React Native Android Native Module

You might wonder how all of these open-source extensions to RN are created. Here is my workflow for creating a native-module for android

How to create an Android Native Module

Create it

1. Create a project

   react-native init myModuleInsideTestApp

2. Open the Android project in myModuleWithApp/android in AndroidStudio.
3. Create a new Java package and follow the official instructions to create the skeleton of the app.
4. Link the package to the JS part of your React Native App as you would any other external React Native Package.
5. Call the package inside your index.android.js file or even create a larger app depending on your module.

Bundle your new native module to an npm package

1. Create a new folder myModule and create an android folder within it.

2. Move your code from inside the android/app folder into myModule/android/

   cp -R my-test-app/android/app/ my-npm-module/android/

3. Create a package.json with $ npm init and following the prompts. If you don’t know the answer to a question, just hit enter. You can then edit the package.json later.
4. Add .npmignore for folders you want to ignore in the final dependency. For example android/build/ should go in here.

Test your bundled npm package

1. Create a myModuleTestApp folder project

   react-native init myModuleTestApp

2. Include the npm package

   npm install --save ../path/to/folder/myModule

3. Link the app as with any other external module and include all the other required things there might be..
4. Test-run the app

Publish your npm package

1. If it’s an open-source project, host it on Github and add the repository url to your package.json file.
2. Publish your module to npm

How to update a native module

Idea:

1. Make changes in the app with the local version of your module. Test it there.
2. Copy/paste the changed Java files into the separate npm module folder.

3. In the Test-App, do the following:

   npm uninstall --save my_module
   npm prune my_module	# Removes it from node_modules folder
   npm install ./path/to/module/my_module

   Then test the app.

4. Increase the version number, push to Github and publish the updated npm module