React Native apps frequently call APIs — using the built-in fetch (or axios), async/await, and handling responses, errors, and loading states. Networking works like in web JavaScript, often combined with React Query for caching.
() {
{
response = ();
(!response.) ();
data = response.();
data;
} (error) {
.(error);
error;
}
}
fetch (built-in) makes HTTP requests; await response.json() parses JSON; checking response.ok and try/catch handle errors. axios is a popular alternative (interceptors, nicer API).
function Users() {
const [data, setData] = useState(null);
const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
const [error, setError] = useState(null);
useEffect(() => {
getUsers().then(setData).catch(setError).finally(() => setLoading(false));
}, []);
if (loading) return <ActivityIndicator />; // loading spinner
if (error) return <Text>Error</Text>; // error UI
return <FlatList data={data} ... />; // show data
}
Apps must handle loading, error, and data states for good UX (spinner while loading, error message on failure, data on success).
→ React Query / TanStack Query handles fetching + CACHING + loading/error states +
refetching + sync automatically → much less boilerplate than manual useState/useEffect
→ Recommended for managing server data (vs hand-rolling every fetch)
Understanding networking and APIs in React Native is essential because most apps communicate with backends — fetching and sending data is a near-universal need, so it's must-know practical knowledge.
Apps constantly make API calls (loading data, submitting forms, authentication), and React Native networking works like web JavaScript (a benefit for web developers).
Understanding making requests (the built-in fetch or axios, with async/await, parsing JSON, and checking status codes) and handling errors (try/catch, checking response.ok) is the core skill, since network calls are fundamental and commonly fail.
Critically, understanding how to manage loading, error, and data states is essential for good UX: showing a loading spinner (ActivityIndicator) while fetching, an error message on failure, and the data on success — handling these states properly is what makes apps feel polished rather than broken (a blank screen during loading, or a crash on error, is bad UX).
Understanding React Query/TanStack Query is increasingly valuable: it handles fetching, caching, loading/error states, refetching, and synchronization automatically, dramatically reducing the boilerplate of manually managing every fetch with useState/useEffect — and is the recommended approach for server data in modern React Native, reflecting the recognition that server data benefits from dedicated handling (caching, sync).
Since most React Native apps communicate with APIs (a near-universal need) and doing it well (fetch/axios, error handling, and especially managing loading/error/data states for good UX, ideally with React Query for caching) is essential for functional, polished apps, understanding networking and APIs in React Native is essential, frequently-applied practical knowledge — a fundamental skill needed in virtually every real app that fetches data, central to building apps that reliably and smoothly display backend data, with React Query being the recommended modern approach for managing server data.