@nativescript/imagepicker

@nativescript/imagepicker

Contents

• Intro
• Installation
  • Android required permissions
  • iOS required permissions
• Pick images
  • Demo
• API
  • ImagePicker class
  • create()
  • Options
  • ImagePickerMediaType

Intro

Imagepicker plugin supporting both single and multiple selection.

• Plugin supports iOS8+ and uses QBImagePicker cocoapod.
• For Android it uses Intents to open the stock images or file pickers. For Android 6 (API 23) and above, the permissions to read file storage should be explicitly required.

Installation

Install the plugin by running the following command in the root directory of your app.

npm install @nativescript/imagepicker

Note: Version 3.1 contains breaking changes:

• New behavior on iOS when the user selects Limit AccessLim.. detailed in iOS Limited permission.

Note: Version 3.0 contains breaking changes:

• authorize() now returns a Promise<AuthorizationResult> for both android and ios.
• In the returned result from present() each result[i].thumbnail is now an ImageSource.
• result[i].duration is now typed correctly as a number.

Note: Version 2.0 contains breaking changes. In order supply more information about your selection, the ImageSource asset is nested in the response so you'll need to update your code to use result.asset instead of result as your src for your Images.

Android required permissions

Add the following permissions to the App_Resources/Android/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml file:

• targetSdkVersion < 33

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>

<application android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" ... >
    ...
  </application>

• targetSdkVersion >=33(Android 13+)

These are only required when not setting android.use_photo_picker = true.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_IMAGES" />

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_VIDEO" />

See the complete example here.

Android Photo picker

For phones running android 13+ specifying the option android.use_photo_picker = true when creating the ImagePicker will result in the use of the System Photo Picker.

let imagePickerObj: ImagePicker = imagePickerPlugin.create({
    mode: "single",
	android: { use_photo_picker: true }});

This means you can remove the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions and do not have to prompt the user for permission.

Full details here.

You can also now limit the number of images that are selectable in the Photo Picker by specifying the maximumNumberOfSelection option.

For phones running < Android 13, this use_photo_picker option has no effect.

iOS required permissions

Using the plugin on iOS requires the NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription permission. Modify the app/App_Resources/iOS/Info.plist file to add it as follows:

<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>Description text goes here</string>

Apple App Store might reject your app if you do not describe why you need this permission. The default message Requires access to photo library. might not be enough for the App Store reviewers.

iOS Limited permission

Apple introduced the PHAuthorizationStatusLimited permission status with iOS 14, this is where the user specifies that the app can only access specified photos by choosing the Limit Access.. option in the authorization dialog.

In this case authorise() will return an AuthorizationResult where authorized will be true and the details will contain 'limited'.

Every time the app is launched anew, and the authorize method is called, if the current permission is limited the user will be prompted to update the image selection.

To prevent this prompt, add the following values to your App_Resources/iOS/Info.plist:

<key>PHPhotoLibraryPreventAutomaticLimitedAccessAlert</key>
<true/>

Pick images

To pick images (and/or videos) with the plugin, take the steps below:

• Import the plugin

import * as imagePickerPlugin from "@nativescript/imagepicker";

• Instantiate the picker with selection mode

Instantiate the picker with selection mode by calling the create funciton of the plugin passing it an object that specifies mode(single or multiple) of media assets selection.

let imagePickerObj: ImagePicker = imagePickerPlugin.create({
    mode: "single"});

• Pick the images

• Request for permission Request for permission to access photo library by calling the asynchronous authorize method.
• Present the list of media assets If authorization request promise has resolved(e.i. the user has granted the permission), present the list of media assets to be picked from by calling the present method.
• Process the selection The present method resolves with the selected media assets that can you to process and consume.

imagePickerObj
    .authorize()
    .then((authResult) => {
        if(authResult.authorized) {
            return imagePickerObj.present()
                .then(function(selection) {
                    selection.forEach(function(selected) {
                        this.imageSource = selected.asset;
                        this.type = selected.type;
                        this.filesize = selected.filesize;
                        //etc
                    });
                });
        } else {
            // process authorization not granted.
        }
    })    
    .catch(function (e) {
        // process error
    });

Demo

You can play with the plugin on StackBlitz at any of the following links:

• NativeScript TypeScript
• NativeScript Angular
• NativeScript Vue
• NativeScript Svelte

API

ImagePicker class

The class that provides the media selection API. It offers the following methods:

Method	Returns	Description
constructor(options: Options)	ImagePicker	Instanciates the ImagePicker class with the optional options parameter. See Options
authorize()	Promise<AuthorizationResult>	Requests the required permissions. Call it before calling present(). In case of a failed authorization, consider notifying the user for degraded functionality. The returned AuthorizationResult will have it's authorized property set to true if permission has been granted.
present()	Promise<ImagePickerSelection[]>	Presents the image picker UI.
create(options: Options, hostView: View)	ImagePicker	Creates an instance of the ImagePicker class. The hostView parameter can be set to the view that hosts the image picker. Intended to be used when opening the picker from a modal page.

Options

An object passed to the create method to specify the characteristics of a media selection.

Option	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	multiple	The mode of the imagepicker. Possible values are single for single selection and multiple for multiple selection.
minimumNumberOfSelection	number	0	Optional: (iOS-only) The minumum number of selected assets.
maximumNumberOfSelection	number	0	Optional: (iOS-only, Android-Photo Picker-Only) The maximum number of selected assets.
showsNumberOfSelectedAssets	boolean	true	Optional: (iOS-only) Display the number of selected assets.
prompt	string	undefined	Optional: (iOS-only) Display prompt text when selecting assets.
numberOfColumnsInPortrait	number	4	Optional: (iOS-only) Sets the number of columns in Portrait orientation
numberOfColumnsInLandscape	number	7	Optional: (iOS-only) Sets the number of columns in Landscape orientation.
mediaType	ImagePickerMediaType	Any	Optional: The type of media asset to pick whether to pick Image/Video/Any type of assets.
copyToAppFolder	string	undefined	Optional: If passed, a new folder will be created in your applications folder and the asset will be copied there.
renameFileTo	string	undefined	Optional: If passed, the copied file will be named what you choose. If you select multiple, -index will be appended.
showAdvanced	boolean	false	Optional:(Android-only) Show internal and removable storage options on Android (WARNING: not supported officially).
android	{read_external_storage: string;}	Optional: (Android-only) Provides a reason for permission request to access external storage on API level above 23.

ImagePickerMediaType

The type of media assets to be selected.

• Any = 0,
• Image = 1,
• Video = 2

License

Apache License Version 2.0