software-mansion/react-native-screens 5.0.0-alpha.4 on GitHub

What's Changed

This is the fourth alpha release of react-native-screens 5.0.0. Tabs on iOS 26.1+ now use the UITab API, which brings UISearchTab with automaticallyActivatesSearch, prominentScreenKey and tabBarSidebarPreferredPlacement for iOS 27, along with a series of fixes for tabs that overflow into More; both platforms also gain custom drawable / symbol tab-bar icons. Stack v5 header items on iOS get visibilityPriority, menuRepresentation, variant and disabled, and the navigation bar's minimization on scroll can now be controlled with minimizationBehavior and restorationBehavior. On Android, Stack v5 detaches covered screens so both screens animate during a transition and handles the direction prop, and fragment restoration is now R8-safe. Stack v4 on iOS 26+ lays out screens under an opaque navigation bar and gains unstable_safeAreaEdges, and the broken types published for tabs and the stack header config are fixed.

iOS 26+: opaque headers in native stack (iOS)

Starting with iOS 26, Apple recommends against custom navigation bar backgrounds. Bars are transparent by default and content is meant to extend under them - see WWDC25: Build a UIKit app with the new design. Opaque headers (headerTransparent: false) aren't deprecated, but UIKit's support for them is getting worse:

On iOS 26, edgesForExtendedLayout (which we used to lay out the screen below an opaque header) doesn't position the screen correctly in landscape and in modals. We partially worked around this with a SafeAreaView (#3231).
On iPhone Duo (iOS 27) the same problem affects regular screens in portrait. The screen ended up partially under the header. Additionally, changes to internal hierarchy of the header introduced new bugs related to Pressables.
An opaque header's background doesn't reach the top of the screen and leaves a strip above it. When this was reported on the Apple Developer Forums, Apple didn't treat it as a bug and pointed to the guidance against custom bar backgrounds instead.

Tip

We recommend following Apple's guidance and using a transparent header on iOS 26+.

✅ Improvements

feat(TVOS): add disableDefaultMenuAction prop for opting out automatic screen pop by @kacperzolkiewski in #4665
feat(iOS, Tabs): add tabBarSidebarPreferredPlacement prop to choose between sidebar and tab bar on iOS 27 by @Loloekk in #4668
feat(Android, Stack v5): handle direction prop and improve RTL collapsing header workaround by @kligarski in #4611
feat(Android, Stack v5): detach covered screens by @kligarski in #4633
feat(iOS, Tabs): Migrate to UITab API for iOS >= 26.1 by @kmichalikk in #4675
feat(iOS, Stack v4): Add visibilityPriority prop to header items by @Loloekk in #4709
feat(iOS, Stack v5): add visibilityPriority prop for header items by @Loloekk in #4678
feat(iOS, Stack v5): Add menuRepresentation prop to header items by @kmichalikk in #4587
feat(iOS, Stack v5): add minimizationBehavior and restorationBehavior to control when the navigation bar minimizes and restores on scroll by @Loloekk in #4703
feat(iOS, Stack v5): Add disabled to header items by @kmichalikk in #4620
feat(iOS, Stack v5): Add variant prop to header item (plain, prominent) by @kmichalikk in #4621
feat(iOS, Tabs): Use UISearchTab with automaticallyActivatesSearch prop by @kmichalikk in #4679
feat(Tabs): custom drawable/symbol tab-bar icons — per-slot coloring, per-tab size, indicator sizing, iOS fallback by @stachbial in #4209
feat(iOS, Tabs): add prominentScreenKey so a chosen tab stays visible when the tab bar minimizes by @Loloekk in #4724
feat(iOS, Stack v4): add unstable_safeAreaEdges prop by @kligarski in #4872
feat(iOS, Stack v4): prevent header minimization for opaque header by @kligarski in #4873

