Your React Native Performance Problem May Actually Be a Memory Leak

Short summary

React Native performance problems are often misdiagnosed as rendering issues when the real cause is memory leaks from uncleared listeners, timers, and subscriptions. The article walks through common leak patterns—DeviceEventEmitter, keyboard listeners, intervals, AppState, NetInfo—and shows proper cleanup in useEffect. The key diagnostic question is not just what React is rendering now, but what previous screens are still doing.

• •Memory leaks in React Native manifest as gradual degradation, not immediate slowdowns
• •Common culprits: event listeners, intervals, and subscriptions without cleanup in useEffect
• •Fix by always returning a cleanup function from useEffect that removes listeners and clears timers

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