How to support Split View on iPad with React Native
Tags: reactnative, javascript, ipad, ios
Published: 2018-06-05 03:33:04

---
title: How to support Split View on iPad with React Native
published: true
description: An easy way to support iPad's Split View on your React Native app
tags: React Native, JavaScript, iPad, iOS
---

I was working on [my app](https://www.inkdrop.info/) to support tablets. On iPad, it has a multitasking feature that allows you to use two apps at the same time by splitting screen as below:

![split view demo](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/mpska7n7rd7odxqmir2a.png)

In React Native, it needs some hacks to support this feature because there is a problem where `Dimensions` [doesn't support it](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/16152).
You always get the same data from `Dimensions.get` even if with the app on "Split View" or "Slide Over" on iPad:

```javascript
console.log(Dimensions.get('screen')) // {fontScale: 1, width: 768, height: 1024, scale: 2}
console.log(Dimensions.get('window')) // {fontScale: 1, width: 768, height: 1024, scale: 2}
```

So you need to get an actual *window* size somehow.
To accomplish it, you have to have a view the outermost of your views with `flex: 1` style.
And set `onLayout` event to get its size, and remember it somewhere like Redux store.

## Adaptable Layout Provider / Consumer

Here is code snippets to easily support for split view on your app.
It takes provider-consumer pattern but doesn't depend on React's Context API because it stores the state to Redux store.

### Provider

```javascript
// @flow
// adaptable-layout-provider.js

import * as React from 'react'
import { View, StyleSheet } from 'react-native'
import { compose, withHandlers, pure, type HOC } from 'recompose'
import actions from '../actions'
import withDispatch from '../utils/with-dispatch'

/**
 * <View onLayout={...} />
 * <FlatList onLayout={...} /> (FlatList is just wrapper for View)
 *
 * @see https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/view.html#onlayout
 */
export type OnLayout = {|
  nativeEvent: {|
    layout: {|
      x: number,
      y: number,
      width: number,
      height: number
    |}
  |}
|}

type Props = {
  children: React.Node
}

const enhance: HOC<*, Props> = compose(
  withDispatch(),
  pure,
  withHandlers({
    emitDimensionChanges: props => (event: OnLayout) => {
      const { dispatch } = props
      const { width, height } = event.nativeEvent.layout

      dispatch(actions.viewport.update({ width, height }))
    }
  })
)

const Provider = enhance(props => (
  <View style={styles.container} onLayout={props.emitDimensionChanges}>
    {props.children}
  </View>
))

export default Provider

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1
  }
})
```

### Consumer

```javascript
// @flow
// adaptable-layout-consumer.js

import * as React from 'react'
import { compose, pure, type HOC } from 'recompose'
import connect from '../utils/connect-store'

type Props = {
  renderOnWide?: React.Node,
  renderOnNarrow?: React.Node
}

const enhance: HOC<*, Props> = compose(
  connect(({ viewport }) => ({ viewport })),
  pure
)

const Consumer = enhance(props => {
  const { viewport } = props
  // may return nothing:
  // 1. renderOnWide set but we have narrow layout
  // 2. renderOnNarrow set but we have wide layout
  let children = null
  const wideLayout = viewport.isTablet

  if (wideLayout === true && props.renderOnWide) {
    children = props.renderOnWide
  } else if (wideLayout === false && props.renderOnNarrow) {
    children = props.renderOnNarrow
  }

  return children
})

export default Consumer
```

### Reducer

```javascript
// @flow
// reducers/viewport.js
import type { ViewportActionType } from '../actions/viewport'
import * as viewportActions from '../actions/viewport'
import { Dimensions } from 'react-native'

export type Dimension = {
  width: number,
  height: number
}

export type ViewportState = {
  width: number,
  height: number,
  isLandscape: boolean,
  isPortrait: boolean,
  isTablet: boolean,
  isPhone: boolean
}

function isLandscape(dim: Dimension) {
  return dim.width >= dim.height
}

function isTablet(dim: Dimension) {
  return dim.width >= 1024
}

const dim: Dimension = Dimensions.get('window')
export const initialViewportState: ViewportState = {
  width: dim.width,
  height: dim.height,
  isLandscape: isLandscape(dim),
  isPortrait: !isLandscape(dim),
  isTablet: isTablet(dim),
  isPhone: !isTablet(dim)
}

export default function viewport(
  state: ViewportState = initialViewportState,
  action: ViewportActionType
): ViewportState {
  switch (action.type) {
    case viewportActions.VIEWPORT_UPDATE:
      const dim = action.payload
      return {
        ...action.payload,
        isLandscape: isLandscape(dim),
        isPortrait: !isLandscape(dim),
        isTablet: isTablet(dim),
        isPhone: !isTablet(dim)
      }
    default:
      return state || initialViewportState
  }
}

```

### Action

```javascript
// @flow
import { type Dimension } from '../reducers/viewport'
export const VIEWPORT_UPDATE = 'VIEWPORT_UPDATE'

export type ViewportActionType = {
  type: 'VIEWPORT_UPDATE',
  payload: Dimension
}

export function update(dim: Dimension) {
  return {
    type: VIEWPORT_UPDATE,
    payload: dim
  }
}

```


In this example, it stores window size to Redux store.
However you can also store it in global variables, which I don't recommend though but it's just simple.

## How to use it

In your root view component:

```javascript
const RootView = () => (
  <AdaptableLayoutProvider>
    <MainScreen />
  </AdaptableLayoutProvider>
)
```

In your screen component:

```javascript
const MainScreen = props => {
  return (
    <AdaptableLayoutConsumer
      renderOnNarrow={
        <MobileLayout />
      }
      renderOnWide={
        <ThreeColumnLayout />
      }
    />
  )
}
```

Hope that helps!

* * *

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