React Native 0.85: A Leap Forward with a Shared Animation Engine and Enhanced Developer Tools

React Native 0.85 has arrived, bringing with it a major architectural upgrade and a suite of refinements that promise to make mobile development faster and more enjoyable. This release introduces a shared animation backend developed in partnership with Software Mansion, moves the Jest preset into its own package, and delivers long‑awaited improvements to the developer tooling ecosystem. Whether you are building complex UIs or simply want a smoother development workflow, version 0.85 has something valuable to offer.

Highlights of React Native 0.85

This update focuses on three core areas: a brand‑new animation architecture, meaningful enhancements to React Native DevTools, and support for HTTPS in the Metro development server. Let’s explore each one in detail.

1. A New Shared Animation Backend

Collaborating with Software Mansion, the React Native team has overhauled the internal engine that drives both the Animated API and Reanimated. This “shared animation backend” moves the core animation update logic into React Native’s own core, enabling Reanimated to unlock performance gains that were previously out of reach. Because the reconciliation process is now handled centrally, it will be thoroughly tested and remain stable across future React Native releases.

One immediate benefit: with the new backend, you can now animate layout properties (such as flexbox and position values) using the native driver. Previously, the official documentation noted a limitation that prevented this – but that restriction is now gone. To try it out, you need to opt into the experimental channel (available starting from version 0.85.1, which will be released shortly). You can find sample code in react-native/packages/rn-tester/js/examples/AnimationBackend/.

Here’s a simple example that animates the width of a view using the native driver:

import { Animated, Button, View, useAnimatedValue } from 'react-native';

function MyComponent() {
  const width = useAnimatedValue(100);

  const toggle = () => {
    Animated.timing(width, {
      toValue: 300,
      duration: 500,
      useNativeDriver: true,
    }).start();
  };

  return (
    <View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Animated.View style={{ width, height: 100, backgroundColor: 'blue' }} />
      <Button title="Expand" onPress={toggle} />
    </View>
  );
}

This works on both iOS and Android, giving you smooth 60fps animations without dropping frames.

2. React Native DevTools Improvements

Version 0.85 brings several long‑requested enhancements to React Native DevTools, making it a more powerful companion for debugging and profiling.

• Multiple CDP connections: The dev server now supports multiple simultaneous Chrome DevTools Protocol connections. This means you can keep React Native DevTools open alongside VS Code, AI agents, or other CDP‑compliant tools – all connected to the same app instance, without unexpected session termination.
• Native tabs on macOS: The desktop app now compiles for macOS 26 and supports system‑level tab management. Power users can merge multiple DevTools windows into a single tabbed interface via Window > Merge All Windows.
• Request payload previews on Android: A regression that disabled request body previews in the Network panel has been fixed, restoring full visibility into API calls during development.

These changes unlock richer, composable tooling workflows for React Native developers.

3. Metro TLS Support

Metro, the JavaScript bundler that powers React Native, can now accept a TLS configuration object. This enables HTTPS for the dev server and WSS (WebSocket Secure) for Fast Refresh during local development – a crucial feature for projects that require secure connections even in development mode.

Breaking Changes to Be Aware Of

Every major release brings a few breaking changes. Here’s what you need to know to update your project smoothly from 0.84 to 0.85.

Jest Preset Moved to a Dedicated Package

The Jest preset that was previously bundled inside the main react-native package has been extracted into a separate package: @react-native/jest-preset. You will need to update your Jest configuration to reference the new package. While this adds an extra dependency, it makes the preset easier to maintain and version independently.

Dropped Support for EOL Node.js Versions

React Native 0.85 drops support for Node.js versions that have reached end‑of‑life (EOL), specifically Node.js 16 and earlier. If you are still on an older Node.js release, upgrade to at least Node.js 18 (LTS) before adopting this version.

StyleSheet.absoluteFillObject Removed

The StyleSheet.absoluteFillObject property has been removed. Use StyleSheet.absoluteFill instead, which returns a style object that can be spread into a component.

Other Breaking Changes

A few additional alterations may affect your codebase:

• Deprecated APIs removed: Several older methods and properties that were marked as deprecated in previous releases have now been removed entirely.
• Changes to default behavior: Some defaults have shifted – review the full changelog to catch any subtle differences.

Conclusion

React Native 0.85 represents a significant step forward for the framework. The new shared animation backend lays the groundwork for smoother, more reliable animations, while the DevTools and Metro improvements make the daily development experience more productive. Although there are a few breaking changes, the upgrade path is well documented. We encourage you to test the experimental animation backend in your projects and share your feedback with the community.

For a complete list of changes, refer to the official React Native 0.85 release notes.