react-native-restart-app

A simple module to restart your React Native app programmatically. This module works on both iOS and Android platforms, providing a unified API to restart the application when needed, such as after a configuration change or an error recovery action.

Table of Contents

1. Description
2. Installation
   • React Native >= 0.60
   • Extra Step for React Native <= 0.67
   • Manual iOS Installation
   • Manual Android Installation
3. Usage

Description

react-native-restart-app allows you to restart your app from the code, which is especially useful when applying significant changes such as language updates, theme switching, or reloading configurations without requiring the user to manually restart the application.

Installation

React Native >= 0.60

For React Native version 0.60 and above, auto-linking will handle the linking of the library. Simply run the following command to install the module:

npm install react-native-restart-app
# or
yarn add react-native-restart-app

Run pod install in the ios directory to install the necessary pods:

cd ios/
pod install

Extra Step for React Native <= 0.67

For React Native versions 0.67 and below, you need to add an extra step in the Podfile:

Add the following to your Podfile:

pod 'react-native-restart-app', :path => '../node_modules/react-native-restart-app'

Then, run pod install in the ios directory to install the necessary pods:

cd ios/
pod install

Build your project using Xcode or via CLI:

npx react-native run-ios

Manual iOS Installation

If auto-linking is not supported or you are using an older version of React Native (<0.60), you can manually link the library.

1. Open your project in Xcode and find the Libraries folder.
2. Right-click the folder and select "Add Files to [Your Project]".
3. Navigate to node_modules/react-native-restart-app/ios/ and add RNRestart.xcodeproj.
4. In the "Build Phases" section of your project settings, add libRNRestart.a to "Link Binary With Libraries".
5. Perform a clean build with Xcode (Cmd + Shift + K) and then build the app again (Cmd + B).

Manual Android Installation

For Android, manual linking can be performed as follows:

1. Open android/settings.gradle and add:

   include ':react-native-restart-app'
   project(':react-native-restart-app').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-restart-app/android')

2. In android/app/build.gradle, add the following line inside the dependencies block:

   implementation project(':react-native-restart-app')

3. Open MainApplication.java and import the package:

   import com.reactnativerestartapp.RNRestartPackage;

4. Then, add the package to your getPackages method:

   @Override
   protected List<ReactPackage> getPackages() {
       return Arrays.<ReactPackage>asList(
           new MainReactPackage(),
           new RNRestartPackage() // Add this line
       );
   }

Usage

To use react-native-restart-app, import it into your component and call the restart method when needed.

import restart from 'react-native-restart-app';

// Example: Restart the app after a configuration change
const handleRestart = () => {
  // Perform any necessary cleanup or configuration here
  restart();
};

Example Use Case

You can use the restart functionality after a language change in your app:

const changeLanguage = (language) => {
  // Change app language or configuration
  i18n.changeLanguage(language);

  // Restart the app to apply the changes
  restart();
};

This will cause the app to reload and apply any new configurations, such as a language change, theme change, or other critical updates.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.