Solve Time Challenges with Rapid UI Dev: Build React UI With Hooks Using Replay in 2026

TL;DR: Replay leverages video analysis and AI to drastically reduce UI development time by reconstructing functional React components with hooks directly from screen recordings of user flows.

The year is 2026. UI development cycles are still a bottleneck. Design handoff remains a pain. Iterating on user feedback feels like wading through treacle. But what if you could build a functional React UI, complete with hooks, simply by recording a video of the desired behavior? That's the power of behavior-driven reconstruction, and it's here now with Replay.

Stop Coding, Start Recording: Rapid UI Development with Replay#

Traditional UI development is a time sink. Manually translating designs, implementing intricate interactions, and handling constant revisions eat away at valuable development time. Screenshot-to-code tools offer a marginal improvement, but they lack the crucial element of behavior. They see pixels, not intent. Replay changes the game by analyzing video – understanding what the user is trying to achieve, not just what the screen looks like.

Replay uses Gemini to analyze video recordings of user interactions and reconstruct functional React components, complete with state management via hooks. This significantly accelerates the development process, enabling faster iteration and quicker response to user feedback.

Building React UI with Hooks from Video: A Practical Guide#

Let's walk through a practical example of how to build a React UI with hooks using Replay. Imagine you need to recreate a simple to-do list application.

Step 1: Record the User Flow#

Record a video of yourself interacting with a to-do list. Include actions like:

• •Adding a new task
• •Marking a task as complete
• •Deleting a task

The more comprehensive the recording, the more accurate the reconstruction.

Step 2: Upload to Replay#

Upload the video to the Replay platform. Replay's AI engine will analyze the video, identifying UI elements, user interactions, and underlying data flows.

Step 3: Review and Refine#

Replay generates React code with functional components and hooks. Review the generated code to ensure accuracy and make any necessary adjustments. You'll likely find the basic structure already in place, saving you significant time.

Step 4: Integrate and Deploy#

Integrate the generated code into your existing React project and deploy.

Diving Deeper: Understanding the Replay Reconstruction Process#

Replay's power lies in its ability to understand user intent from video. This process involves several key steps:

1. •Video Analysis: Replay uses advanced computer vision techniques to identify UI elements (buttons, text fields, lists, etc.) within the video frames.
2. •Behavioral Understanding: The system analyzes the sequence of user interactions (clicks, taps, scrolls, input) to infer the underlying logic and data flow.
3. •Code Generation: Based on the analyzed behavior, Replay generates React code, including:
   • •Functional components representing UI elements
   • •State management using
     text

     useState
     hooks
   • •Event handlers to respond to user interactions
   • •Data fetching and manipulation logic (if applicable)
4. •Style Injection: Replay can also infer basic styling from the video and generate corresponding CSS or styled-components.

Example: Generating a To-Do Item Component#

Let's say your video includes a to-do item with a checkbox and a delete button. Replay might generate code similar to this:

typescript
import React, { useState } from 'react';

interface TodoItemProps {
  text: string;
  completed: boolean;
  onToggle: () => void;
  onDelete: () => void;
}

const TodoItem: React.FC<TodoItemProps> = ({ text, completed, onToggle, onDelete }) => {
  const [isChecked, setIsChecked] = useState(completed);

  const handleToggle = () => {
    setIsChecked(!isChecked);
    onToggle();
  };

  return (
    <li>
      <label>
        <input type="checkbox" checked={isChecked} onChange={handleToggle} />
        <span>{text}</span>
      </label>
      <button onClick={onDelete}>Delete</button>
    </li>
  );
};

export default TodoItem;

This code demonstrates how Replay automatically generates a functional component with a

hook to manage the checkbox state and event handlers for toggling and deleting the item.

💡 Pro Tip: Record videos with clear and deliberate actions to improve the accuracy of the generated code.

Advanced Features: Beyond Basic UI Reconstruction#

Replay offers several advanced features that further streamline the UI development process:

• •Multi-Page Generation: Reconstruct entire multi-page applications from a single video, capturing complex user flows.
• •Supabase Integration: Seamlessly integrate with Supabase for backend data storage and retrieval. Replay can generate the necessary API calls and data models based on the video analysis.
• •Style Injection: Replay can infer basic styling from the video and generate corresponding CSS or styled-components, providing a starting point for visual refinement.
• •Product Flow Maps: Visualize the reconstructed user flow as a diagram, providing a high-level overview of the application's logic.

📝 Note: While Replay can generate a significant portion of the UI code, manual refinement is often necessary to achieve pixel-perfect accuracy and optimal performance.

Addressing Common Challenges#

While Replay significantly accelerates UI development, certain challenges remain:

• •Complex Logic: Reconstructing intricate business logic from video can be challenging. In such cases, manual coding may still be required.
• •Edge Cases: Replay may not always accurately capture edge cases or error handling scenarios. Thorough testing and manual adjustments are crucial.
• •Performance Optimization: The generated code may not always be optimized for performance. Manual optimization may be necessary for complex applications.

Despite these challenges, Replay offers a substantial improvement over traditional UI development methods, enabling faster iteration, quicker response to user feedback, and reduced development time.

⚠️ Warning: Always thoroughly review and test the generated code before deploying it to production.

Replay vs. Traditional Methods: A Time Savings Analysis#

Consider a typical UI development project requiring the creation of 10 different components, each with basic styling and interactions. Traditional development might take 40 hours. With Replay, this time can be reduced to 15-20 hours, allowing developers to focus on more complex logic and features.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Is Replay free to use?#

Replay offers a free tier with limited features and usage. Paid plans are available for more advanced features and higher usage limits.

How is Replay different from v0.dev?#

While v0.dev generates UI components based on text prompts, Replay analyzes video recordings of user interactions, providing a more accurate and behavior-driven reconstruction. Replay understands the "how" and "why" behind the UI, not just the "what."

What type of videos work best with Replay?#

Videos with clear, deliberate actions and minimal distractions yield the best results.

What frameworks does Replay support?#

Currently, Replay primarily supports React. Future versions may include support for other popular frameworks like Vue and Angular.

Can Replay generate tests?#

While Replay doesn't directly generate tests, the generated code provides a solid foundation for writing unit and integration tests.

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Ready to try behavior-driven code generation? Get started with Replay - transform any video into working code in seconds.