gestures

name

gestures

description

Software Mansion's best practices for gestures in React Native apps using React Native Gesture Handler. Use when implementing tap, pan, pinch, rotation, swipe, long press, fling, hover, drag, or any touch interaction. Trigger on: 'gesture handler', 'GestureDetector', 'tap gesture', 'pan gesture', 'pinch gesture', 'rotation gesture', 'long press', 'fling', 'hover gesture', 'swipe', 'pinch to zoom', 'drag', 'touch handling', 'Pressable', 'RectButton', 'Swipeable', 'Touchable', 'DrawerLayout', 'VirtualGestureDetector', or any request to handle user touch input in a React Native app.

React Native Gesture Handler

Software Mansion's production gesture patterns for React Native using Gesture Handler. Never suggest PanResponder when RNGH is available -- it runs on the JS thread and is effectively deprecated.

Version Decision Tree

Check package.json - "react-native-gesture-handler" version
   │
   ├── user asks to migrate v2 -> v3
   │   → webfetch https://docs.swmansion.com/react-native-gesture-handler/docs/guides/upgrading-to-3
   ├── starts with "2." → use builder API (Gesture.Pan(), Gesture.Simultaneous(), useMemo)
   └── starts with "3." → use hook API (usePanGesture(), useSimultaneousGestures())

Key API Differences (v2 vs v3)

Concept	v2 Builder API	v3 Hook API
Create gesture	Gesture.Pan().onUpdate(...)	usePanGesture({ onUpdate: ... })
Compose (simultaneous)	Gesture.Simultaneous(a, b)	useSimultaneousGestures(a, b)
Compose (race/competing)	Gesture.Race(a, b)	useCompetingGestures(a, b)
Compose (exclusive)	Gesture.Exclusive(a, b)	useExclusiveGestures(a, b)
Activation callback	.onStart(...)	onActivate: ...
Deactivation callback	.onEnd(...)	onDeactivate: ...
Change data	.onChange(...)	merged into onUpdate (use changeX, changeY)
Cross-component	.simultaneousWithExternalGesture()	.simultaneousWith()
Cross-component	.requireExternalGestureToFail()	.requireToFail()
Cross-component	.blocksExternalGesture()	.block()
Memoization	wrap in useMemo (mandatory)	hook input needs memoization (supports React Compiler)
SVG / broken hierarchy	GestureDetector (may break hierarchy)	InterceptingGestureDetector + VirtualGestureDetector
State manager	callback param stateManager	global GestureStateManager
Buttons	RectButton, BorderlessButton	Touchable

Critical Rules

GestureHandlerRootView is mandatory -- GestureDetector will crash at runtime without it as an ancestor. Place it as close to the app root as possible. With Expo Router, wrap <Stack /> in the root _layout.tsx:

// app/_layout.tsx
import { Stack } from 'expo-router';
import { GestureHandlerRootView } from 'react-native-gesture-handler';

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <GestureHandlerRootView>
      <Stack />
    </GestureHandlerRootView>
  );
}

With React Navigation (no Expo Router), wrap the <NavigationContainer> children. With bare React Native, wrap the app root component. Nested GestureHandlerRootViews are ignored -- only the topmost instance is used. Default style is { flex: 1 }.

v2: useMemo every gesture -- without it, gesture objects recreate on every render, causing recognizers to re-attach and lose state:

const pan = useMemo(() => Gesture.Pan().onBegin(...).onUpdate(...).onEnd(...), []);

v3 hook API handles memoization internally, but the input object must be memoized for it to work correctly.

Never call JS-thread functions directly from gesture callbacks -- when Reanimated is installed, gesture callbacks run on the UI thread (workletized). Calling any non-worklet function (state setters, navigation, audio APIs, native module methods, useCallback handlers) directly from a gesture callback crashes with "Tried to synchronously call a non-worklet function on the UI thread". Wrap every JS-thread call in scheduleOnRN from react-native-worklets:

import { scheduleOnRN } from 'react-native-worklets';

// WRONG -- crashes: calling JS function directly from UI thread
const gesture = useMemo(() =>
  Gesture.Pan().onUpdate((e) => {
    handleTouch(e.absoluteX, e.absoluteY); // non-worklet function
  }),
[]);

// CORRECT -- schedules JS function on RN thread
const gesture = useMemo(() =>
  Gesture.Pan().onUpdate((e) => {
    scheduleOnRN(handleTouch, e.absoluteX, e.absoluteY);
  }),
[]);

This applies to all gesture callback types including onTouchesDown, onTouchesMove, onTouchesUp, onStart, onUpdate, onEnd, etc. The only code safe to run directly is worklet-compatible code (shared value mutations, other worklet functions).

Scroll containers -- import ScrollView/FlatList from react-native-gesture-handler, not react-native. Use RectButton (v2) or Touchable (v3) for tappable items inside scroll containers:

import { ScrollView, FlatList, RectButton, Touchable } from 'react-native-gesture-handler';

Never mix React Native touch handlers with RNGH in the same component tree -- causes double-tap bugs and gesture conflicts. Pick one system per app.

Callbacks are auto-workletized -- do not add 'worklet'; to callbacks passed directly (inline) to gesture hooks/builders. The Babel plugin handles this. Only add 'worklet'; to standalone functions assigned to variables before being passed as callbacks.

References

Load at most one reference file per question. For API signatures and config options, webfetch the documentation pages linked in each reference file.

File	When to read
gestures.md	Choosing which gesture type or component to use; callback lifecycle; threading model; GestureStateManager for manual activation; SharedValue in gesture config
tap-handling.md	RectButton, Pressable, Touchable, tappable items in scroll containers, tap gestures, double-tap, hit slop
continuous-gestures.md	Pan (drag), Pinch (zoom), Rotation, Long press, Fling (swipe), Hover; Reanimated integration patterns; offset accumulation; velocity and decay
gesture-composition.md	Combining gestures on one component (Simultaneous/Race/Exclusive); cross-component relations; VirtualGestureDetector for SVG and Text; Pan inside ScrollView
swipeable-and-drawer.md	ReanimatedSwipeable for list item actions; ReanimatedDrawerLayout for side menus; custom swipeable with Pan gesture; web scroll compatibility
testing.md	Jest setup and mocking; fireGestureHandler for testing gestures; common troubleshooting (multiple instances, gesture conflicts, enabled timing)
v2-to-v3-migration.md	Migration guide from v2 to v3; API changes; hook usage; memoization; gesture callbacks