Introduction
The @react-native-community/geolocation package has been the standard way to access device location in React Native apps.
With the React Native ecosystem moving toward TurboModules, Fabric, and JSI-based architecture, we saw an opportunity to bring the same familiar API to the new architecture.
This project — React Native Nitro Geolocation — is a reimplementation of that library, designed for the Nitro Module system. It provides the same familiar API surface while delivering:
- 🚀 Faster performance through direct JSI bindings
- 📱 Improved native consistency across Android and iOS
- 🔁 Seamless migration from
@react-native-community/geolocation - 🧩 TypeScript-first developer experience
- 🔄 100% API compatibility — React Native Nitro Geolocation can be used as a drop-in replacement, fully substituting
@react-native-community/geolocationwithout any code changes
Whether you're upgrading an existing app or building a new one using the latest React Native architecture, React Native Nitro Geolocation gives you the same simplicity — now with modern internals.
Motivation
The motivation behind React Native Nitro Geolocation is simple: React Native has evolved with new architectural capabilities, and we wanted to bring these benefits to the Geolocation API.
@react-native-community/geolocation was built on the bridge-based architecture, which was the standard at the time. The new JSI-based architecture offers different characteristics:
- Direct communication between JS and native layers
- Support for synchronous APIs when needed
- Better integration with concurrent React and Fabric
- Enhanced TypeScript support and platform consistency
As React Native officially embraces JSI and TurboModules, we saw an opportunity to bring these capabilities to the Geolocation API while maintaining full compatibility with the existing package.