React Native External Keyboard

React Native library for enhanced external keyboard support.

• ⚡️ The New Architecture is supported
• ⚡️ Bridgeless

New Release Features

• withKeyboardFocus: an HOC that adds focus capabilities to default pressable components (and some external ones).

• Tint and halo effects for iOS.

• Keyboard focus and autofocus support.

• Renaming: Added aliases for components and modules. More here

iOS	Android

Features

• Keyboard focus control and autofocus
• Key press event handling
• Focus control for TextInput and Pressable components
• Halo effect and tint color customization for iOS

Installation

npm install react-native-external-keyboard

iOS:

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Usage

withKeyboardFocus - For Pressable, Touchable, and more

The withKeyboardFocus HOC is a helper for integrating keyboard focus functionality. It significantly simplifies integration by wrapping the provided component in KeyboardFocusView and extending it with additional features, such as focus and blur events.

const KeybardedPressable = withKeyboardFocus(Pressable);
const KeybardedTouchable = withKeyboardFocus(TouchableOpacity);
const KeybardedButton = withKeyboardFocus(Button);

...

<TouchableOpacity
  ref={ref}
  onPress={...}
  onLongPress={...}
  onFocus={...}
  onBlur={...}
  style={styles.pressable}
  containerStyle={styles.pressableContainer}
  autoFocus
>
  <Text>TouchableOpacity</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>

After wrapping a Pressable or Touchable with withKeyboardFocus, you will be able to handle focus and blur events, control the tint color, apply focus and container focus styles, focus the component using a ref, or configure autoFocus.

Props	Description	Type
onPress?:	Default onPress or keyboard-handled onPress	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onLongPress?:	Default onLongPress or keyboard-handled onLongPress (Tab+M for iOS).	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onPressIn:?	Default onPressIn or keyboard-handled onPressIn	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onPressOut:?	Default onPressOut or keyboard-handled onPressOut	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
style?:	Style for the inner component	StyleProp<ViewStyle>
focusStyle?:	Style applied to the inner component when focused	FocusStyle
containerStyle?:	Style for the container	StyleProp;
containerFocusStyle?:	Style applied to the container when focused	FocusStyle
onFocus?:	Handler called when the component is focused	() => void
onBlur?:	Handler called when the component loses focus	() => void
onFocusChange?:	Handler called when the component is focused or blurred	(isFocused: boolean, tag?: number) => void
onKeyUpPress?:	Handler for the key-up event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
onKeyDownPress?:	Handler for the key-down event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
autoFocus?:	Indicates if the component should automatically gain focus	`boolean
focusable?:	Indicates if the component can be focused by keyboard	`boolean
tintColor?:	Color used for tinting the component	string
tintType?:	Tint behavior type	'default' | 'hover' | 'background' | 'none'
FocusHoverComponent?:	Component displayed on focus	| ReactElement  | FunctionComponent  | (() => ReactElement);
group?:	Indicates if the component is a focusable group	boolean
haloEffect?:	Enables halo effect on focus (iOS only)	boolean
...rest	Remaining component props	Type of Component

Note

You may discover that long press on spacebar does not trigger a long press event on iOS. This is because iOS use a Full Keyboard Access system that provides commands for interacting with the system. Rather than holding down the spacebar, you can use Tab+M (the default action for opening the context menu). You can change Commands in: Full Keyboard Access -> Commands

KeyboardExtendedView

KeyboardExtendedView is similar to withKeyboardFocus; it is also based on KeyboardExtendedBaseView and provides keyboard focus functionality. It can be useful for handling key presses or managing the focus of a group of components.

