React Native Top Tab – Example using Latest React Navigation V6

React Native Tab

Here is an example of React Native Top Tab for Android and iOS using React Navigation V6. We will use react-navigation to make a Top 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.

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-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  Tab Navigator install

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

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/native-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

npx pod-install

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

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

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

function TabStack() {
  return (
    <Tab.Navigator
      screenOptions={{
        tabBarActiveTintColor: '#FFFFFF',
        tabBarInactiveTintColor: '#F8F8F8',
        tabBarStyle: {
          backgroundColor: '#633689',
        },
        tabBarLabelStyle: {
          textAlign: 'center',
          fontSize: 12
        },
        tabBarIndicatorStyle: {
          borderBottomColor: '#87B56A',
          borderBottomWidth: 2,
        },
      }}>
      <Tab.Screen
        name="FirstPage"
        component={FirstPage}
        options={{
          tabBarLabel: 'Home',
        }}  />
      <Tab.Screen
        name="SecondPage"
        component={SecondPage}
        options={{
          tabBarLabel: 'Setting',
        }} />
    </Tab.Navigator>
  );
}

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

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. 🙂