NativeScript 8.8 continues delivering on historical feature requests, such as CSS Media Query Support, in addition to new behavior long sought after like platform type deprecation and version annotations, while innovating alongside industry evolution. It also brings more WinterCG compliance with crypto, btoa, and atob support in addition to making Kotlin 2 with Gradle 8 the baseline with Android minSdk of 34 just ahead of Google Play advancing minimums.

New in this release

• Bug fixes and performance optimizations
• CLI updates
• CSS Media Query Support
• Support for SF Symbols
• Updates for Android and IOS

Read more details about the release below, and download the latest version of NativeScript: Upgrade to NativeScript 8.8

CLI updates

ns embed

If you have an existing platform project in Swift, Objective-C, Kotlin or Java, you can now easily embed NativeScript screens, flows, and utilities with a single command. We are providing a sample repo that you can learn more from here.

ns native

Whenever you need a platform language class or utility, you can now create one with a single command. These platform files will be auto built into your project meaning you can also generate TypeScript for them to use in your NativeScript project.

CSS Media Query Support

Media queries allow you to apply CSS styles conditionally depending on a device's features or characteristics such as screen orientation, theme, or viewport width and height. You can now use media queries as you'd expect to handle all sorts of form factor requirements.

Learn more about media queries with NativeScript in this blog post.

SF Symbols with Effects + Custom Symbol Effects

NativeScript 8.8 supports SF Symbols now through any Image component by using the `sys://` prefix. SF Symbols offer a great deal of aesthetic to any app, especially when paired with new effects. SF Symbols 6 brings new and enhanced animations, updated annotation tools, and over 800 new symbols.

You can also create custom effects using the full expansive iOS symbol API. See the full changelog here.

8.8 Updates for Android and IOS

In 8.8, the engine now enables Kotlin 2 with Gradle 8 as the official default. This also prepares NativeScript projects for the upcoming minSdk of API Level 34. For a full list of changes for android, see here.

For IOS, the engine now provides platform type deprecation and version info annotations for the first time. This is incredible for development experience as we can see when APIs were introduced or if they are deprecated so you can plan to switch to newer APIs in your project development cycle. For a full list of changes for IOS, see here. 

What's next

For 8.9, we'll be continuing more WinterCG goals to improve interoperability of web platform APIs across runtimes (especially non-browser ones) in addition to prepare for the next major 9.0 release which aims to begin bringing together a new foundation package laying the groundwork for the next 10+ years of modern development based on latest advancements across the industry.

Congratulations to our NativeScript team on this release! Be sure to follow them on social media for the latest updates.

Upgrade to NativeScript 8.8