Reanimated 4 is the Future of Smooth React Native Animations | React Universe On Air #48

Is Reanimated 4 going to change how we build animations in React Native, or is it simply an evolution of what we already know? Mixing the familiar with the revolutionary, Reanimated 4 is here to shake things up. With CSS-style animations and transitions, UI development in React Native just got more intuitive, predictable, and web-like—an absolute game-changer for cross-platform teams. But that's not all. While embracing the future with React Native's New Architecture (Fabric), Reanimated 4 still keeps what developers love, ensuring backward compatibility and retaining the powerful APIs you rely on. In this episode, Ola Desmurs-Linczewska (https://x.com/p_syche_) sits down with Tomasz Zawadzki (https://x.com/tomekzaw_) and Mateusz Łopaciński (https://x.com/MatiPl01) from Software Mansion to discuss what’s new in Reanimated 4, why React Native is moving toward web standards, and what these changes mean for developers. We talk about: 💜 Why Reanimated 4—the motivation behind CSS-based animations and what problems they solve. 💜 How CSS animations & transitions work in React Native—use the syntax you already know! 💜 New Architecture-only support—why the old architecture is gone and what it means for migration. 💜 Aligning React Native with web standards—how Meta and the community are making React Native more like the web. 💜 Modularity and the future of Reanimated—splitting the library into smaller packages for better maintainability. 💜 Migration tips and developer experiments—how to upgrade, test new features, and start using CSS animations today. Reanimated 4 is in beta now, so experiment with it and share your impressions in the comments! Check out episode resources on our website 🧠 https://hubs.li/Q036Kc1k0 Share your feedback on this episode ✨ https://bit.ly/fdbck48 Become a speaker at React Universe Conf 2025 🎟 https://sessionize.com/react-universe-conf-2025/ Check out other episodes of our podcast 🎧 https://hubs.li/Q036KbNK0 Sign up for Callstack newsletters ✉️ https://hubs.li/Q036KbNW0 Follow us on X 🐦 https://twitter.com/callstackio Chapters 00:00 Welcome to the React Universe 00:35 Meet our guests: Mateusz Łopaciński and Tomasz Zawadzki 03:57 How Reanimated started and went from version 1 to 3 06:10 The motivation behind Reanimated 4 08:02 The simplicity of CSS animations 09:32 React and React Native alignment 11:57 CSS transitions 13:23 Support for New Architecture 18:18 Migration from Reanimated 3 to Reanimated 4 22:57 Reanimated 4 use cases 27:24 Animations in the Reanimated 4 showreel 30:34 Working with monorepo 32:27 What it’s like to develop a library 34:28 How to start with Reanimated 4 37:37 Community adoption 40:42 Most significant bug fixes 43:11 Different community vibes 46:38 What else is coming for Reanimated 4 47:57 Where to find us 48:28 React Universe Call for Papers is now open