I've been frustrated with the current React Native UI library ecosystem for a while.
Most libraries follow the same pattern: install the package, import components,
accept their opinions on styling and behavior, and fight the abstraction whenever
you need something custom.
shadcn/ui changed this mental model for web — instead of installing a black box,
you copy the component source directly into your project. You own it, you modify it,
no fighting abstractions.
I wanted the same experience for React Native, so I built NovaUI.
How it works:
- Components are copied into your codebase, not imported from node_modules
- Built on NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for React Native) for styling
- Fully accessible out of the box
- Zero runtime dependencies beyond NativeWind itself
It's been live for 24 hours — 4,000 visitors and 800 npm installs so far,
which was unexpected for a solo project.
The docs and component code are fully open-source.
https://www.novaui.org
Happy to answer any technical questions about the architecture decisions,
especially around the NativeWind integration and accessibility implementation.
shadcn/ui changed this mental model for web — instead of installing a black box, you copy the component source directly into your project. You own it, you modify it, no fighting abstractions.
I wanted the same experience for React Native, so I built NovaUI.
How it works: - Components are copied into your codebase, not imported from node_modules - Built on NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for React Native) for styling - Fully accessible out of the box - Zero runtime dependencies beyond NativeWind itself
It's been live for 24 hours — 4,000 visitors and 800 npm installs so far, which was unexpected for a solo project.
The docs and component code are fully open-source.
https://www.novaui.org
Happy to answer any technical questions about the architecture decisions, especially around the NativeWind integration and accessibility implementation.