Both React Native and Expo have great quick start guides for getting your hands dirty.

If you're really in a rush to see what developing with React Native looks like, I've boiled it all down to one file for you!

import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { View, Button, StyleSheet, Platform } from 'react-native';
import { Audio } from 'expo-av';
import { Sound } from 'expo-av/build/Audio';

type SampleComponentProps = {
  soundSource: any; // an MP3 File
};

export default function SampleComponent({ soundSource }: SampleComponentProps) {
  // React hooks work as expected
  const [sound, setSound] = useState<Sound>();

  useEffect(() => {
    const loadSound = async () => {
      // Handle mobile device interactions with expo libraries
      const { sound } = await Audio.Sound.createAsync(soundSource);
      setSound(sound);
    };
    loadSound();
  }, [soundSource]);

  async function playSound() {
    if (sound) {
      // Run certain logic on specific platforms
      if (Platform.OS === 'ios') {
        await sound.setPositionAsync(0);
      }
      await sound.playAsync();
    }
  }

  // Use core library components to render elements
  return (
    <View style={[styles.container]}>
      <Button title="Play Sound" onPress={playSound} />
    </View>
  );
}

// Style components with CSS-like properties
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
    backgroundColor: '#ecf0f1',
    padding: 10,
  },
});

Let's dig in:

State Management: For the most part, you're writing React code. Hooks such as useEffect and useState work just as they do when writing for the web.

Core Components: A big difference, though, is that you'll be using React Native's Core Components instead of HTML elements. This ensures smooth transitions between the different platform environments. You can see me using Button and View as replacements for html button and div elements.

Expo Libraries: Expo comes with some great handlers for interfaces such as zooming and touch interactions. In my example, I'm using the expo-av library to handle playing a sound on button click.

Styling: Very familiar to anyone who's used style objects in React. Knowledge of CSS translates largely here.

Platform Exceptions: Naturally, some devices handle logic differently. You'll see that I've added a check if (Platform.OS === 'ios'). Here, if running on an Apple device, I'm going to set the audio position back to the beginning of the track before playing again.

That's it! Once this renders out, we'll have a button playing the audio file passed into this component.