Shopify bets AI makes separate native apps cheaper again
Shopify is moving its mobile apps from React Native back to separate Swift and Kotlin codebases, reversing a 2020 decision driven by feature parity and developer efficiency. The tradeoff has not vanished, but AI agents can now handle enough implementation, translation, testing, and review work to make two platforms viable again. Shopify will also move or retire several React Native libraries, including Restyle by the end of 2026.