config-plugins/react-native-pdf

Consider using a WebView or WebBrowser to quickly display a PDF in your app. Read the alternatives section to learn more.

Config plugin to auto-configure react-native-pdf when the native code is generated (npx expo prebuild).

Versioning

Ensure you use versions that work together!

| expo | react-native-pdf | @config-plugins/react-native-pdf | | ------ | ------------------ | ---------------------------------- | | 52.0.0 | 6.7.6 | 9.0.0 | | 51.0.0 | 6.7.5 | 8.0.0 | | 50.0.0 | 6.7.4 | 7.0.0 | | 49.0.0 | 6.7.1 | 6.0.0 | | 48.0.0 | 6.6.2 | 5.0.0 |

Add the package to your npm dependencies

This package cannot be used in the "Expo Go" app because it requires custom native code.

First install the package with yarn, npm, or npx expo install.

npx expo install react-native-pdf react-native-blob-util @config-plugins/react-native-pdf @config-plugins/react-native-blob-util

After installing this npm package, add the config plugin to the plugins array of your app.json or app.config.js:

{
  "plugins": [
    "@config-plugins/react-native-blob-util",
    "@config-plugins/react-native-pdf"
  ]
}

Next, rebuild your app as described in the "Adding custom native code" guide.

Alternatives

Consider opening a WebBrowser to display a PDF:

import * as WebBrowser from "expo-web-browser";
import { Text } from "react-native";

export default function HomeScreen() {
  return (
    <Text
      onPress={() => {
        WebBrowser.openBrowserAsync(
          "https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf"
        );
      }}
    >
      Open in-app browser
    </Text>
  );
}

Or inside a WebView for a contained view:

import { WebView } from "react-native-webview";

export default function HomeScreen() {
  return (
    <WebView
      style={{ width: 100, height: 100 }}
      source={{
        uri: "https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf",
      }}
    />
  );
}

Alternatively, if users have a favorite PDF viewer app than consider using Share API to let users open the PDF in their preferred app. This is akin to how UIDocumentInteractionController is intended to be used on iOS.

Finally, you could use DOM Components for a custom web experience.