Direct Manipulation

It is sometimes necessary to make changes directly to a component without using state/props to trigger a re-render of the entire subtree. When using React in the browser for example, you sometimes need to directly modify a DOM node, and the same is true for views in mobile apps. setNativeProps is the React Native equivalent to setting properties directly on a DOM node.

Direct manipulation will not be a tool that you reach for frequently. You will typically only be using it for creating continuous animations to avoid the overhead of rendering the component hierarchy and reconciling many views. setNativeProps is imperative and stores state in the native layer (DOM, UIView, etc.) and not within your React components, which makes your code more difficult to reason about.

Before you use it, try to solve your problem with setState and shouldComponentUpdate.

Forward setNativeProps to a child

Since the setNativeProps method exists on any ref to a View component, it is enough to forward a ref on your custom component to one of the <View /> components that it renders. This means that a call to setNativeProps on the custom component will have the same effect as if you called setNativeProps on the wrapped View component itself.

• JavaScript
• TypeScript

import React from 'react';
import {Text, TouchableOpacity, View} from 'react-native';

const MyButton = React.forwardRef((props, ref) => (
  <View {...props} ref={ref} style={{marginTop: 50}}>
    <Text>{props.label}</Text>
  </View>
));

const App = () => (
  <TouchableOpacity>
    <MyButton label="Press me!" />
  </TouchableOpacity>
);

export default App;

import React from 'react';
import {Text, TouchableOpacity, View} from 'react-native';

const MyButton = React.forwardRef<View, {label: string}>((props, ref) => (
  <View {...props} ref={ref} style={{marginTop: 50}}>
    <Text>{props.label}</Text>
  </View>
));

const App = () => (
  <TouchableOpacity>
    <MyButton label="Press me!" />
  </TouchableOpacity>
);

export default App;

You can now use MyButton inside of TouchableOpacity!

You may have noticed that we passed all of the props down to the child view using {...props}. The reason for this is that TouchableOpacity is actually a composite component, and so in addition to depending on setNativeProps on its child, it also requires that the child perform touch handling. To do this, it passes on various props that call back to the TouchableOpacity component. TouchableHighlight, in contrast, is backed by a native view and only requires that we implement setNativeProps.

setNativeProps to edit TextInput value

Another very common use case of setNativeProps is to edit the value of the TextInput. The controlled prop of TextInput can sometimes drop characters when the bufferDelay is low and the user types very quickly. Some developers prefer to skip this prop entirely and instead use setNativeProps to directly manipulate the TextInput value when necessary. For example, the following code demonstrates editing the input when you tap a button:

• JavaScript
• TypeScript

import React from 'react';
import {useCallback, useRef} from 'react';
import {
  StyleSheet,
  TextInput,
  Text,
  TouchableOpacity,
  View,
} from 'react-native';

const App = () => {
  const inputRef = useRef(null);
  const editText = useCallback(() => {
    inputRef.current.setNativeProps({text: 'Edited Text'});
  }, []);

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <TextInput ref={inputRef} style={styles.input} />
      <TouchableOpacity onPress={editText}>
        <Text>Edit text</Text>
      </TouchableOpacity>
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: 'center',
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
  input: {
    height: 50,
    width: 200,
    marginHorizontal: 20,
    borderWidth: 1,
    borderColor: '#ccc',
  },
});

export default App;

import React from 'react';
import {useCallback, useRef} from 'react';
import {
  StyleSheet,
  TextInput,
  Text,
  TouchableOpacity,
  View,
} from 'react-native';

const App = () => {
  const inputRef = useRef<TextInput>(null);
  const editText = useCallback(() => {
    inputRef.current?.setNativeProps({text: 'Edited Text'});
  }, []);

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <TextInput ref={inputRef} style={styles.input} />
      <TouchableOpacity onPress={editText}>
        <Text>Edit text</Text>
      </TouchableOpacity>
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: 'center',
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
  input: {
    height: 50,
    width: 200,
    marginHorizontal: 20,
    borderWidth: 1,
    borderColor: '#ccc',
  },
});

export default App;

You can use the clear method to clear the TextInput which clears the current input text using the same approach.

Avoiding conflicts with the render function

If you update a property that is also managed by the render function, you might end up with some unpredictable and confusing bugs because anytime the component re-renders and that property changes, whatever value was previously set from setNativeProps will be completely ignored and overridden.

measureLayout(relativeToNativeComponentRef, onSuccess, onFail)

Like measure(), but measures the view relative to an ancestor, specified with relativeToNativeComponentRef reference. This means that the returned coordinates are relative to the origin x, y of the ancestor view.

• JavaScript
• TypeScript

import React, {useEffect, useRef, useState} from 'react';
import {Text, View, StyleSheet} from 'react-native';

const App = () => {
  const textContainerRef = useRef(null);
  const textRef = useRef(null);
  const [measure, setMeasure] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (textRef.current && textContainerRef.current) {
      textRef.current.measureLayout(
        textContainerRef.current,
        (left, top, width, height) => {
          setMeasure({left, top, width, height});
        },
      );
    }
  }, [measure]);

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <View ref={textContainerRef} style={styles.textContainer}>
        <Text ref={textRef}>Where am I? (relative to the text container)</Text>
      </View>
      <Text style={styles.measure}>{JSON.stringify(measure)}</Text>
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
  textContainer: {
    backgroundColor: '#61dafb',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
    padding: 12,
  },
  measure: {
    textAlign: 'center',
    padding: 12,
  },
});

export default App;

import React, {useEffect, useRef, useState} from 'react';
import {Text, View, StyleSheet} from 'react-native';

type Measurements = {
  left: number;
  top: number;
  width: number;
  height: number;
};

const App = () => {
  const textContainerRef = useRef<View>(null);
  const textRef = useRef<Text>(null);
  const [measure, setMeasure] = useState<Measurements | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (textRef.current && textContainerRef.current) {
      textRef.current?.measureLayout(
        textContainerRef.current,
        (left, top, width, height) => {
          setMeasure({left, top, width, height});
        },
        () => {
          console.error('measurement failed');
        },
      );
    }
  }, [measure]);

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <View ref={textContainerRef} style={styles.textContainer}>
        <Text ref={textRef}>Where am I? (relative to the text container)</Text>
      </View>
      <Text style={styles.measure}>{JSON.stringify(measure)}</Text>
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
  textContainer: {
    backgroundColor: '#61dafb',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
    padding: 12,
  },
  measure: {
    textAlign: 'center',
    padding: 12,
  },
});

export default App;

focus()

Requests focus for the given input or view. The exact behavior triggered will depend on the platform and type of view.

blur()

Removes focus from an input or view. This is the opposite of focus().

Last updated: Sep 30, 2025