What is autolinking and how did it change with React Native 0.60+?

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Autolinking is the mechanism by which React Native discovers native modules in your node_modules and wires them into the iOS and Android builds without manual configuration . Before RN 0.60: After npm install react-native-x you ran react-native link react-native-x . That modified Podfile , build.gradle , settings.gradle , MainApplication.java , and Xcode pbxproj — manually and brittlely. Worked ~70% of the time; the rest needed manual fixes per platform. RN 0.60+ (Autolinking): Each library ships a react-native.config.js declaring its native modules. At build time, CocoaPods (iOS) and Gradle (Android) discover and link them automatically. react-native link is deprecated; pod install handles iOS; Gradle handles Android. What autolinking does NOT do: Add permissions to Info.plist or AndroidManifest.xml — still manual. Add platform-specific config (URL schemes, custom intents, signing). Always read each library's README for post-install steps. The right framing is: 'Before 0.60 you had to manually run `react-native link` (or edit Xcode/Gradle by hand) for every native dependency. From 0.60 onward, autolinking does it for you at build time.' Mention the small but real trade-off: native modules sometimes need post-install configuration (Info.plist permissions, Android manifest entries) that autolinking does NOT handle — you still have to read each library's README.