React Native Tab – Example using Latest React Navigation

React Native Tab

Here is an example of React Native Tab for Android and iOS using React Navigation V5. We will use react-navigation to make a Tab Navigation in this example. Tabs are the most common style of navigation in mobile apps. Tabs can be on the bottom of the screen or on the top (below the header or even instead of a header). We all have seen WhatsApp and it can’t be so easy without Tab. So let’s get started with the example of Tab Navigation.

This example is updated for the React Navigation V5. For the React Navigation V4, you can scroll to the bottom.

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 Tab 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-gesture-handler, react-native-reanimated, react-native-screens and react-native-safe-area-context and @react-native-community/masked-view

npm install react-native-reanimated react-native-gesture-handler react-native-screens react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view --save

3. For the  Tab Navigator install

npm install @react-navigation/material-top-tabs react-native-tab-view

4. These steps are enough for the Tab navigation but in this example, we are also using Stack Navigator so for that

npm install @react-navigation/stack --save

Note: When you use a navigator, you’ll need to follow the installation instructions of that navigator for any additional dependencies. If you’re getting an error “Unable to resolve module”, you need to install that module in your project.

You might get warnings related to peer dependencies after installation. They are usually caused by incorrect version ranges specified in some packages. You can safely ignore most warnings as long as your app builds.

CocoaPods Installation

Please use the following command to install CocoaPods

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

To finalize the installation of react-native-gesture-handler, add the following at the top (make sure it’s at the top and there’s nothing else before it) of your entry files, such as index.js or App.js:

import 'react-native-gesture-handler';

Note: If you skip this step, your app may crash in production even if it works fine in development.

Project File Structure

To start with this Example you need to create a directory named pages in your project and create two files FirstPge.js and SecondPage.js in it.

Code to Create React Native Tab

App.js

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

// React Native Tab
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-tab/
import 'react-native-gesture-handler';

import * as React from 'react';
import {
  NavigationContainer
} from '@react-navigation/native';
import {
  createStackNavigator
} from '@react-navigation/stack';
import {
  createMaterialTopTabNavigator
} from '@react-navigation/material-top-tabs';
/*import
  MaterialCommunityIcons
from 'react-native-vector-icons/MaterialCommunityIcons';*/

import FirstPage from './pages/FirstPage';
import SecondPage from './pages/SecondPage';

const Stack = createStackNavigator();
const Tab = createMaterialTopTabNavigator();

function TabStack() {
  return (
    <Tab.Navigator
      initialRouteName="Feed"
      tabBarOptions={{
        activeTintColor: '#FFFFFF',
        inactiveTintColor: '#F8F8F8',
        style: {
          backgroundColor: '#633689',
        },
        labelStyle: {
          textAlign: 'center',
        },
        indicatorStyle: {
          borderBottomColor: '#87B56A',
          borderBottomWidth: 2,
        },
      }}>
      <Tab.Screen
        name="FirstPage"
        component={FirstPage}
        options={{
          tabBarLabel: 'Home',
          // tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
          //   <MaterialCommunityIcons
          //       name="home"
          //       color={color}
          //       size={size}
          //     />
          // ),
        }}  />
      <Tab.Screen
        name="SecondPage"
        component={SecondPage}
        options={{
          tabBarLabel: 'Setting',
          // tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
          //   <MaterialCommunityIcons
          //       name="settings"
          //       color={color}
          //       size={size}
          //     />
          // ),
        }} />
    </Tab.Navigator>
  );
}

function App() {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <Stack.Navigator
        initialRouteName="Settings"
        screenOptions={{
          headerStyle: { backgroundColor: '#633689' },
          headerTintColor: '#fff',
          headerTitleStyle: { fontWeight: 'bold' }
        }}>
        <Stack.Screen
          name="TabStack"
          component={TabStack}
          options={{ title: 'Tab Stack' }}
        />
      </Stack.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}

export default App;

FirstPage.js

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

// React Native Tab
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-tab/

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

const FirstPage = ({ 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
            }}>
            Home{'\n'}(You are on FirstPage)
          </Text>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('SecondPage')
            }>
            <Text>Go to settng Tab</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Native Tab 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 FirstPage;

SecondPage.js

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

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

const SecondPage = ({ 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
            }}>
            Setting{'\n'}(You are on SecondPage)
          </Text>
          <TouchableOpacity
            style={styles.button}
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('FirstPage')
            }>
            <Text>Go to Home Tab</Text>
          </TouchableOpacity>
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
        React Native Tab 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 SecondPage;

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

Download Source Code

Output Screenshots

Android

    

IOS

Output in Online Emulator

That was the React Native Tab 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. 🙂

For React Navigation V4

If you are starting a new app or learning for the first time you should follow V5 steps to create Bottom Navigation but if you are still developing the application using React Navigation V4 then you can follow the below steps.

Installation of Dependencies

Please run following commands in your project directory to install the dependencies

npm install react-navigation --save

npx npm install react-native-gesture-handler react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view react-native-screens react-native-reanimated --save

npm install react-navigation-tabs --save

npm install react-navigation-stack --save

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Code to Create React Native Tab in V4

App.js

//This is an example of React Native Tab
import React from 'react';
//import react in our code.

//Import React Navigation
import {
  createAppContainer
} from 'react-navigation';
import {
  createMaterialTopTabNavigator
} from 'react-navigation-tabs';
import {
  createStackNavigator
} from 'react-navigation-stack';

//Import External Files
import FirstPage from './pages/FirstPage';
import SecondPage from './pages/SecondPage';

const TabScreen = createMaterialTopTabNavigator(
  {
    Home: { screen: FirstPage },
    Settings: { screen: SecondPage },
  },
  {
    tabBarPosition: 'top',
    swipeEnabled: true,
    animationEnabled: true,
    tabBarOptions: {
      activeTintColor: '#FFFFFF',
      inactiveTintColor: '#F8F8F8',
      style: {
        backgroundColor: '#633689',
      },
      labelStyle: {
        textAlign: 'center',
      },
      indicatorStyle: {
        borderBottomColor: '#87B56A',
        borderBottomWidth: 2,
      },
    },
  }
);

//making a StackNavigator to export as default
const App = createStackNavigator({
  TabScreen: {
    screen: TabScreen,
    navigationOptions: {
      headerStyle: {
        backgroundColor: '#633689',
      },
      headerTintColor: '#FFFFFF',
      title: 'TabExample',
    },
  },
});
export default createAppContainer(App);

pages/FirstPage.js

// Home screen
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { Text, View } from 'react-native';
//import all the components we are going to use.

export default class FirstPage extends React.Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <View
        style={{
          flex: 1,
          justifyContent: 'center',
          alignItems: 'center'
       }}>
        <Text>Home Screen</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

pages/SecondPage.js

// Setting screen
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { Text, View } from 'react-native';
//import all the components we are going to use.

export default class SecondPage extends React.Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <View
        style={{
          flex: 1,
          justifyContent: 'center',
          alignItems: 'center'
        }}>
        <Text>Setting Screen</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

Download Source Code for V4

React Navigation V5 update brings lots of changes in terms of performance and structure. I will suggest you switch to V5 if you are on V4.