expo-emoji-picker

A native emoji picker module for React Native applications built with Expo. This module provides platform-specific emoji selection interfaces using native system components.

Based on react-native-emoji-popup and expo-emoji-picker.

What It Does

The module exposes a React component that presents native emoji picker UI on iOS and Android. When a user selects an emoji, it fires a callback with the selected emoji string.

Platform Support

• iOS: Uses MCEmojiPicker presented as a modal picker
• Android: Uses the system androidx.emoji2.emojipicker.EmojiPickerView component
• Web: Not supported (native platforms only)

How It Works

Architecture

The module follows Expo's module architecture with three layers:

1. JavaScript/TypeScript Layer (src/): React components and type definitions
2. Native iOS Layer (ios/): Swift implementation using MCEmojiPicker
3. Native Android Layer (android/): Kotlin implementation using AndroidX emoji picker

iOS Implementation

On iOS, the module creates an invisible tap target view. When tapped, it presents MCEmojiPicker as a modal view controller:

• EmojiPickerView.swift: Custom view that handles tap gestures and presents the picker
• EmojiPickerModule.swift: Module definition that registers the view with Expo
• Uses MCEmojiPicker dependency for the native picker UI

The picker is presented from the current React view controller and returns the selected emoji via an event dispatcher.

Android Implementation

On Android, the module embeds the AndroidX EmojiPickerView directly as a full-screen component:

• EmojiPickerModuleView.kt: Wraps the system EmojiPickerView in an ExpoView
• EmojiPickerModule.kt: Module definition that registers the view with Expo
• Handles configuration changes (dark mode, orientation) by recreating the view

The AndroidX emoji picker provides a grid-based interface with category tabs and search.

Platform-Specific React Components

The module uses platform-specific file extensions for different behaviors:

• EmojiPicker.tsx (iOS): Renders an invisible tap target that accepts children
• EmojiPicker.android.tsx (Android): Renders the full emoji picker view with flex: 1 layout

Both components normalize the native event structure to provide a consistent onEmojiSelected callback.

Key Files

Configuration

• expo-module.config.json: Defines the module name and native class mappings for iOS and Android

TypeScript/React

• index.ts: Public exports for the module
• src/EmojiPickerModule.ts: Native module registration
• src/EmojiPickerModule.types.ts: TypeScript type definitions
• src/EmojiPickerView.tsx: Base native view component
• src/EmojiPicker.tsx: iOS-specific implementation
• src/EmojiPicker.android.tsx: Android-specific implementation

iOS (Swift)

• ios/EmojiPickerModule.swift: Module definition (11 lines)
• ios/EmojiPickerView.swift: View implementation with tap handling and picker presentation
• ios/EmojiPickerModule.podspec: CocoaPods specification with MCEmojiPicker dependency

Android (Kotlin)

• android/src/main/java/expo/community/modules/emojipicker/EmojiPickerModule.kt: Module definition
• android/src/main/java/expo/community/modules/emojipicker/EmojiPickerModuleView.kt: View implementation
• android/build.gradle: Gradle configuration with androidx.emoji2:emoji2-emojipicker dependency

Usage

import { EmojiPicker } from 'expo-emoji-picker'

function MyComponent() {
  const handleEmojiSelected = (emoji: string) => {
    console.log('Selected emoji:', emoji)
  }

  return (
    <EmojiPicker onEmojiSelected={handleEmojiSelected}>
    </EmojiPicker>
  )
}

Dependencies

iOS

• ExpoModulesCore
• MCEmojiPicker (external CocoaPods dependency)
• Minimum iOS version: 15.1

Android

• expo-modules-core
• androidx.emoji2:emoji2-emojipicker:1.5.0
• Minimum SDK: 21
• Target SDK: 34

Configuration

No additional configuration is required. The module is automatically linked through Expo's autolinking system when the app is built.

The module definition in expo-module.config.json specifies the native class names for each platform, which Expo uses to register the module at runtime.