In large-scale React Native applications, managing shared data across multiple screens—such as feeds, detail views, and notifications—can lead to complex, duplicated logic. An experienced developer explains that while simple apps don't require client-side entity normalization, growing projects inevitably face issues like memory leaks, inconsistent state, and scattered coordination logic. The author found that popular tools like Redux Toolkit and React Query, while powerful for server caching, are often too broad for the specific need of reactive updates for shared data.

The solution emerged as a more explicit, entity-first architecture, treating concerns like data lifecycle, persistence, and garbage collection as separate, pluggable layers. This approach led to the creation of an open-source experiment called 'entity-normalizer' to solve the structural challenges of long-lived client-side data in React Native.