<KeyboardExtendedView>
  <Text>Parent component</Text>
  <KeyboardExtendedView>
    <Text>Child component 1</Text>
  </KeyboardExtendedView>
  <KeyboardExtendedView>
    <Text>Child component 2</Text>
  </KeyboardExtendedView>
</KeyboardExtendedView>

Props	Description	Type
onPress?:	Default onPress or keyboard-handled onPress	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onLongPress?:	Default onLongPress or keyboard-handled onLongPress (Tab+M for iOS).	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onPressIn:?	Default onPressIn or keyboard-handled onPressIn	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
onPressOut:?	Default onPressOut or keyboard-handled onPressOut	((event: GestureResponderEvent) => void) | null | undefined
style?:	Style for the inner component	StyleProp<ViewStyle>
focusStyle?:	Style applied to the inner component when focused	FocusStyle
containerStyle?:	Style for the container	StyleProp;
containerFocusStyle?:	Style applied to the container when focused	FocusStyle
onFocus?:	Handler called when the component is focused	() => void
onBlur?:	Handler called when the component loses focus	() => void
onFocusChange?:	Handler called when the component is focused or blurred	(isFocused: boolean, tag?: number) => void
onKeyUpPress?:	Handler for the key-up event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
onKeyDownPress?:	Handler for the key-down event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
autoFocus?:	Indicates if the component should automatically gain focus	`boolean
focusable?:	Indicates if the component can be focused by keyboard	`boolean
tintColor?:	Color used for tinting the component	string
tintType?:	Tint behavior type	'default' | 'hover' | 'background' | 'none'
FocusHoverComponent?:	Component displayed on focus	| ReactElement  | FunctionComponent  | (() => ReactElement);
group?:	Indicates if the component is a focusable group	boolean
haloEffect?:	Enables halo effect on focus (iOS only)	boolean
...rest	Remaining View props	View

KeyboardExtendedInput

The TextInput component with keyboard focus support. This component allows the TextInput to be focused using the keyboard in various scenarios.

import { KeyboardExtendedInput } from 'react-native-external-keyboard';
...
  <KeyboardExtendedInput
    focusType="default"
    blurType="default"
    value={textInput}
    onChangeText={setTextInput}
  />

Props	Description	Type
focusable?:	Boolean property whether component can be focused by keyboard	boolean \| undefined default true
onFocusChange?:	Callback for focus change handling	(isFocused: boolean) => void \| undefined
focusType?:	Focus type can be default, auto, or press. Based on investigation, Android and iOS typically have different default behaviors. On Android, the TextInput is focused by default, while on iOS, you need to press to focus. auto is used for automatic focusing, while keyboard focus targets the input. With press, you need to press the spacebar to focus an input.	"default" \| "press" \| "auto"
blurType?:	Only for iOS. This defines the behavior for blurring input when focus moves away from the component. By default, iOS allows typing when the keyboard focus is on another component. You can use disable to blur input when focus moves away. (Further investigation is needed for Android.)	"default"\| "disable" \| "auto"
haloEffect?:	Enables halo effect on focus (iOS only)	boolean
tintColor?:	Color used for tinting the component	string
style?:	Style for the inner TextInput	StyleProp<ViewStyle>
focusStyle?	Style applied to the inner TextInput when focused	FocusStyle
containerStyle	Style for the container	StyleProp
containerFocusStyle?:	Style applied to the container when focused	FocusStyle
tintType?:	Tint behavior type	'default' \| 'hover' \| 'background' \| 'none'
FocusHoverComponent?:	Component displayed on focus	\| ReactElement  \| FunctionComponent  \| (() => ReactElement);
...rest	Remaining TextInput props	TextInputProps

KeyboardExtendedBaseView: (alias for: ExternalKeyboardView)

import { KeyboardExtendedBaseView } from 'react-native-external-keyboard';
...
  <KeyboardExtendedBaseView
    onKeyDownPress={...}
    onKeyUpPress={...}
    focussable
  >
    <Text>Content</Text>
  </KeyboardExtendedBaseView>

Props	Description	Type
focusable	Indicates if the component can be focused by keyboard	boolean | undefined
canBeFocused	(deprecated) Indicates if the component can be focused by keyboard	boolean | undefined
group	Indicates if the component is a focusable group	boolean
onFocus	Handler called when the component is focused	() => void
onBlur	Handler called when the component loses focus	() => void
onFocusChange	Handler called when the component is focused or blurred	(isFocused: boolean, tag?: number) => void
onKeyUpPress	Handler for the key-up event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
onKeyDownPress	Handler for the key-down event	(e: OnKeyPress) => void
onContextMenuPress?:	Handler for long press events triggered by the context menu command (iOS only)	() => void;
haloEffect	Enables halo effect on focus (iOS only)	boolean | undefined
autoFocus	Indicates if the component should automatically gain focus	boolean | undefined
tintColor	Color used for tinting the component	string
ref->focus	Command to programmatically focus the component	() => void;
...rest	Remaining View props	View

