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Getting Started

Installation​

  • Open a Terminal in your project's folder and run:
npm install react-native-paper
npm install react-native-safe-area-context

Additionaly for iOS platform there is a requirement to link the native parts of the library:

npx pod-install

Specifically MaterialCommunityIcons icon pack needs to be included in the project, because some components use those internally (e.g. AppBar.BackAction on Android). 

npm install react-native-vector-icons

The library has specified dedicated steps for each platform. Please follow their installation guide in order to properly use icon fonts.

If you don't want to install vector icons, you can use babel-plugin-optional-require to opt-out.

If you use Expo, you don't need to install vector icons. But if you have a babel.config.js or .babelrc file, make sure that it includes babel-preset-expo.

To get smaller bundle size by excluding modules you don't use, you can use our optional babel plugin. The plugin automatically rewrites the import statements so that only the modules you use are imported instead of the whole library. Add react-native-paper/babel to the plugins section in your babel.config.js for production environment. It should look like this:

module.exports = {
  presets: ['module:metro-react-native-babel-preset'],
  env: {
    production: {
      plugins: ['react-native-paper/babel'],
    },
  },
};

If you created your project using Expo, it'll look something like this:

module.exports = function(api) {
  api.cache(true);
  return {
    presets: ['babel-preset-expo'],
    env: {
      production: {
        plugins: ['react-native-paper/babel'],
      },
    },
  };
};

The plugin only works if you are importing the library using ES2015 import statements and not with require.

note

The above examples are for the latest react-native using Babel 7. If you have react-native <= 0.55, you'll have a .babelrc file instead of a babel.config.js file and the content of the file will be different.

If you're using Flow for typechecking your code, you need to add the following under the [options] section in your .flowconfig:

module.file_ext=.js
module.file_ext=.native.js
module.file_ext=.android.js
module.file_ext=.ios.js

Usage​

Wrap your root component in PaperProvider from react-native-paper. If you have a vanilla React Native project, it's a good idea to add it in the component which is passed to AppRegistry.registerComponent. This will usually be in the index.js file. If you have an Expo project, you can do this inside the exported component in the App.js file.

Example:

import * as React from 'react';
import { AppRegistry } from 'react-native';
import { PaperProvider } from 'react-native-paper';
import { name as appName } from './app.json';
import App from './src/App';

export default function Main() {
  return (
    <PaperProvider>
      <App />
    </PaperProvider>
  );
}

AppRegistry.registerComponent(appName, () => Main);

The PaperProvider component provides the theme to all the components in the framework. It also acts as a portal to components which need to be rendered at the top level.

If you have another provider (such as Redux), wrap it outside PaperProvider so that the context is available to components rendered inside a Modal from the library:

import * as React from 'react';
import { PaperProvider } from 'react-native-paper';
import { Provider as StoreProvider } from 'react-redux';
import App from './src/App';
import store from './store';

export default function Main() {
  return (
    <StoreProvider store={store}>
      <PaperProvider>
        <App />
      </PaperProvider>
    </StoreProvider>
  );
}

Customization​

You can provide a custom theme to customize the colors, typescales etc. with the Provider component. Check the Material Design 3 default theme to see what customization options are supported.

Example:

import * as React from 'react';
import { MD3LightTheme as DefaultTheme, PaperProvider } from 'react-native-paper';
import App from './src/App';

const theme = {
  ...DefaultTheme,
  colors: {
    ...DefaultTheme.colors,
    primary: 'tomato',
    secondary: 'yellow',
  },
};

export default function Main() {
  return (
    <PaperProvider theme={theme}>
      <App />
    </PaperProvider>
  );
}
note

For MD2 check the following Material Design 2 default theme.