What if building a native app took a minute instead of a build pipeline and a laptop? In this talk, we'll walk through Backtick, an open-source project where AI writes your React Native app in the cloud and you run it natively on your phone, with no laptop or build step in between.
We'll explore the architecture behind server-driven native screens, how a single file can span both server and client, and what it means when "install once, every app is a link" replaces Code → Build → Store Review → Install. We'll also be honest about what's still unsolved in 2026: versioning, isolation and permissions, and app store rules.
You'll leave with a clear picture of how AI-assisted, server-driven React Native works today, and what it will take to build a browser for native apps, where anyone can make an app and share it as a link.
This talk has been presented at React Summit US 2026, check out the latest edition of this React Conference.
