Welcome to Issue #15! This week, the ecosystem is having some very honest conversations about architectural choices. The headliner is undoubtedly Railway's detailed breakdown of why they chose to move their frontend off Next.js. In an era where "framework-first" is the default, seeing a major platform pivot toward simplicity is a refreshing perspective for any lead engineer. On the mobile side, we have the official arrival of React Native 0.85, which continues to double down on the New Architecture's performance gains. If you're building cross-platform, you’ll also want to check out the Expo Router v55 updates—Evan and the team are making the "Write Once, Run Everywhere" dream feel more like a reality and less like a compromise. Finally, we look at Cloudflare’s new Emdash project for WordPress and a foundational deep dive from the MDN team to keep your standards sharp. Let’s get into the links.

📰 Article

Expo Router v55: more native navigation, more powerful web

Expo Router v55 upgrades navigation with a new Stack API, native tabs, dynamic colors, and toolbars plus experimental SSR and data loaders.

By Jakub Tkacz, Hassan Khan

react-native • expo

📰 Article

Moving Railway's Frontend Off Next.js

In a bold architectural shift, the Railway engineering team explains why they migrated their dashboard from Next.js to a more streamlined stack. A fascinating look at framework fatigue and the quest for simpler deployment cycles.

By Victor Ramirez

next.js

📰 Article

Under the hood of MDN's new frontend

A comprehensive refresher from the MDN team covering the current state of modern front-end development. From CSS Subgrid to the latest Web APIs, this guide is a masterclass in staying current with browser standards.

By Leo McArdle

📢 News

Introducing EmDash — the spiritual successor to WordPress that solves plugin security

Cloudflare introduces 'Emdash,' a new way to bridge the gap between legacy WordPress sites and modern edge computing. It allows for high-performance content delivery and dynamic scaling without a full headless rewrite.

By Matt “TK” Taylor, Matt Kane

cloudflare

📢 News

React Native 0.85 - New Animation Backend, TextInput Selection Data, New Jest Preset Package

The latest stable release of React Native is here. Version 0.85 focuses heavily on 'New Architecture' refinements, featuring optimized Bridgeless mode by default and significant reductions in startup latency for both iOS and Android.

By React Native Team

react-native