> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://madewithlove.com/blog/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Lynx: a new contender in cross-platform development? - URL: https://madewithlove.com/blog/lynx-a-new-contender-in-cross-platform-development/ - Published: 2025-05-22T12:50:08.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-02T12:31:37.000Z - Description: Lynx could revolutionize cross-platform mobile development with its unique approach and performance benefits. Is it time to switch from React Native or Flutter? - Author: Emma Williams - Tags: Engineering, Tooling, React Native, Flutter, Frontend, Mobile For [cross-platform](https://madewithlove.com/blog/creating-cross-platform-and-hybrid-apps-is-more-than-coding/) **mobile** solutions, the key players have been [React Native and Flutter](https://madewithlove.com/blog/building-a-react-native-flutter-app-is-more-than-coding/), and this has remained the case for a while now. Many companies utilise these solutions, and the promise of writing once and deploying to both iOS and Android remains powerful. [ByteDance](https://www.bytedance.com/en/), the parent company of **TikTok**, just open-sourced [Lynx](https://lynxjs.org/). Should we have this technology on our radars? ### What is Lynx? Lynx is focused on cross-platform by delivering **native** UI for both **mobile** and **web** from a single codebase. It promises to *write once and render anywhere,* offering a fresh perspective. Created by the TikTok engineering team, it has already been proof-tested by TikTok Studio, the TikTok search panel, and special events such as Disney 100\. A big difference between Lynx and solutions like React Native and Flutter is that it is **framework agnostic** and it attempts to be more modular and flexible. So, rather than another cross-platform solution, it offers more freedom. Under the hood, Lynx is built on a small and very lightweight JavaScript engine([PrimJS](https://github.com/lynx-family/primjs), which is built on [QuickJS](https://github.com/quickjs-ng/quickjs)). Lynx also uses a [**Rust**](https://www.rust-lang.org/) foundation. TikTok faces hefty performance demands, and this was a consideration during the creation of Lynx. As with React Native and Flutter, the most significant value proposition for **startups** with this technology is the ability to write once but keep the native feel with stable performance. The performance benefits of Lynx could be alluring. ### A side-note It is important to note that Lynx has only just been **open-sourced** (March 5th). As already mentioned, it is probably better to consider it a **lightweight** UI engine than a fully-fledged framework like React Native and Flutter. Lynx is currently designed to embed into an existing Android or iOS application, similar to how [**WebViews**](https://www.google.com/search?q=webviews&rlz=1C5CHFA%5FenGB1043GB1043&oq=webviews&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIMCAEQABgKGLEDGIAEMgkIAhAAGAoYgAQyCQgDEAAYChiABDIJCAQQABgKGIAEMgkIBRAAGAoYgAQyCQgGEAAYChiABDIJCAcQABgKGIAEMgkICBAAGAoYgAQyCQgJEAAYChiABNIBCDE1MTRqMGo0qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) work. This does not mean this won’t be possible in the future, but it is very early days at the moment. They are exciting ones, though. ### Why would you use Lynx? Several things make Lynx stand out. It is hard to deny that the creators seem to have considered some of the **biggest** pain points when working with other libraries or frameworks. For example, a common complaint when using Flutter is that although there are Cupertino flavours of all major components, for some, it loses its native feel. On the other hand, React Native can come with **glitches**, especially if you have heavy UI demands such as animations or long lists. ### The dual threading model This is the most **eye-catching** feature of Lynx. React Native primarily runs JavaScript on a single thread, which can sometimes lead to performance bottlenecks. Lynx, on the other hand, separates responsibilities into two threads. The **UI thread** (main thread) handles rendering and animations. The **framework thread** (a background thread) is the default environment for most user code, keeping the main thread responsive and non-blocking. This separation helps prevent lag and improves overall **performance** compared to React Native’s traditional approach. As shown below, Lynx also offers the developer fine-grained control over how to select which thread is utilised. ```Scroll} ``` ### Developer experience Lynx caters to web developers by allowing them to write real **CSS** as they do on the web, including transitions. This is a big deal; styling in React Native was a very different experience, as it does not allow this. Additionally, although [ReactLynx](https://lynxjs.org/react) is the first flavour to be released, Lynx is framework agnostic, which means it can support other **frameworks** such as [Vue](https://vuejs.org/). The [developer experience](https://madewithlove.com/blog/developer-experience-and-why-a-business-should-prioritize-it/) is smooth, it provides instant **hot reloading** with [Rspack](https://rspack.dev/), which is a Rust-based web bundler, and it is genuinely instant. Imports are not needed, so for example, you don’t have to import View and Text into each component like you did with React Native. Lastly, with ReactLynx, you can continue to **structure** your apps with functional components, use hooks for state management and utilise component nesting. By using these **web paradigms,** it offers higher velocity to startups, and the framework agnostic approach means teams can better leverage existing [talent](https://madewithlove.com/blog/how-to-start-growing-talent-in-house/). ### Is it really native? Unlike with React Native, Lynx does not directly bind to the native UI elements of each platform. As the elements are designed to be platform-agnostic they are rendered natively by the Lynx engine into the UI primitives for each platform, aiming for a native-like look and feel. Therefore creating a UI with a custom look and feel might be more difficult than in Flutter but easier than with React Native. If the built-in Lynx capabilities don't meet requirements, you can create custom native elements for both **Android** and **iOS**. ![Lynx: a new contender in cross-platform development?](https://madewithlove.com/blog/content/images/2025/05/lynx1.webp) ### What are the limitations? We need to remember that Lynx is in its very **early** days. The ecosystem and community around it are very immature right now, as you would expect. React Native and Flutter have robust **ecosystems** around them, and this affects things like tooling, builds, and deployments. It is significant to note that the team around Lynx is very **experienced,** and it will be exciting to see what develops here. I tried running Lynx, and my experience was good. However, on iOS right now, it requires Xcode and simulators and is a somewhat manual process. When you run the **application,** you can use the Lynx Explorer app. It is a bit like [Expo Go](https://expo.dev/go), and you can paste in the URL provided in the terminal when you first build the app. ![Lynx: a new contender in cross-platform development?](https://madewithlove.com/blog/content/images/2025/05/lynx2.webp) Lynx does have [devtools](https://github.com/lynx-family/lynx-devtool) but they require manual setup as of now. Of course when you hit errors there is little in the way of community support right now too. ### Conclusion Lynx has a lot of potential and could be a game-changer in the cross-platform world, and it will be **exciting** to see where it goes-the roadmap can be found [here](https://lynxjs.org/blog/lynx-open-source-roadmap-2025). With a cross-platform solution, you are looking for something that is open source, easy to work with and has a decent developer experience. You want an ecosystem around it, and for the experience of building and distributing apps to be as intuitive as possible. Lynx genuinely ticks many of these boxes on day one.