React Native Offline-First Architecture That Actually Works

Why offline-first matters

Most mobile apps are built with the assumption of connectivity. An offline-first app turns network availability from a hard requirement into a nice-to-have.

WatermelonDB: the right tool

We evaluated SQLite directly, MMKV, and Realm before settling on WatermelonDB. Key reasons: lazy loading, observable queries, and built-in sync primitives.

The sync architecture

Pull all data on first load, write locally during a session, queue changes in a pending_changes table, push and pull on network restore, then apply conflict resolution.

The developer experience

The big win with WatermelonDB is that React components look normal. The local DB is always available, sync happens invisibly in the background.