Migration 0.3.x to 0.4.0

Module (A11yModule, KeyboardExtendedModule)

Functions in the A11yModule (KeyboardExtendedModule) have been deprecated. They appeared appropriate at the time, but with the new architecture and to improve usability, they have been replaced with ref actions.

Previous:

import { KeyboardExtendedModule } from 'react-native-external-keyboard';

KeyboardExtendedModule.setKeyboardFocus(ref); //or A11yModule.setKeyboardFocus(ref);

Updated:

import { KeyboardExtendedPressable, type KeyboardFocus } from 'react-native-external-keyboard';
...

const ref = useRef<KeyboardFocus>(null);

...

const onPressForFocus = () => {
  ref.current.focus()
}

<TouchableOpacity
  ref={ref}
>
  <Text>TouchableOpacity</Text>
</TouchableOpacity>

The specific method for iOS, setPreferredKeyboardFocus, has not been added so far because we now have the new feature autoFocus, which does not fit well with the new API and its approach. It is better to use autoFocus for focusing views on both Android and iOS.

If you truly need this method, please create a new issue, and we will consider how to return it.

Pressable

Pressable changes

Unfortunately, the previous version of Pressable had many issues. For iOS, we cloned the entire Pressable component from React Native's source code, while for Android, we simply wrapped the component.

This led to two main problems:

1. Difficulty in updating Pressable for iOS.
2. Challenges in controlling styles.

For these reasons, we replaced Pressable with withKeyboardFocus(Pressable), as it was the only viable path forward to introduce new features.

Component aliases

It is believed that good naming can simplify usage and development. Based on this principle and for compatibility with 0.2.x, aliases were added. You can still use the old naming convention, and it will be maintained in future releases.

The map of aliases is provided below:
A11yModule -> KeyboardExtendedModule
Pressable -> KeyboardExtendedPressable
KeyboardFocusView -> KeyboardExtendedView
ExternalKeyboardView -> KeyboardExtendedBaseView

API

ToDo

export type OnKeyPress = NativeSyntheticEvent<{
  keyCode: number;
  unicode: number;
  unicodeChar: string;
  isLongPress: boolean;
  isAltPressed: boolean;
  isShiftPressed: boolean;
  isCtrlPressed: boolean;
  isCapsLockOn: boolean;
  hasNoModifiers: boolean;
}>;

Roadmap

• Update Readme.md
• Update focusable and disable state for iOS and Android.
• Update the example to the new version (0.75.x).
• TintColor component for controlling the tint color of scrollable components on iOS.
• Update events from direct to bubbling to improve control of keyboard functionality.
• Add keyboard focus order. Check for the possibility of implementing a focus order to enhance navigation across components.
• Add PreferableFocusEnvironment component. Managing focus on iOS can be tricky and relies on preferredFocusEnvironments; this component should help manage keyboard focus in uncommon cases.
• Create the documentation.
• iOS Halo effect config for customization.

Contributing

Any type of contribution is highly appreciated. Feel free to create PRs, raise issues, or share ideas.

Acknowledgements

It has been a long journey since the first release of the react-native-external-keyboard package. Many features have been added, and a lot of issues have been fixed.

With that, I would like to thank the contributors, those who created issues, and the followers, because achieving these results wouldn't have been possible without you.

Thanks to the initial authors: Andrii Koval, Michail Chavkin, Dzmitry Khamitsevich. Thanks to the contributors: Stéphane. Thanks to those who created issues: Stéphane, proohit, Rananjaya Bandara, SteveHoneckPGE, Wes

I really appreciate your help; it has truly helped me move forward!

License

MIT

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Made with create-react-native-library