React Native Bottom Navigation – Example using React Navigation V6

React Native Bottom Navigation

Here is an example of React Native Bottom Navigation for Android and IOS using React Navigation V6. Bottom Navigation is very useful when you have 2-3 main navigation options. It provides the user with easy access to regular usable options.

In this example, We will make a Bottom Navigation with navigation options like Home and Setting. Each screen has other navigation options too. So let’s get started.

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 Dependencies

For React Native Bottom Navigation we need to add react-navigation and other supporting dependencies.

To install the dependencies open the terminal and jump into your project

cd ProjectName

1. Install react-navigation

npm install @react-navigation/native --save

2. Other supporting libraries react-native-screens and react-native-safe-area-context

npm install react-native-screens react-native-safe-area-context --save

react-native-screens package requires one additional configuration step to properly work on Android devices. Edit MainActivity.java file which is located in android/app/src/main/java/<your package name>/MainActivity.java.

Add the following code to the body of MainActivity class:

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  super.onCreate(null);
}

and make sure to add the following import statement at the top of this file below your package statement:

import android.os.Bundle;

This change is required to avoid crashes related to View state being not persisted consistently across Activity restarts.

3. For the  Bottom Navigator install

npm install @react-navigation/bottom-tabs --save

4. We are going to use MaterialCommunityIcons to show the menu icons from react-native-vector-icons/MaterialCommunityIcons. To install react-native-vector-icons

npm install react-native-vector-icons --save

Please visit Example to Use React Native Vector Icons for further instructions to complete the installation of Vector Icons.

5. These steps are enough for the bottom navigation but in this example, we are also moving/switching between screens so we will also need Stack Navigator

npm install @react-navigation/native-stack --save

CocoaPods Installation

Please use the following command to install CocoaPods

npx pod-install

Project File Structure

To start with this Example you need to create a directory named pages in your project and create four files DetailsScreen.js, HomeScreen.js, ProfileScreen.js, and SettingScreen.js in it.

Code to Create React Native Bottom Navigation

App.js

Open App.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.

// React Native Bottom Navigation
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-bottom-navigation/
import * as React from 'react';

import
 MaterialCommunityIcons
from 'react-native-vector-icons/MaterialCommunityIcons';

import { NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createNativeStackNavigator } from '@react-navigation/native-stack';
import { createBottomTabNavigator } from '@react-navigation/bottom-tabs';

import HomeScreen from './pages/HomeScreen';
import DetailsScreen from './pages/DetailsScreen';
import ProfileScreen from './pages/ProfileScreen';
import SettingsScreen from './pages/SettingsScreen';

const Stack = createNativeStackNavigator();
const Tab = createBottomTabNavigator();

function HomeStack() {
  return (
      <Stack.Navigator
        initialRouteName="Home"
        screenOptions={{headerShown: false}}
        >
        <Stack.Screen
          name="Home"
          component={HomeScreen} />
        <Stack.Screen
          name="Details"
          component={DetailsScreen} />
      </Stack.Navigator>
  );
}

function SettingsStack() {
  return (
    <Stack.Navigator
      initialRouteName="Settings"
      screenOptions={{headerShown: false}}>
      <Stack.Screen
        name="Settings"
        component={SettingsScreen} />
      <Stack.Screen
        name="Profile"
        component={ProfileScreen} />
    </Stack.Navigator>
  );
}

function App() {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <Tab.Navigator
        initialRouteName="Feed"
        screenOptions={({ route }) => ({
          headerStyle: { backgroundColor: '#42f44b' },
          headerTintColor: '#fff',
          headerTitleStyle: { fontWeight: 'bold' },
          tabBarActiveTintColor: 'tomato',
          tabBarInactiveTintColor: 'gray',
          tabBarIcon: ({ focused, color, size }) => {
            let iconName;
            if (route.name === 'HomeStack') {
              iconName = focused
                ? 'home-circle'
                : 'home-circle-outline';
            } else if (route.name === 'SettingsStack') {
              iconName = focused
                ? 'account-settings'
                : 'account-settings-outline';
            }
            return (
              <MaterialCommunityIcons
                name={iconName}
                size={size}
                color={color}
              />
            );
          }
        })}>
        <Tab.Screen
          name="HomeStack"
          component={HomeStack}
          options={{
            tabBarLabel: 'Home',
            title: 'Home',
          }}  />
        <Tab.Screen
          name="SettingsStack"
          component={SettingsStack}
          options={{
            tabBarLabel: 'Settings',
            title: 'Setting'
          }} />
      </Tab.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}
export default App;

HomeScreen.js

Open pages/HomeScreen.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Bottom Navigation
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-bottom-navigation/
import * as React from 'react';
import {
  TouchableOpacity,
  StyleSheet,
  View,
  Text,
  SafeAreaView
} from 'react-native';

const HomeScreen = ({ navigation }) => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 16 }}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            You are on Home Screen
          </Text>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate(
                'SettingsStack', { screen: 'Settings' }
              )}>
            <Text>Go to settng Tab</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('Details')
            }>
            <Text>Open Details Screen</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Native Bottom Navigation
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  button: {
    alignItems: 'center',
    backgroundColor: '#DDDDDD',
    padding: 10,
    width: 300,
    marginTop: 16,
  },
});
export default HomeScreen;

DetailsScreen.js

Open pages/DetailsScreen.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Bottom Navigation
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-bottom-navigation/
import * as React from 'react';
import { View, Text, SafeAreaView } from 'react-native';

const DetailsScreen = () => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1 , padding: 16}}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            You are on Details Screen
          </Text>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Native Bottom Navigation
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}
export default DetailsScreen;

ProfileScreen.js

Open pages/ProfileScreen.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Bottom Navigation
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-bottom-navigation/

import * as React from 'react';
import { View, Text, SafeAreaView } from 'react-native';

const ProfileScreen = () => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 16 }}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            You are on Profile Screen
          </Text>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Native Bottom Navigation
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}
export default ProfileScreen;

SettingsScreen.js

Open pages/SettingsScreen.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Bottom Navigation
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-bottom-navigation/
import * as React from 'react';
import {
  TouchableOpacity,
  StyleSheet,
  View,
  Text,
  SafeAreaView
} from 'react-native';

const SettingsScreen = ({ route, navigation }) => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 16 }}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            You are on Setting Screen
          </Text>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('Home')
            }>
            <Text>Go to Home Tab</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('Details')
            }>
            <Text>Open Detail Screen</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('Profile')
            }>
            <Text>Open Profile Screen</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Native Bottom Navigation
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  button: {
    alignItems: 'center',
    backgroundColor: '#DDDDDD',
    padding: 10,
    width: 300,
    marginTop: 16,
  },
});
export default SettingsScreen;

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

Output Screenshots

Android (Home menu with details screen in it)

IOS (Home menu with details screen in it)

Android (Setting menu with detail and profile screens in it)

IOS (Setting menu with detail and profile screens in it)

In this example, we have used MaterialCommunityIcons for the bottom navigation tab icons. If you want to use the icons from the local directory of your project then please visit our next post on Bottom Navigation with Navigation Icon from Local Directory. This will be a similar example but the bottom tab icon will be from the project’s local directory.

Output in Online Emulator

That was the React Native Bottom Navigation for Android and IOS using React Navigation V5. 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!

I hope you liked it. 🙂