react-native-image-picker

What is react-native-image-picker?

The react-native-image-picker package allows React Native developers to access the device's camera and photo library. It provides a simple way to capture images and videos or select them from the device's gallery.

What are react-native-image-picker's main functionalities?

Launch Camera

This feature allows you to launch the device's camera to capture a photo. The `launchCamera` function takes an options object to specify the media type and camera type, and a callback function to handle the response.

import { launchCamera } from 'react-native-image-picker';

const options = {
  mediaType: 'photo',
  cameraType: 'back',
};

launchCamera(options, (response) => {
  if (response.didCancel) {
    console.log('User cancelled image picker');
  } else if (response.error) {
    console.log('ImagePicker Error: ', response.error);
  } else {
    const source = { uri: response.uri };
    console.log('Image URI: ', source.uri);
  }
});

Launch Image Library

This feature allows you to open the device's image library to select a photo. The `launchImageLibrary` function takes an options object to specify the media type and a callback function to handle the response.

import { launchImageLibrary } from 'react-native-image-picker';

const options = {
  mediaType: 'photo',
};

launchImageLibrary(options, (response) => {
  if (response.didCancel) {
    console.log('User cancelled image picker');
  } else if (response.error) {
    console.log('ImagePicker Error: ', response.error);
  } else {
    const source = { uri: response.uri };
    console.log('Image URI: ', source.uri);
  }
});

Video Recording

This feature allows you to launch the device's camera to record a video. The `launchCamera` function takes an options object to specify the media type as video and the camera type, and a callback function to handle the response.

import { launchCamera } from 'react-native-image-picker';

const options = {
  mediaType: 'video',
  cameraType: 'back',
};

launchCamera(options, (response) => {
  if (response.didCancel) {
    console.log('User cancelled video recording');
  } else if (response.error) {
    console.log('VideoPicker Error: ', response.error);
  } else {
    const source = { uri: response.uri };
    console.log('Video URI: ', source.uri);
  }
});

Other packages similar to react-native-image-picker

react-native-camera

The react-native-camera package provides a comprehensive camera module for React Native. It supports photo and video capture, barcode scanning, and text recognition. Compared to react-native-image-picker, it offers more advanced camera functionalities but requires more setup.

expo-image-picker

The expo-image-picker package is part of the Expo ecosystem and provides similar functionalities to react-native-image-picker, such as selecting images and videos from the device's library or capturing them using the camera. It is easier to set up within an Expo project but may not offer as much flexibility as react-native-image-picker in a bare React Native project.

react-native-image-crop-picker

The react-native-image-crop-picker package offers image and video picking with cropping functionality. It provides a more customizable user interface for cropping images compared to react-native-image-picker, making it a good choice if cropping is a required feature.

README

React Native Image Picker

A React Native module that allows you to select a photo/video from the device library or camera.

Make sure you're reading the doc applicable to your version, for example if your using version 3.8.0 go to tag 3.8.0 and read those docs. This doc is always that of main branch.

Also read version release notes for any breaking changes especially if you're updating the major version.

Install

yarn add react-native-image-picker

# RN >= 0.60
cd ios && pod install

# RN < 0.60
react-native link react-native-image-picker

Post-install Steps

iOS

Add the appropriate keys to your Info.plist,

If you are allowing user to select image/video from photos, add NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription.

If you are allowing user to capture image add NSCameraUsageDescription key also.

If you are allowing user to capture video add NSCameraUsageDescription add NSMicrophoneUsageDescription key also.

Android

No permissions required (saveToPhotos requires permission check).

Note: This library does not require Manifest.permission.CAMERA, if your app declares as using this permission in manifest then you have to obtain the permission before using launchCamera.

API Reference

Methods

import {launchCamera, launchImageLibrary} from 'react-native-image-picker';

launchCamera()

Launch camera to take photo or video.

launchCamera(options?, callback);

See Options for further information on options.

The callback will be called with a response object, refer to The Response Object.

launchImageLibrary

Launch gallery to pick image or video.

launchImageLibrary(options?, callback);

See Options for further information on options.

The callback will be called with a response object, refer to The Response Object.

Options

Option	iOS	Android	Description
mediaType	OK	OK	'photo' or 'video' or 'mixed'(mixed supported only for launchImageLibrary, to pick an photo or video)
maxWidth	OK	OK	To resize the image
maxHeight	OK	OK	To resize the image
videoQuality	OK	OK	'low', 'medium', or 'high' on iOS, 'low' or 'high' on Android
durationLimit	OK	OK	Video max duration in seconds
quality	OK	OK	0 to 1, photos
cameraType	OK	OK	'back' or 'front'. May not be supported in few android devices
includeBase64	OK	OK	If true, creates base64 string of the image (Avoid using on large image
includeExtra	OK	OK	If true, will include extra data which requires library permissions to be requested (i.e. exif data)
saveToPhotos	OK	OK	(Boolean) Only for launchCamera, saves the image/video file captured to public photo
selectionLimit	OK	OK	Default is 1, use 0 to allow any number of files. Only iOS version >= 14 support 0 and also it supports providing any integer value

The Response Object

key	iOS	Android	Description
didCancel	OK	OK	true if the user cancelled the process
errorCode	OK	OK	Check ErrorCode for all error codes
errorMessage	OK	OK	Description of the error, use it for debug purpose only
assets	OK	OK	Array of the selected media, refer to Asset Object

Asset Object

key	iOS	Android	Description
base64	OK	OK	The base64 string of the image (photos only)
uri	OK	OK	The file uri in app specific cache storage. Except when picking video from Android gallery where you will get read only content uri, to get file uri in this case copy the file to app specific storage using any react-native library
width	OK	OK	Image dimensions (photos only)
height	OK	OK	Image dimensions (photos only)
fileSize	OK	OK	The file size (photos only)
type	OK	OK	The file type (photos only)
fileName	OK	OK	The file name
duration	OK	OK	The selected video duration in seconds
timestamp	OK	OK	Timestamp of the photo. Only included if 'includeExtra' is true

Note on file storage

Image/video captured via camera will be stored in temporary folder so will be deleted any time, so don't expect it to persist. Use saveToPhotos: true (default is false) to save the file in the public photos. saveToPhotos requires WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission on Android 28 and below (You have to obtain the permission, the library does not).

ErrorCode

Code	Description
camera_unavailable	camera not available on device
permission	Permission not satisfied
others	other errors (check errorMessage for description)

License

MIT