Introduction: Improving Onboarding with React Native Horizontal Scroll Input
Creating an intuitive and interactive user experience is essential for React Native mobile applications. When designing onboarding screens, we needed a premium, interactive way to collect essential user details like height, weight, and age. Instead of using traditional input fields, we implemented a horizontal scroll input using react-native-reanimated-carousel to create a visually engaging, touch-responsive experience.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to customize react-native-reanimated-carousel to build a smooth, high-performance horizontal scroll input in React Native.
Challenges in Implementing Horizontal Scroll Input in React Native
Most libraries available in the React Native ecosystem are designed for basic input fields or traditional carousels, but none fully addressed our specific needs. We required:
- Dynamic Scaling: The selected value (age, height, weight) should appear larger, while adjacent values should shrink for visual emphasis.
- Haptic Feedback: Users should feel a subtle vibration when selecting a value.
- Optimized Performance: Scrolling should be smooth without lag, even with a large dataset (e.g., ages 0-150).
- Custom Styling and Display: The ability to customize the number of visible items and apply unique UI styling.
After testing various solutions, react-native-reanimated-carousel proved to be the best fit due to its flexibility and high performance.
Solution: Leveraging react-native-reanimated-carousel for Custom Input Selection
Why react-native-reanimated-carousel?
Although designed for image carousels, react-native-reanimated-carousel allowed us to fully customize scrolling behavior and UI elements.
How It Met Our Needs:
✅ Data Handling: Supports numerical values (e.g., height, weight, age) instead of just images.
✅ Custom Item Rendering: Full control over renderItem to design unique layouts and styling.
✅ Parallax & Focus Effects: Creates an elegant, user-friendly focus effect for the selected item.
✅ Optimized Performance: Efficient handling of large datasets to prevent UI lag.
✅ Smooth Scrolling & Speed Control: Adjusts scrolling velocity and momentum for a premium user experience.
✅ Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensures consistent scrolling behavior on both iOS and Android.
Step 1: Installing Dependencies for React Native Horizontal Scroll Input
Step 2: Setting Up react-native-reanimated-carousel
Ensure you have react-native-reanimated-carousel installed:
npm install react-native-reanimated-carousel react-native-reanimated react-native-gesture-handlerStep 3: Customizing the Carousel for a Better UX
Here’s how we structured our horizontal scroll picker using react-native-reanimated-carousel:
<Carousel
height={140}
loop={false}
scrollAnimationDuration={500}
defaultIndex={30}
pagingEnabled={false}
snapEnabled
width={PAGE_WIDTH}
mode="parallax"
modeConfig={{
parallaxScrollingScale: 1.2,
parallaxScrollingOffset: 280,
parallaxAdjacentItemScale: 0.6,
}}
windowSize={5}
onProgressChange={handleProgressChange}
data={[...new Array(150).keys()]}
overscrollEnabled
renderItem={({ index }) => (
<View key={index} style={styles.lineContainer}>
<Text style={styles.number}>{index}</Text>
<View style={styles.line} />
</View>
)}
/>This configuration allows for smooth horizontal scrolling with a custom parallax effect, creating a premium feel.
Step 4: Adding Haptic Feedback for a Premium Feel
To provide haptic feedback during scrolling, we created a progress change handler:
const previousIntegerProgressRef = useRef(0);
const previousDecimalPartRef = useRef(0);
const getIntegerPart = (number: number): number => {
return Math.floor(number);
};
const handleProgressChange = (
_offsetProgress: number,
absoluteProgress: number,
) => {
const currentIntegerProgress = getIntegerPart(absoluteProgress);
const previousIntegerProgress = previousIntegerProgressRef.current;
const decimalPart = absoluteProgress % 1;
if (currentIntegerProgress !== previousIntegerProgress) {
if (decimalPart > 0.5 && previousDecimalPartRef.current <= 0.5) {
Haptics.selectionAsync();
}
previousIntegerProgressRef.current = currentIntegerProgress;
previousDecimalPartRef.current = decimalPart;
}
};This triggers subtle haptic feedback whenever a user scrolls between values.
Step 5: Styling the UI for a Modern Look
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flexDirection: 'row',
alignItems: 'center',
},
lineContainer: {
alignItems: 'center',
marginRight: 10,
},
line: {
height: 200,
width: 2,
backgroundColor: '#7C3AED',
},
number: {
margin: 10,
fontSize: 24,
color: 'white',
},
});This ensures a visually engaging UI that integrates smoothly into any React Native onboarding screen.
Final Thoughts: A Premium UX with Horizontal Scroll Input
Our customized React Native horizontal scroll input has significantly improved user engagement and experience in onboarding flows. Key takeaways:
- 📌 Enhanced User Interaction: Dynamic scaling & focus effects improve visibility.
- 📌 Immersive Experience: Haptic feedback provides a premium feel.
- 📌 Optimized Performance: Smooth scrolling and efficient rendering prevent lag.
- 📌 Custom Styling & Flexibility: Supports any UI/UX design.
By using react-native-reanimated-carousel, we achieved a fully customized, high-performance input experience, proving that creative adaptation of existing libraries can lead to innovative solutions.
FAQs
1. What is React Native Horizontal Scroll Input?
React Native Horizontal Scroll Input is a user interface pattern that allows users to select values by swiping horizontally instead of using traditional dropdowns or input fields.
2. Why should I use React Native Horizontal Scroll Input?
It enhances user experience by providing a smooth, touch-friendly way to input values, making it perfect for onboarding screens or settings where users need to quickly adjust values.
3. How does react-native-reanimated-carousel improve the scrolling experience?
This library enables smooth animations, customizable layouts, and efficient performance optimization for large datasets, making it ideal for horizontal scrolling inputs.
4. Can I customize the number of visible items in the horizontal scroll?
Yes, you can specify the exact number of items displayed in the viewport using properties like windowSize and modeConfig.
5. How do I add haptic feedback to my React Native Horizontal Scroll Input?
You can use the Haptics.selectionAsync() function from expo-haptics to trigger subtle vibrations when users scroll through values.
6. Is React Native Horizontal Scroll Input supported on both iOS and Android?
Yes, react-native-reanimated-carousel ensures smooth scrolling behavior across both iOS and Android platforms.
7. What are the performance considerations when implementing React Native Horizontal Scroll Input?
To avoid lag, use windowSize to control rendering, optimize animations with useNativeDriver, and limit the number of items loaded at once.
8. Can I use React Native Horizontal Scroll Input with custom data like age, height, or weight?
Yes, you can customize the input values by feeding an array of numbers or strings into the carousel’s data property.
9. How do I apply custom styling to the horizontal scroll component?
You can fully customize the appearance using the renderItem function and styles defined in the StyleSheet object.
10. Where can I find more resources to optimize my React Native UI?
You can explore Optimizing React Native Performance and Best Practices for Mobile UI/UX for more insights.
Further Reading & Resources
- React Native Reanimated Carousel Documentation (External, DoFollow)
- React Native Gesture Handler Guide (External, DoFollow)
- Optimizing React Native Performance (Internal, DoFollow)
- Best Practices for Mobile UI/UX (Internal, DoFollow)