary
- Also known as
- Native modules
- Updated
What is Native Module in React Native?
A native module is platform code — Swift, Kotlin, Objective-C, Java or C++ — exposed to JavaScript, letting an app reach APIs React Native does not wrap itself.
A native module is a piece of platform code exposed to JavaScript. React Native wraps a useful but finite set of APIs; anything beyond it — Bluetooth, biometrics, a payment SDK, an on-device ML model — reaches your app through a native module.
Most developers consume rather than write them. Installing react-native-ble-plx or expo-camera adds native module code to the project, which is why those installs need a native rebuild and cannot be delivered by an over-the-air update.
Under the New Architecture the modern form is a TurboModule, typed by Codegen and loaded on demand.
Two things newcomers should recognise:
- "Autolinking" means the native build discovers installed modules automatically — no manual Xcode or Gradle wiring in almost all cases.
- A module needing a config change (permissions, entitlements) uses a config plugin in Expo projects rather than hand-edited native files.
See native modules.