Lingui macros turn msg`Hello` into a message descriptor at build time, so they need Babel, SWC or the native transform. That works well in apps, but not everywhere. Node.js scripts, serverless functions, CLI tools and test runners often run your code as it is, with no compile step. The new experimental runtime macro covers those cases.
Lingui macros have always needed a compiler plugin: Babel or SWC turns t`Hello` and <Trans> into runtime calls at build time. In Vite that meant wiring the macro plugin into whichever compiler your framework plugin uses. The new native macro transform removes that step. One option in vite.config.ts, and @lingui/vite-plugin transforms macros itself.
One of Lingui's biggest ergonomic wins is keyless translations - you write the source string directly in your code and Lingui generates a stable ID for you. But that convenience quietly breaks down the moment you need context to prevent collisions across files. Suddenly you're writing context: "checkout" on every macro call in every file, which defeats the whole point.
The new @lingui/metro-transformer package brings a more streamlined way to consume translations from .po files in Expo and React Native.
It can be used in apps across all platforms supported by React Native (Android, iOS, web and more!) - the only pre-requisite is that you use Metro bundler to bundle your app.