Contents
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 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 Locks the View to Landscape Mode
Orientation.lockToLandscape()
3. To Locks the View to Right Landscape Mode
Orientation.lockToLandscapeLeft()
4. To Locks 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 in 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 init to make our React Native App. Assuming that you have node installed, you can use npm to install the react-native-cli
command line utility. Open the terminal and go to the workspace and run
npm install -g react-native-cli
Run the following commands to create a new React Native project
react-native init ProjectName
If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:
react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X
react-native init ProjectName --version react-native@next
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
CocoaPods Installation
After the updation of React Native 0.60, they have introduced autolinking so we do not require to link the libraries but need to install pods.
In this example, we need to install the pods for react-native-orientation
.
Please use the following command to install CocoaPods
cd ios && pod install && cd ..
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
To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device
react-native run-android
or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)
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.