Urgent: React Native 0.85 Now Available – Major Animation and Tooling Overhaul
React Native 0.85 has been released with a new shared animation backend, enhanced DevTools, and critical breaking changes including the migration of the Jest preset to a separate package. The update, developed in collaboration with Software Mansion, promises significant performance gains for both the Animated and Reanimated libraries.
“This is a cornerstone release for animation performance,” said a React Native core team lead. “By centralizing the animation update logic inside React Native core, we unlock optimizations that weren’t feasible before and ensure long-term stability across future releases.”
New Animation Backend
The highlight of React Native 0.85 is the Shared Animation Backend, a new internal engine that powers how animations are applied. This engine benefits both Animated and Reanimated by moving the main update logic to the core platform.
With this change, Animated can now animate layout properties – such as flexbox and position – using the native driver. Previously, such animations were limited to JavaScript-only mode. Developers can enable this feature starting with React Native 0.85.1 (an immediate patch release) by opting into the experimental channel.
“Animating layout props natively has been a longstanding request,” explained a Software Mansion engineer. “The new backend makes it possible without sacrificing performance.” For code examples, see the react-native/packages/rn-tester/js/examples/AnimationBackend/ directory.
React Native DevTools Improvements
The DevTools in 0.85 see several upgrades:
- Multiple CDP connections: Now supports simultaneous connections from React Native DevTools, VS Code, and AI agents – enabling richer tooling workflows without session conflicts.
- Native tabs on macOS: The desktop app compiles for macOS 26 and offers system-level tab management (Window > Merge All Windows).
- Request payload previews restored: A regression that disabled request body previews in the Network Panel on Android has been fixed.
Metro TLS Support
The Metro dev server now accepts a TLS configuration object, allowing HTTPS and secure WebSocket (WSS) connections during development – a vital feature for secure local testing environments.
Breaking Changes
Several breaking changes warrant immediate attention:
- Jest preset moved to new package: The preset previously bundled with React Native core is now located in a dedicated package. Update your imports accordingly.
- End-of-life Node.js versions dropped: Support for Node.js versions that have reached EOL is removed.
StyleSheet.absoluteFillObjectremoved: This deprecated API is no longer available. UseStyleSheet.absoluteFillinstead.- Other minor breaking changes; see the full changelog for details.
Background
React Native is Meta’s open-source framework for building mobile apps using JavaScript and React. Version 0.85 follows 0.84 and addresses long-standing developer friction around animation performance and tooling integration. The new animation backend is the result of ongoing collaboration between Meta and Software Mansion, the team behind Reanimated.
Historically, animating layout properties (like width or height) required workarounds due to native driver limitations. This release solves that by centralizing animation reconciliation, making complex animations smoother and more reliable.
What This Means
For developers, the new backend means smoother animations and fewer workarounds. Layout animations can now go native, boosting frame rates and reducing jank. The DevTools improvements enable more efficient debugging and multi‑tool collaboration.
However, teams must plan for the breaking changes: update Jest configurations, drop old Node.js versions, migrate away from StyleSheet.absoluteFillObject, and test animation code under the new backend. The experimental channel is recommended for early testing.
“This release sets the stage for a more performant and developer‑friendly React Native,” concluded the core team member. “Upgrade soon to take advantage of these improvements.”