Standalone components are now the default option
Angular 19 makes standalone components (i.e., components defined without a module) the default, though developers can still use modules. Non-module components were first introduced in Angular 17, and have already become the de facto standard for developers in practice. It is remarkable how much lighter components feel after dropping the module front matter.
Signals-based inputs, outputs, and view queries
Signals are quite popular for providing fine-grained, universal reactivity in a simple JavaScript syntax. Angular adopted Signals early on, and Angular 19 solidifies their use in inputs (Angular’s version of child props), outputs (child-to-parent eventing), and view queries (direct DOM access like React’s useRef). This simplifies and unifies Angular’s reactive idiom, though in many cases the difference is subtle: just an extra dot operator or parentheses for Signals.
Angular 19 includes CLI commands that will auto-migrate your application to Signals. The Angular team has also integrated Signals auto-migration capabilities into their IDE schematics. You can simply right-click to get context-sensitive access to the Signals conversion support. In cases where you have code explicitly modifying values, you will still have to set up the migration manually, since Signals inputs are immutable.
