Version: 8.1.0

Installation

Requirements#

node >= 18.18
react-native = 0.77 (0.78 - 0.80 support is in progress)
new architecture enabled (if you are not using the new architecture, you can still use react-native-navigation of version 7.x.x with react-native 0.73 and lower)

npm or yarn#

npm:

npm install --save react-native-navigation

yarn:

yarn add react-native-navigation

Installing with `npx rnn-link` (automatic installation)#

You can benefit from autolinking for some of the necessary installation steps. But unlike most other libraries, react-native-navigation requires you to make a few changes to native files.

We've simplified the process through a set of scripts. So to make all the necessary changes automatically, in your project's root folder run:

npx rnn-link

Make sure to commit the changes introduced by the rnn-link script.

The automatic linking is optimized for new applications created via the npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init command. If you are migrating from a version of react-native-navigation older than v7, it's recommended to check the steps manually after the script runs.

If one of the steps failed or you can't run (or are not comfortable with) the automatic scripts, you'll need to complete the relevant steps in the manual installation steps below, for both platforms.

CocoaPods#

After the the automatic scripts completed successfully, run pod install:

pod install --project-directory=ios

Update index.js file#

index.js is typically used as an entry point into the app. It's first parsed and executed by the JS engine, therefore we'll want to show our UI from there.

The following diff demonstrates changes needed to be made to index.js, initialized by react-native init.

+import { Navigation } from "react-native-navigation";
-import {AppRegistry} from 'react-native';
import App from "./App";
-import {name as appName} from './app.json';
-AppRegistry.registerComponent(appName, () => App);
+Navigation.registerComponent('com.myApp.WelcomeScreen', () => App);
+Navigation.events().registerAppLaunchedListener(() => {
+   Navigation.setRoot({
+     root: {
+       stack: {
+         children: [
+           {
+             component: {
+               name: 'com.myApp.WelcomeScreen'
+             }
+           }
+         ]
+       }
+     }
+  });
+});

Finish#

If you followed the steps successfully up to this point, then rebuild your application and you are good to go:

react-native run-ios
react-native run-android

tip

This is a good moment to build your application in both platforms, validate that everything is working properly and commit your changes. If you're coming from a fresh npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init project, then you should be seeing the Welcome screen as usual, but under the hood your application is using react-native-navigation!

Manual Installation#

If installation with npx rnn-link did not work, follow the manual installation steps below.

iOS#

Make sure your Xcode is updated. We recommend editing .h, .mm and .swift files in Xcode as the IDE will usually point out common errors.

Installation with CocoaPods#

cd ios && pod install

Native Installation#

Choose your implementation language: Depending on whether your project uses Swift or Objective-C, follow the appropriate section below. Most new React Native projects use Swift by default.

For Swift projects#

In Xcode, you will need to update this file: AppDelegate.swift

import UIKit
import React
- import React_RCTAppDelegate
+ import ReactNativeNavigation
import ReactAppDependencyProvider

@main
- class AppDelegate: RCTAppDelegate {
+ class AppDelegate: RNNAppDelegate {
...

For Objective-C projects#

In Xcode, you will need to edit this file: AppDelegate.h. Its content should look like this:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
- #import <RCTAppDelegate.h>
+ #import "RNNAppDelegate.h"
- @interface AppDelegate : RCTAppDelegate
+ @interface AppDelegate : RNNAppDelegate
@end

Android#

Make sure your Android Studio installation is up to date. We recommend editing gradle and kotlin files in Android Studio as the IDE will suggest fixes and point out errors, this way you avoid most common pitfalls.

1. Update `android/build.gradle`:#

buildscript {
    ext {
        kotlinVersion = "2.0.21"
+        RNNKotlinVersion = kotlinVersion
        compileSdkVersion = 35
        buildToolsVersion = "35.0.0"
        minSdkVersion = 24
        targetSdkVersion = 34
        ndkVersion = "27.1.12297006"
    }
  repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
  }
  dependencies {
        classpath "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin:$kotlinVersion"
        classpath("com.facebook.react:react-native-gradle-plugin")
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle'
  }
}

allprojects {
  repositories {
   google()
    maven {
      // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
      url "$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android"
    }
  }
}

2. Update `MainActivity.kt`#

-import com.facebook.react.ReactActivity
+import com.reactnativenavigation.NavigationActivity
-class MainActivity : ReactActivity() {
-    override fun getMainComponentName(): String {
-        return "yourproject"
-    }
-}
+class MainActivity : NavigationActivity()

If you have any react-native related methods, you can safely delete them.

3. Update `MainApplication.kt`#

This file is located in android/app/src/main/java/com/<yourproject>/MainApplication.java.

// ...

import com.facebook.react.PackageList
import com.facebook.react.ReactHost
import com.facebook.react.ReactNativeHost
import com.facebook.react.ReactPackage
import com.facebook.react.defaults.DefaultReactHost.getDefaultReactHost
import com.reactnativenavigation.NavigationApplication
import com.reactnativenavigation.react.NavigationPackage
import com.reactnativenavigation.react.NavigationReactNativeHost

class MainApplication : NavigationApplication() {
    override val reactNativeHost: ReactNativeHost =
-        object : DefaultReactNativeHost(this) {
+        object : NavigationReactNativeHost(this) {
           override fun getPackages(): List<ReactPackage> =
               PackageList(this).packages.apply {
                 // Packages that cannot be autolinked yet can be added manually here, for example:
                 // add(MyReactNativePackage())
               }
        override fun getJSMainModuleName(): String = "index"
        override fun getUseDeveloperSupport(): Boolean = BuildConfig.DEBUG
        override val isNewArchEnabled: Boolean = BuildConfig.IS_NEW_ARCHITECTURE_ENABLED
        override val isHermesEnabled: Boolean = BuildConfig.IS_HERMES_ENABLED
    }
    override val reactHost: ReactHost
        get() = getDefaultReactHost(this, reactNativeHost)
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
-        SoLoader.init(this, OpenSourceMergedSoMapping)
-        if (BuildConfig.IS_NEW_ARCHITECTURE_ENABLED) {
-            // If you opted-in for the New Architecture, we load the native entry point for this app.
-            load()
-        }
    }
}

App root#

Now that you're done, don't forget to update the index.js file, as shown above.

Troubleshooting#

Build app with gradle command#

prefered solution - The RNN flavor you would like to build is specified in app/build.gradle. Therefore in order to compile only that flavor, instead of building your entire project using ./gradlew assembleDebug, you should instruct gradle to build the app module: ./gradlew app:assembleDebug. The easiest way is to add a package.json command to build and install your debug Android APK .

"scripts": {
  // ...
  "android": "cd ./android && ./gradlew app:assembleDebug && ./gradlew installDebug"
}

Now run npm run android to build your application

Force the same support library version across all dependencies#

Some of your dependencies might require a different version of one of Google's support library packages. This results in compilation errors similar to this:

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:preDebugBuild'.
> Android dependency 'com.android.support:design' has different version for the compile (25.4.0) and runtime (26.1.0) classpath. You should manually set the same version via DependencyResolution

To resolve these conflicts, add the following to your app/build.gradle:

android {
    ...
}

configurations.all {
    resolutionStrategy.eachDependency { DependencyResolveDetails details ->
        def requested = details.requested
        if (requested.group == 'com.android.support' && requested.name != 'multidex') {
            details.useVersion "${rootProject.ext.supportLibVersion}"
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    ...
    implementation 'com.android.support:design:25.4.0'
    implementation "com.android.support:appcompat-v7:${rootProject.ext.supportLibVersion}"
}