Core Components

Also called Built-in components

Part of
React Native Glossary
Related
View ComponentJSXHost PlatformFlatList
Mentioned in
Fabric Native ComponentJestJSXWebView
Updated

What is Core Components in React Native?

Core components are the built-in building blocks React Native ships with — View, Text, Image, ScrollView, TextInput — each backed by a real native view on iOS and Android.

<View><Text><Image><ScrollView><TextInput>UIViewandroid.view
Chosen componentCore componentRender errorCore components are the building blocks React Native ships with, and each one is backed by a real platform widget, not a web element: View is a UIView or an android.view, Text a UITextView or TextView, Image, ScrollView and TextInput map the same way. Text only renders inside Text, so a bare string in a View throws. ScrollView mounts all its children at once; long lists want FlatList.

Core components are the ready-made components React Native ships with, each one wrapping a real platform widget rather than a web element. They are the vocabulary you build every screen from.

The core set is small on purpose:

ComponentRenders on iOSRenders on AndroidWeb equivalent
<View>UIViewandroid.view<div>
<Text>UITextViewTextView<p>
<Image>UIImageViewImageView<img>
<ScrollView>UIScrollViewScrollViewscrollable <div>
<TextInput>UITextFieldEditText<input>

Two habits matter for newcomers. Text only renders inside <Text> — a bare string inside a <View> throws. And <ScrollView> renders all of its children at once, so for long lists reach for FlatList instead.

Everything else — buttons, sliders, switches, navigation — is either composed from these or installed from the ecosystem.