React Native 0.85 Unleashes Enhanced Animation Engine and Developer Tooling

Overview

React Native 0.85 has arrived, bringing a wave of significant updates that promise to streamline mobile development. This release focuses on three core areas: a brand-new animation backend, improved developer tools, and support for TLS in the Metro dev server. Additionally, several breaking changes signal a shift toward modern JavaScript environments and package management. Let’s dive into the highlights and what they mean for your workflow.

New Animation Backend

Shared Animation Engine

At the heart of React Native 0.85 lies the Shared Animation Backend, developed in collaboration with Software Mansion. This internal engine redefines how animations are processed for both the Animated and Reanimated libraries. By centralizing the animation update logic within React Native core, the new backend enables performance gains that were previously out of reach for Reanimated. Crucially, the update reconciliation process is now rigorously tested and guaranteed to remain stable across future React Native releases.

Animate Layout Props with Native Driver

One of the most practical benefits is the ability to animate layout properties—such as Flexbox and position attributes—using the native driver in Animated. Previously constrained to non-layout props, this limitation is now lifted. The following example demonstrates how to animate a view’s width natively:

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>
  );
}

For more examples, explore the react-native/packages/rn-tester/js/examples/AnimationBackend/ directory.

Note: This experimental feature requires React Native 0.85.1 or later, which will be released shortly. To enable it, activate the experimental channel as described in the official documentation.

React Native DevTools Improvements

The developer experience receives a notable boost with several enhancements to React Native DevTools:

• Multiple CDP Connections: The Chrome DevTools Protocol now supports simultaneous connections from multiple clients—such as React Native DevTools, VS Code, and AI agents. This allows richer, composable workflows without abruptly terminating existing sessions.
• Native Tabs on macOS: The desktop app compiles for macOS 26 and introduces system-level tab management. Power users can merge windows via Window > Merge All Windows when multiple DevTools windows are open.
• Request Payload Previews: On Android, the Network Panel regains the ability to preview request bodies, restoring a feature that was previously disabled due to a regression.

Metro TLS Support

The Metro dev server now accepts a TLS configuration object, enabling HTTPS and WebSocket Secure (WSS) for Fast Refresh during development. This is a critical step toward secure local development, especially when testing features that require encrypted connections. Developers can configure TLS directly in their Metro setup to protect data in transit during the build process.

Breaking Changes

As with any major release, React Native 0.85 introduces several breaking changes that you should be aware of before upgrading.

Jest Preset Moved to New Package

The Jest preset that was previously bundled in react-native has been extracted into its own dedicated package. To continue using Jest with React Native, you must now install @react-native/jest-preset separately and update your configuration accordingly.

Dropped Support for EOL Node.js Versions

React Native 0.85 drops support for Node.js versions that have reached end-of-life (EOL). Ensure your development environment runs Node.js 18 or later to avoid compatibility issues.

StyleSheet.absoluteFillObject Removed

The StyleSheet.absoluteFillObject utility has been removed. Replace its usage with explicit StyleSheet.absoluteFill or manual positioning styles.

Other Breaking Changes

Additional minor breaking changes may affect third-party libraries. Review the full changelog to identify any impacts on your project.

Conclusion

React Native 0.85 represents a leap forward in animation performance and developer tooling. The new shared animation backend unlocks native-driver layout animations, while improved DevTools and Metro TLS support enhance everyday workflows. Although breaking changes require attention, they pave the way for a more modern and secure React Native ecosystem. Upgrade today to take advantage of these powerful new capabilities.