A Beginner’s Guide to Implementing Expo Router in React Native 🚀
If you’re building mobile apps with React Native and haven’t tried Expo Router yet, you’re missing out on an amazing tool that simplifies navigation. Expo Router is like the magic wand that makes navigation between screens effortless.
In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to get Expo Router up and running and show you how to implement key features like dynamic routes, tabs, layouts, and deep linking. Let’s dive in! 💡
What is Expo Router?
Think of Expo Router as the React Router for native apps. It’s designed to simplify navigation in React Native by turning your file system into routes. Yes, you read that right — your folder structure maps directly to the routes in your app, just like in Next.js for web.
Here’s why this is awesome:
No need for boilerplate navigation setup.Automatically handles linking, tabs, and nested routes.Dynamic routing and deep linking are built-in.
Sounds cool, right? Let’s get started!
Here’s a draft for a Medium article that explains how to implement the Expo Router in React Native. It’s engaging, informative, and easy to follow!
A Beginner’s Guide to Implementing Expo Router in React Native 🚀
If you’re building mobile apps with React Native and haven’t tried Expo Router yet, you’re missing out on an amazing tool that simplifies navigation. Expo Router is like the magic wand that makes navigation between screens effortless.
In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to get Expo Router up and running and show you how to implement key features like dynamic routes, tabs, layouts, and deep linking. Let’s dive in! 💡
What is Expo Router?
Think of Expo Router as the React Router for native apps. It’s designed to simplify navigation in React Native by turning your file system into routes. Yes, you read that right — your folder structure maps directly to the routes in your app, just like in Next.js for web.
Here’s why this is awesome:
No need for boilerplate navigation setup.Automatically handles linking, tabs, and nested routes.Dynamic routing and deep linking are built-in.
Sounds cool, right? Let’s get started!
Step 1: Install and Set Up Expo Router
First, you’ll want to make sure your project is using Expo SDK v48 or higher. If not, run the following command:
expo upgrade
Now, install Expo Router in your project:
npm install expo-router
or if you’re using Yarn:
yarn add expo-router
Once it’s installed, we’re good to go! 🚀
app/
└── index.tsx
└── about.tsx
└── profile/
└── settings.tsx
Here’s how the routes will map:
/ → index.tsx/about → about.tsx/profile/settings → settings.tsx inside the profile folder.
You don’t have to write any extra code to define these routes! 🎉
Step 3: Navigating Between Screens
Moving between screens using Link is super straightforward:
import { Link } from ‘expo-router’;
<Link href=”/about”>
<Text>Go to About</Text>
</Link>
This works just like a web-based link, making it intuitive and simple to use. Clicking on the link will navigate the user to the /about route without needing any extra configurations. Magic, right? ✨
Step 4: Implementing Dynamic Routes
Dynamic routing is incredibly easy with Expo Router. Imagine you want to create a product page with a dynamic id. Just create a file like this:
app/
└── product/
└── [id].tsx
In the [id].tsx file, you can use the useRouter hook to access the dynamic parameter (id):
import { useRouter } from ‘expo-router’;
export default function Product() {
const { id } = useRouter().query;
return <Text>Product ID: {id}</Text>;
}
And just like that, routes like /product/123 will work right out of the box! 🎯
Step 5: Creating Layouts with Shared UI
Want to have a consistent header or footer across multiple screens? Create a _layout.tsx file in your app/ directory. Here’s an example layout:
import { Stack } from ‘expo-router’;
export default function Layout() {
return (
<Stack>
<Stack.Screen name=”index” options={{ title: ‘Home’ }} />
<Stack.Screen name=”about” options={{ title: ‘About’ }} />
</Stack>
);
}
This layout will apply to all screens and you can customize the title or header style for each route. It’s a great way to keep your app’s navigation consistent and clean. 💅
Step 6: Adding Tab Navigation
If you’re a fan of tab navigation (and who isn’t?), you’ll love how simple it is with Expo Router. Just modify your _layout.tsx file like this:
import { Tabs } from ‘expo-router’;
export default function Layout() {
return (
<Tabs>
<Tabs.Screen name=”home” options={{ title: ‘Home’ }} />
<Tabs.Screen name=”profile” options={{ title: ‘Profile’ }} />
</Tabs>
);
}
This sets up a bottom tab navigator with Home and Profile tabs. Simple, clean, and effective. 🗂️
Step 7: Deep Linking? It’s Built-in!
One of the great things about Expo Router is that deep linking is built-in and requires zero setup. You can open any screen in your app directly with a deep link like this:
myapp://profile/settings
It just works. No additional configurations or external libraries needed. 🚀
Step 8: Hot Reloading for Routes
The Expo Router integrates smoothly with Expo’s hot reloading feature. This means any changes you make to your routes or screens will be reflected instantly in your app, without needing to restart or reconfigure anything.
Hot reloading for routes? Yes, please! 🔥
Conclusion
Expo Router simplifies navigation in React Native apps in a way that feels natural and intuitive, just like how web developers use Next.js or React Router.
From dynamic routing to tab navigation and deep linking, everything is seamless. Whether you’re building a small app or a large-scale project, Expo Router has your back. 💪
Feel free to share your thoughts, ask questions, or dive into your first project with Expo Router. Happy coding! 💻✨
What do you think? 🚀 I’d love to hear your feedback or answer any questions. Drop a comment below, or find me on Twitter!
#ReactNative #ExpoRouter #MobileAppDev #Web3
A Beginner’s Guide to Implementing Expo Router in React Native 🚀 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.