React Native Orientation
Hello guys, This is an Example to Get Device Orientation and Set Preferred Orientation in React Native. In this example we will see how can you control screen orientation and how can you get the rotation of the screen. Sometimes it becomes very much important to manage the orientation of the screen and if it is done properly then it will provide a user-friendly experience to your app users which is very much important for a developer.
If I have to mention the most general example of screen rotation or the orientation of the screen then a video-playing application like Youtube is the best example, it uses the screen very well using the orientation as users are very comfortable with portrait mode while searching and after playing a video it provides the landscape option to use your full screen.
In this example, we are going to see how to control screen rotation/orientation using react-native-orientation
library.
You can also see How to Disable Screen Rotation in React Native.
Get Device Orientation
To get the orientation of the device react-native-orientation
library provides two different categories:
Orientation
In the normal orientation we will get the following orientation as a response:
- LANDSCAPE
- PORTRAIT
- PORTRAITUPSIDEDOWN
- UNKNOWN
1. To get the Orientation any time use
Orientation.getOrientation((err, orientation) => {});
2. To add the Orientation Listener for the change in the orientation which will be triggered automatically when the orientation of the device changes
Orientation.addOrientationListener((orientation) => {});
3. To remove the Orientation Listener use
Orientation.removeOrientationListener();
Specific Orientation
In the specific orientation we will get the following orientation as a response:
- LANDSCAPE-LEFT
- LANDSCAPE-RIGHT
- PORTRAIT
- PORTRAITUPSIDEDOWN
- UNKNOWN
1. To get the Specific Orientation at any time use
Orientation.getSpecificOrientation(
(err, specificOrientation) => {}
);
2. To add the Specific Orientation Listener for the change in the orientation which will be triggered automatically when the orientation of the device changes
Orientation.addSpecificOrientationListener(
(specificOrientation) => {}
);
3. To remove the Specific Orientation Listener use
Orientation.removeSpecificOrientationListener();
Set Preferred Orientation
Here are the all possible orientation which you can set using this library:
1. To Lock the View to Portrait Mode
Orientation.lockToPortrait()
2. To lock the View to Landscape Mode
Orientation.lockToLandscape()
3. To lock the View to Right Landscape Mode
Orientation.lockToLandscapeLeft()
4. To lock the View to Left Landscape Mode
Orientation.lockToLandscapeRight()
5. Unlocks any Previous Locked Orientations
Orientation.unlockAllOrientations()
I think this is enough to know about the library, now let’s move towards the example. In this example, we are going to see 7 buttons on the screen of which 2 buttons will be used to get the orientation and specific orientation of the device at any time and 5 buttons to set the preferred orientation.
We have also added orientation listeners for the screen so that the current orientation of the device will be visible on the screen.
Now let’s get started with the example.
To Make a React Native App
Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react native command line interface to make our React Native App.
If you have previously installed a global react-native-cli package, please remove it as it may cause unexpected issues:
npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli
Run the following commands to create a new React Native project
npx react-native init ProjectName
If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:
npx react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X
Note If the above command is failing, you may have old version of react-native
or react-native-cli
installed globally on your pc. Try uninstalling the cli and run the cli using npx.
This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.
Installation of Dependency
To use Orientation we have to install react-native-orientation
dependency.
To install the dependencies open the terminal and jump into your project
cd ProjectName
Now install the dependency
npm install react-native-orientation --save
Manual Changes for Android
react-native-orientation:3+
we need to make changes in build.gradle dependency to make the Android build.node_modules/react-native-orientation/android/build.gradle
compile "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"
implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"
CocoaPods Installation
Please use the following command to install CocoaPods
npx pod-install
Code to Get Device Orientation and Set Preferred Orientation in React Native
Now Open App.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code
App.js
// Get Device Orientation and Set Preferred Orientation in React Native
// https://aboutreact.com/device-orientation/
// import React in our code
import React, {useState, useEffect} from 'react';
// import all the components we are going to use
import {
SafeAreaView,
StyleSheet,
Text,
View,
TouchableOpacity,
ScrollView,
} from 'react-native';
// import Orientation
import Orientation from 'react-native-orientation';
const App = () => {
const [currentOrientation, setCurrentOrientation] = useState('');
useEffect(() => {
// Getting initial Orientation
const initial = Orientation.getInitialOrientation();
setCurrentOrientation('Current Device Orientation: ' + initial);
// Listner for orientation change LANDSCAPE / PORTRAIT
Orientation.addOrientationListener(orientationChange);
return () => {
// Remember to remove listener
Orientation.removeOrientationListener(orientationChange);
};
}, []);
const orientationChange = (orientation) => {
setCurrentOrientation(
'Current Device Orientation: ' + orientation
);
};
const getCurrentOrientation = () => {
Orientation.getOrientation((err, orientation) => {
alert('Orientation: ' + orientation);
});
};
return (
<SafeAreaView style={styles.container}>
<View>
<Text style={styles.titleText}>
Get and Set Device Orientation in React Native
</Text>
<ScrollView>
<View style={styles.container}>
<Text style={styles.textLarge}>
Example of React Native Orientation
</Text>
<Text style={styles.textSmall}>
{currentOrientation}
</Text>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={getCurrentOrientation}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
get Current Orientation
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={() => Orientation.lockToPortrait()}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
Locks the View to Portrait Mode
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={() => Orientation.lockToLandscape()}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
Locks the View to Landscape Mode
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={() => Orientation.lockToLandscapeLeft()}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
Locks the View to Right Landscape Mode
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={() => Orientation.lockToLandscapeRight()}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
Locks the View to Left Landscape Mode
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
<TouchableOpacity
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={() => Orientation.unlockAllOrientations()}>
<Text style={styles.buttonTextStyle}>
Unlocks any Previous Locked Orientations
</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>
</View>
</ScrollView>
</View>
</SafeAreaView>
);
};
export default App;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
backgroundColor: 'white',
padding: 10,
justifyContent: 'center',
},
titleText: {
fontSize: 22,
textAlign: 'center',
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
buttonStyle: {
justifyContent: 'center',
marginTop: 15,
padding: 10,
backgroundColor: '#8ad24e',
marginRight: 2,
marginLeft: 2,
},
buttonTextStyle: {
color: '#fff',
textAlign: 'center',
},
});
To Run the React Native App
Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.
cd ProjectName
1. Start Metro Bundler
First, you will need to start Metro, the JavaScript bundler that ships with React Native. To start Metro bundler run following command:
npx react-native start
Once you start Metro Bundler it will run forever on your terminal until you close it. Let Metro Bundler run in its own terminal. Open a new terminal and run the application.
2. Start React Native Application
To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device:
npx react-native run-android
or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)
npx react-native run-ios
If you face any multidex-related error then you can follow these instructions.
Output Screenshots
This is how you can Get Device Orientation and Set Preferred Orientation in React Native. If you have any doubts or you want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!
Hope you liked it. 🙂
Hello Snehal, great article from you.
I am building a camera application and there i want to shoot both landscape and portrait videos,
the problem I am facing is that I don’t want my whole screen to be rotated while the device gets rotated, instead I want my camera screen to be locked on portrait mode and rotate the icons by using “Animated”, but while locking to portrait I am not able to get the “onOrientationChange” eventListener
so is there any way to get onOrientationChange listeners while locking to portrait?
Sorry Chintan but I haven’t worked on something like this. I’ll try it whenever I will get some time. 🙂
This is based on the device orientation, but can we change the orientation irrespective of mobiles?
Yeah, This is just an example to club both the things together. You can use setCurrentOrientation to change the orientation irrespective of mobiles.