React Native is Dead? (How I Ship Apps 10x Faster with AI)

Most coding tutorials get it backward. They spend 3 hours teaching you how to center a <div> or set up a counter button. By the time you’re done, you’re bored, and you have nothing you can actually ship to the App Store.

I’ve been shipping mobile apps for a while now, and I realized I was spending days setting up the same “plumbing” for every new project: Navigation, State Management, and the dreaded In-App Purchase configuration.

So, I fixed it. I built an opinionated, production-ready boilerplate designed specifically for an AI-First Workflow.

Here is the video breakdown of how I use this stack to build an app in 20 minutes:

The “Taste of Success” Philosophy

If you are a solo dev or a student, momentum is everything. My philosophy is simple: Get a taste of success first.

You should be able to spin up an MVP, see it working on your phone, and hear the audio playing (or see the data loading) in the first hour. You shouldn’t be fighting with CocoaPods or writing boilerplate API connectors.

I treat AI (Gemini/ChatGPT) as my “Junior Developer.” I give it the architecture, and it handles the heavy lifting. But for that to work, the architecture needs to be clean.

The Stack

This starter kit isn’t just a “Hello World.” It includes the things you actually need to make money:

• React Native (0.7x): Functional components & TypeScript.
• RevenueCat: Pre-wired for Subscriptions (because StoreKit is a nightmare).
• React Navigation: Stack + Tabs + Modal Paywalls ready to go.
• AI-Friendly Structure: Modular files that LLMs can understand easily.

You can grab the code here: Download the React Native AI MVP Starter on GitHub

The Secret Sauce: The Singleton Service

The hardest part of mobile dev is often managing the state of a user’s subscription. Did they buy Pro? Did it expire? Are they on Android or iOS?

I solved this with a Singleton Service pattern. This allows you (or the AI) to check subscription status from anywhere in the app without complex context providers.

class RevenueCatService {
  async configure() {
    if (Platform.OS === 'ios') {
      await Purchases.configure({ apiKey: API_KEYS.apple });
    } else {
      await Purchases.configure({ apiKey: API_KEYS.google });
    }
  }

  async getCustomerStatus(): Promise<boolean> {
    try {
      const customerInfo = await Purchases.getCustomerInfo();
      // Simple check: Do they have the 'pro' entitlement?
      return customerInfo.entitlements.active['pro'] !== undefined;
    } catch (e) {
      return false;
    }
  }
}

export default new RevenueCatService();

The “One-Line” Hook

To make this easy for the AI to use when generating UI code, I wrapped that service in a custom React Hook. When I prompt Gemini to “Build a settings screen,” it knows it can just use useSubscription() to show or hide premium features.

export const useSubscription = () => {
  const [isPro, setIsPro] = useState(false);

  useEffect(() => {
    // It even listens for real-time updates
    const updateListener = (customerInfo) => {
      setIsPro(RevenueCatService.isUserPro(customerInfo));
    };
    Purchases.addCustomerInfoUpdateListener(updateListener);
  }, []);

  return { isPro };
};

The Apple-Compliant Paywall

Getting rejected by App Review is a rite of passage for new developers. Usually, it’s because you forgot the “Restore Purchases” button or the Terms of Service links.

The starter kit includes a PaywallScreen.tsx that is pre-designed to pass Apple’s guidelines. It slides up as a modal whenever a non-pro user tries to access a locked feature.

Conclusion

Stop coding the boring stuff from scratch. The goal is to ship products, not config files.