Lynx: Native for More

What if you could use standard CSS and React APIs to build truly native apps? Discover how Lynx bridges the performance gap between web and native.

#1about 3 minutes

Introducing Lynx, a new cross-platform UI framework

Lynx is an open-source technology from TikTok that allows web developers to build native UIs for mobile and web from a single codebase.

#2about 2 minutes

Building with familiar React APIs and real CSS

Developers can use their existing web skills, including React hooks and standard CSS features like variables and animations, to build Lynx applications.

#3about 7 minutes

Why the web falls short for native app development

The web's limitations in providing a native feel led to the "Platform Adjacency Theory," which explains why platforms must adopt host OS features to stay relevant.

#4about 3 minutes

Achieving native UIs with direct access to primitives

Lynx maps components to native UI primitives like iOS UIKit and Android Views, enabling complex layouts like multi-column waterfalls that are difficult with standard web tech.

#5about 4 minutes

Achieving fast loads with a dual-threaded architecture

Lynx uses a dual-threaded model with two JavaScript runtimes to achieve significant loading performance gains through pre-rendering and bytecode compilation.

#6about 6 minutes

Using main thread scripting for smooth animations

High-priority UI tasks like animations and gestures run on the main thread script (MTS) for fluid, non-blocking interactivity, while other logic is offloaded to a background thread.

#7about 4 minutes