In today’s fast-paced world of web and mobile app development, state management is at the heart of building scalable, maintainable, and high-performance user interfaces (UIs).
Whether you’re building a React web dashboard, an Angular enterprise application, or crafting modern mobile UIs with Jetpack Compose (Android) or SwiftUI (iOS), how you manage application state directly impacts:
- Performance
- Maintainability
- Developer experience
What is State Management in Frontend and Mobile Apps?
In simple terms, state is the data that drives your UI at any point in time.
Examples of state include:
- A list of products fetched from an API
- A toggle button’s on/off state
- A user’s login session or authentication details
State management is the practice of:
- Storing data
- Updating it efficiently
- Reflecting changes in the UI
👉 The challenge: As applications scale, state spreads across multiple components, screens, and services. Without proper architecture, this leads to bugs, inconsistent behavior, and “spaghetti code.”
⚛️ React State Management: Local vs Global
React is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks and is built on a declarative UI model, meaning the UI is a direct function of state.
Local State in React
- Managed using React hooks like
useStateanduseReducer - Best for small, component-specific scenarios (e.g., form inputs, modals)
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
Global State in React
- Needed when data must be shared across multiple components
- Common approaches:
- Context API (lightweight sharing)
- Redux (predictable, centralized store)
- Zustand, Recoil, MobX (minimal boilerplate, flexible)
🅰️ Angular State Management with RxJS and NgRx
Unlike React, Angular offers a more opinionated and structured architecture, heavily relying on RxJS (Reactive Extensions for JavaScript).
Local State in Angular
- Stored inside component properties
- Synced with the UI using two-way data binding (
[(ngModel)])
Shared / Global State in Angular
- Managed using Angular services (singletons)
- Exposed as RxJS Observables so multiple components can subscribe
NgRx: Redux for Angular
- NgRx provides centralized state management, inspired by Redux
- Features:
- Single source of truth
- Immutable state
- Actions, reducers, and effects for unidirectional data flow
📱 Jetpack Compose State Management (Android)
Google’s Jetpack Compose is Android’s modern UI toolkit, adopting a declarative approach similar to React.
Local State in Jetpack Compose
- Managed using
remember { mutableStateOf(...) } rememberSaveableensures persistence across device rotations
var counter by remember { mutableStateOf(0) }
Button(onClick = { counter++ }) {
Text("Count: $counter")
}
Screen-Level and Global State
- Use Android ViewModels (lifecycle-aware)
- Expose state with StateFlow or LiveData
- Compose automatically re-renders UI when state changes
🍏 SwiftUI State Management (iOS)
Apple’s SwiftUI is the iOS counterpart to Jetpack Compose, offering a declarative and reactive UI framework.
Local State in SwiftUI
- Managed using
@Statefor simple view-specific data
@State private var count = 0
Shared and Global State in SwiftUI
- Managed with
@ObservedObject,@StateObject, and@EnvironmentObject - Built on top of
ObservableObjectand@Publishedproperties
Advanced State with Combine
- Integrates with Combine (Apple’s reactive framework)
- Supports Redux-like patterns with libraries such as ReSwift
⚖️ State Management Comparison: React vs Angular vs Jetpack Compose vs SwiftUI
| Aspect | React | Angular | Jetpack Compose (Android) | SwiftUI (iOS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local State | useState, useReducer | Component props, ngModel | remember, mutableStateOf | @State |
| Global State | Context API, Redux, Zustand | Services + RxJS, NgRx | ViewModel + StateFlow | @ObservedObject, @EnvironmentObject |
| Architecture | Functional + declarative | DI-driven + RxJS reactive model | Declarative + lifecycle-aware | Declarative + reactive |
| Ecosystem | Huge library ecosystem | RxJS + NgRx ecosystem | Android Jetpack libraries | Combine, ReSwift, iOS native |
✅ The Big Picture: Why State Management Matters
Across React, Angular, Jetpack Compose, and SwiftUI, a common industry trend is clear:
- Declarative UIs
- Reactive updates
- Predictable, testable state flows
No matter the platform, effective state management ensures apps are faster, more maintainable, and easier to debug.