🐞 Bug fixes

fix(iOS, Tabs): prevent tab bar hidden animation on first render by @kkafar in #4673
fix(Android, Tabs): let touches through the strip a hidden tab bar leaves behind by @dyankov91 in #4489
fix(iOS, Stack v4): send dismiss event to js when pop animation ends by @kacperzolkiewski in #4714
fix(Android, Stack v5): restore valid header collapse state after re-showing the header by @kligarski in #4606
fix(Android, Stack v5): add explicitParentProvider to ColorSchemeCoordinator to ensure correct resolution during transition by @kligarski in #4634
fix(Android): always emit warn, error and wtf RNSLog levels by @kkafar in #4733
fix(Android): make fragment restoration R8-safe by @ngocdevv in #4540
fix(Android): don't run header update for a screen detached from its stack by @nsingh-ut in #4498
fix(iOS, Stack v4): stop form sheet from resizing a recycled scroll view by @kkafar in #4791
fix(Android): don't crash in setupFabric during instance teardown by @kkafar in #4790
fix(iOS, Tabs): enforce consistent bottom accessory width by @kligarski in #4792
fix(android): restore touch coordinates after covered screens rotate by @savv in #4760
fix(Android, Stack v4): remove orphaned fragments when ScreenContainer detaches by @kkafar in #4814
fix(iOS, Tabs): Hide "Edit" button in sidebar for UITab API by @kmichalikk in #4804
fix(iOS, Tabs): Reorder tab image configuration calls by @kmichalikk in #4813
fix(android): prevent legacy and tabs containers from delaying child pressed state by @j-piasecki in #4771
fix(iOS, Stack v5): make stack screen a SafeAreaView provider by @Loloekk in #4738
fix(iOS, Stack v4): use native screen origin as shadow tree offset by @kkafar in #4725
fix(iOS, Tabs): don't drop user selection of UISearchTab on mount transactions by @kkafar in #4862
fix: fix broken types being published for tabs host and screen by @satya164 in #4871
fix: fix broken types being published for stack header config by @satya164 in #4875
fix(iOS, Stack v4): lay out screens under an opaque navigation bar on iOS 26+ by @kligarski in #4757
fix(iOS, Stack v4): update header subview positions after navigation bar layout on iOS 26+ by @kligarski in #4758
fix(iOS, Stack v4): report minimized header height on iOS 27+ via useHeaderHeight by @kligarski in #4734
fix(iOS, Tabs): apply async-loaded icons to tabs that overflow into More on the UITab path by @t0maboro in #4889
fix(iOS, Tabs): filter UIKit's didSelectTab: for programmatic selection while More is active by @t0maboro in #4890

🔢 Misc

chore(iOS, FabricExample): use scene lifecycle by default by @kligarski in #4676
chore(test): split e2e-utils into framework/app helper tiers behind @e2e alias by @LKuchno in #4635
chore(iOS, TVOSExample): use scene lifecycle by default by @kligarski in #4710
refactor(Android, Stack v5): move invalidation flags to native implementation by @kligarski in #4599
chore(test): mark stack-v5 and form-sheet scenarios as smoke tests by @LKuchno in #4707
chore(e2e): Adding iPad configuration to e2e suite in CI by @LKuchno in #4704
chore(deps): bump vm2 from 3.11.6 to 3.12.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #4765
chore(deps): bump brace-expansion from 1.1.18 to 1.1.21 in /docs by @dependabot[bot] in #4766
chore(deps): bump brace-expansion from 1.1.16 to 1.1.21 by @dependabot[bot] in #4754
docs: remove README-Fabric.md by @kkafar in #4783
chore(Android, Stack v4): remove dead ScreenModalFragment and helpers by @kkafar in #4795
refactor(Android, FormSheet): inject activity provider into dimming manager by @kkafar in #4735
refactor(Android, FormSheet): move to core and react packages by @kkafar in #4739
chore(Android): check core/react layer boundary in lint-android by @kkafar in #4742
refactor(Android): drop PixelUtil fallback from DimensionUtils by @kkafar in #4796
chore(Stack v5): remove unused ScreenStackNativeProps type from web by @kkafar in #4797
test(e2e, iOS): skip tab tests broken by UITab API migration (#4675) by @LKuchno in #4778
chore(test): move tabBarSidebarPreferredPlacement test to component integration tests by @Loloekk in #4816
refactor(Android): resolve container fragment manager through host delegates by @kkafar in #4803
chore(CI): remove obsolete cocoapods 1.15.2 install step from iOS workflows by @kkafar in #4798
chore(Android, Stack v5): gate debug logs behind RNSLog by @kkafar in #4799
test(e2e, iOS): fix context menu dismissal in Stack Header Menu test by @LKuchno in #4820
chore(test): e2e coverage for test-form-sheet-base by @LKuchno in #4661
refactor(JS, Stack v5): accept ref as a regular prop in StackHeaderConfig by @t0maboro in #4876
refactor(Android): make legacy screen containers take part in the container hierarchy by @kkafar in #4859
chore(Example): disable LogBox notifications in example apps by @kkafar in #4874
chore(deps): bump proxy-addr from 2.0.7 to 2.0.8 in /docs by @dependabot[bot] in #4806
test(e2e, iOS): re-enable tab system-item icon tests fixed by #4813 by @LKuchno in #4870
refactor(Android): route tabs pop-to-root through the container hierarchy by @kkafar in #4828
chore(Android): allow generated BuildConfig and R in the core layer check by @kkafar in #4843
refactor(Android): move createTransactionWithReordering to ext by @kkafar in #4844
chore: aggregate dependabot updates by @kkafar in #4898
refactor(Android): decouple SafeAreaProvider from SafeAreaView by @kkafar in #4845

New Contributors

@dyankov91 made their first contribution in #4489
@ngocdevv made their first contribution in #4540
@nsingh-ut made their first contribution in #4498
@savv made their first contribution in #4760

Full Changelog: 5.0.0-alpha.3...5.0.0-alpha.4