navigation - React Native - Device back button handling

Question

I want to check if there are more than one screens are on stack when device back button is hit. If yes, I want to show previous screen and if no, I want to exit app.

I have checked number of examples but those use BackAndroid and Navigator. But both of them are deprecated. BackHandler is replacement for BackAndroid. And I can show previous screen by using props.navigation.goBack(null).

But I am unable to find code for finding screen count in stack. I don't want to use deprecated Navigator!

Answer 1

This example will show you back navigation which is expected generally in most of the flows. You will have to add following code to every screen depending on expected behavior. There are 2 cases: 1. If there are more than 1 screen on stack, device back button will show previous screen. 2. If there is only 1 screen on stack, device back button will exit app.

Case 1: Show previous screen

import { BackHandler } from 'react-native';

constructor(props) {
    super(props)
    this.handleBackButtonClick = this.handleBackButtonClick.bind(this);
}

componentWillMount() {
    BackHandler.addEventListener('hardwareBackPress', this.handleBackButtonClick);
}

componentWillUnmount() {
    BackHandler.removeEventListener('hardwareBackPress', this.handleBackButtonClick);
}

handleBackButtonClick() {
    this.props.navigation.goBack(null);
    return true;
}

Important: Don't forget to bind method in constructor and to remove listener in componentWillUnmount.

Case 2: Exit App

In this case, no need to handle anything on that screen where you want to exit app.

Important: This should be only screen on stack.