Introduction

Getting started with React Native

You can use Instant in React Native projects too! Below is an example using Expo.

Open up your terminal and do the following:

# Create an app with expo
npx create-expo-app instant-rn-demo
cd instant-rn-demo
 
# Install instant
npm i @instantdb/react-native
 
# Install peer dependencies
npm i @react-native-async-storage/async-storage @react-native-community/netinfo react-native-get-random-values

Now open up app/(tabs)/index.tsx in your favorite editor and replace the entirety of the file with the following code.

import { init, i, InstaQLEntity } from '@instantdb/react-native';
import { View, Text, Button, StyleSheet } from 'react-native';
 
// Visit https://instantdb.com/dash to get your APP_ID :)
const APP_ID = '__APP_ID__';
 
// Optional: You can declare a schema!
const schema = i.schema({
  entities: {
    colors: i.entity({
      value: i.string(),
    }),
  },
});
 
type Color = InstaQLEntity<typeof schema, 'colors'>;
 
const db = init({ appId: APP_ID, schema });
 
const selectId = '4d39508b-9ee2-48a3-b70d-8192d9c5a059';
 
function App() {
  const { isLoading, error, data } = db.useQuery({
    colors: {
      $: { where: { id: selectId } },
    },
  });
  if (isLoading) {
    return (
      <View>
        <Text>Loading...</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
  if (error) {
    return (
      <View>
        <Text>Error: {error.message}</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
 
  return <Main color={data.colors[0]} />;
}
 
function Main(props: { color?: Color }) {
  const { value } = props.color || { value: 'lightgray' };
 
  return (
    <View style={[styles.container, { backgroundColor: value }]}>
      <View style={[styles.contentSection]}>
        <Text style={styles.header}>Hi! pick your favorite color</Text>
        <View style={styles.spaceX4}>
          {['green', 'blue', 'purple'].map((c) => {
            return (
              <Button
                title={c}
                onPress={() => {
                  db.transact(db.tx.colors[selectId].update({ value: c }));
                }}
                key={c}
              />
            );
          })}
        </View>
      </View>
    </View>
  );
}
 
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
  },
  spaceY4: {
    marginVertical: 16,
  },
  spaceX4: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    justifyContent: 'space-between',
    marginHorizontal: 16,
  },
  contentSection: {
    backgroundColor: 'white',
    opacity: 0.8,
    padding: 12,
    borderRadius: 8,
  },
  header: {
    fontSize: 24,
    fontWeight: 'bold',
    marginBottom: 16,
  },
});
 
export default App;

If you haven't already, install the Expo Go app on iOS or Android. Once you have that installed you can run the app from your terminal.

npm run start

Scan the QR code with your phone and follow the instructions on the screen :)

Huzzah 🎉 You've got your first React Native Instant app running! Check out the Working with data section to learn more about how to use Instant!

#Using MMKV for faster storage (optional)

By default, Instant uses AsyncStorage to persist data on device. If you want faster read/write performance, you can use MMKV instead.

#Install the MMKV package

npm i @instantdb/react-native-mmkv
 
# Install MMKV peer dependencies
npx expo install react-native-mmkv react-native-nitro-modules

Note: MMKV requires native code, so you'll need to run a prebuild:

npx expo prebuild

#Configure Instant to use MMKV

Import Store from @instantdb/react-native-mmkv and pass it to init:

import { init } from '@instantdb/react-native';
import Store from '@instantdb/react-native-mmkv';
 
const db = init({
  appId: APP_ID,
  Store: Store,
});

Then run your app on a device or simulator:

npx expo run:ios # or npx expo run:android

That's it! Instant will now use MMKV for local persistence instead of AsyncStorage.

#Implementing your own store

You can also implement your own local cache interface by extending StoreInterface from @instantdb/react-native. Here's an example in-memory store implementation:

import {
  StoreInterface,
  StoreInterfaceStoreName,
} from '@instantdb/react-native';
 
class InMemoryStore extends StoreInterface {
  _map: Map<string, any>;
 
  constructor(appId: string, storeName: StoreInterfaceStoreName) {
    super(appId, storeName);
    this._map = new Map();
  }
 
  async getItem(key: string): Promise<any> {
    return this._map.get(key) ?? null;
  }
 
  async multiSet(keyValuePairs: Array<[string, any]>): Promise<void> {
    for (const [key, value] of keyValuePairs) {
      this._map.set(key, value);
    }
  }
 
  async removeItem(key: string): Promise<void> {
    this._map.delete(key);
  }
 
  async getAllKeys(): Promise<string[]> {
    return Array.from(this._map.keys());
  }
}

Then pass your custom store class to init:

import { init } from '@instantdb/react-native';
 
const db = init({
  appId: APP_ID,
  Store: InMemoryStore,
});

#Next Steps

Want a more in-depth tutorial on building an Expo app with Instant? Check out Beto's video on building a chat app below!

This video goes through core concepts of using Instant like setting up schema, writing queries, and using transactions!

For more advanced features, check out Simon Grimm building a mobile app builder with Instant!

In this video Simon builds on top of the concepts from Beto's video and shows off how to use Storage for uploading assets and the Platform API for programmatically spinning up databases.

If you prefer reading docs, you can also check out the Working with data section to learn more Instant concepts.

As you get more familiar with Instant, check out our Recommended Workflow docs for using Instant in your projects.

Next: Create Instant App