What to assess in a React Native developer
React knowledge transfers, but mobile adds constraints a web developer may not have met: memory on long lists, flaky networks, app lifecycle and two platforms that behave differently.
- Lists and rendering: virtualised lists, keys, and keeping scroll smooth with large data.
- Navigation: stacks, tabs, deep links and passing state between screens.
- Platform differences: where iOS and Android diverge, and how to handle it without forking the code.
- Offline and network: caching, retries, optimistic updates and what the user sees with no signal.
- App lifecycle: background and foreground, permissions, and not losing a user's work.
- Working with AI: catching web-only APIs an assistant suggests for a native app.
Screening questions for React Native candidates
The screener asks the questions in your approved plan and follows up when an answer stays general.
- A feed of two thousand items stutters when scrolling on Android. What do you check?
- How would you make a form survive the app being sent to the background and killed?
- An assistant suggests using localStorage in a React Native screen. What is the problem?
- How do you handle a feature that must look and behave differently on iOS and Android?
- Describe how you would sync changes a user makes while offline.
The React Native (Expo) coding round
The round opens a React Native (Expo) project with starter files and tests, in a Cursor-like IDE with Monaco, a terminal, completions, file-aware chat and an agent. Guarded mode limits the helper; unguarded mode gives a full assistant. The server enforces the choice.
Code is tinted by who wrote it, and the server reruns the tests when the round ends. You see the whole session as a replay with signals that update as it runs.
AI-fluency signals for mobile work
| Signal | What it tells you about a React Native developer |
|---|---|
| Time to first prompt | Whether they read the screens and navigation setup before asking for code. |
| Prompt quality | Whether prompts say it is React Native, which platform, and which component. |
| AI-generated share | How much of the final screen or hook came from accepted AI output. |
| Verification | Whether they ran tests or adjusted the code soon after accepting a suggestion. |
| Over-reliance flags | Large accepted blocks never reviewed, such as a whole screen generated in one go. |
| Recovery | What happened when the assistant suggested a web API or a package that does not fit Expo. |
From scores to a decision
Fundamentals and AI fluency are scored separately. A score that cannot cite a real turn or edit is dropped and reported as a gap. Nothing moves a candidate on its own: a named person signs off every round.
Questions
Does SynergicHire support React Native coding interviews?
Yes. Coding rounds can run a React Native (Expo) project with starter files and tests, alongside React, Next.js and Node.js.
Can candidates use AI in the mobile coding round?
You choose guarded mode, with a limited helper, or unguarded mode, with a full assistant. The server enforces the mode.
Can I test native Swift or Kotlin code?
No. Hands-on code is JavaScript and TypeScript. The AI screen can still ask about native modules and platform work in conversation.
How are React Native candidates scored?
Fundamentals and AI fluency get separate scores, each citing the answer or edit it rests on. The recommendation is advice; a person decides.