Expo Widgets

This library is currently in alpha and subject to breaking changes. It is not available in the Expo Go app, use development builds to try it out.

expo-widgets enables the creation of iOS home screen widgets and Live Activities using Expo UI components, without writing native code. It provides a simple API for creating and updating widgets timeline, as well as starting and managing Live Activities. Layout can be built using expo/ui components and modifiers.

Installation

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app, make sure to install expo in your project.

Configuration in app config

You can configure expo-widgets using its built-in config plugin if you use config plugins in your project (Continuous Native Generation (CNG)). The plugin allows you to configure various properties that cannot be set at runtime and require building a new app binary to take effect.

Example app.json with config plugin

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "expo-widgets",
        {
          "widgets": [
            {
              "name": "MyWidget",
              "displayName": "My Widget",
              "description": "A sample home screen widget",
              "supportedFamilies": ["systemSmall", "systemMedium", "systemLarge"]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

Configurable properties

Full example with all options

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "expo-widgets",
        {
          "bundleIdentifier": "com.example.myapp.widgets",
          "groupIdentifier": "group.com.example.myapp",
          "enablePushNotifications": true,
          "widgets": [
            {
              "name": "StatusWidget",
              "displayName": "Status",
              "description": "Shows your current status at a glance",
              "contentMarginsDisabled": true,
              "supportedFamilies": ["systemSmall", "systemMedium"]
            },
            {
              "name": "DetailWidget",
              "displayName": "Details",
              "description": "Shows detailed information",
              "supportedFamilies": ["systemMedium", "systemLarge"]
            },
            {
              "name": "LockScreenWidget",
              "displayName": "Quick View",
              "description": "View info on your Lock Screen",
              "supportedFamilies": ["accessoryCircular", "accessoryRectangular", "accessoryInline"]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

Usage

Widgets

Prerequisite: Creating widget

Start by creating a Widget using the createWidget function and pass the widget component marked with the 'widget' directive. The component receives your widget props as the first argument and a WidgetEnvironment object as the second.

import { Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font, foregroundStyle } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';
import { createWidget, type WidgetEnvironment } from 'expo-widgets';

type MyWidgetProps = {
  count: number;
};

const MyWidget = (props: MyWidgetProps, environment: WidgetEnvironment) => {
  'widget';
  return (
    <VStack>
      <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'bold', size: 16 }), foregroundStyle('#000000')]}>
        Count: {props.count}
      </Text>
      <Text>Family: {environment.widgetFamily}</Text>
    </VStack>
  );
};

export default createWidget('MyWidget', MyWidget);

The widget name ('MyWidget') must match the name field in your widget configuration in the app config.

Basic widget

An effective way to update a widget is to use the updateSnapshot method. This creates a widget timeline with a single entry that displays immediately.

The example below continues from Creating widget.

import MyWidget from './MyWidget';

// Update the widget
MyWidget.updateSnapshot({ count: 5 });

Timeline widget

Use updateTimeline method to schedule widget updates at specific time. System will automatically update the widget based on the timeline.

The example below continues from Creating widget.

import MyWidget from './MyWidget';

MyWidget.updateTimeline([
  { date: new Date(), props: { count: 1 } },
  { date: new Date(Date.now() + 3600000), props: { count: 2 } }, // 1 hour from now
  { date: new Date(Date.now() + 7200000), props: { count: 3 } }, // 2 hours from now
  { date: new Date(Date.now() + 10800000), props: { count: 4 } }, // 3 hours from now
]);

Responsive widget

Use the environment argument to adapt the layout to the current widget size and rendering context.

import { HStack, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { createWidget, type WidgetEnvironment } from 'expo-widgets';

type WeatherWidgetProps = {
  temperature: number;
  condition: string;
};

const WeatherWidget = (props: WeatherWidgetProps, environment: WidgetEnvironment) => {
  'widget';
  // Render different layouts based on size
  if (environment.widgetFamily === 'systemSmall') {
    return (
      <VStack>
        <Text>{props.temperature}°</Text>
      </VStack>
    );
  }

  if (environment.widgetFamily === 'systemMedium') {
    return (
      <HStack>
        <Text>{props.temperature}°</Text>
        <Text>{props.condition}</Text>
      </HStack>
    );
  }

  // systemLarge and others
  return (
    <VStack>
      <Text>Temperature: {props.temperature}°</Text>
      <Text>Condition: {props.condition}</Text>
      <Text>Updated: {environment.date.toLocaleTimeString()}</Text>
    </VStack>
  );
};

const Widget = createWidget('WeatherWidget', WeatherWidget);
export default Widget;

Widget.updateSnapshot({
  temperature: 72,
  condition: 'Sunny',
});

Live Activities

Live Activities display real-time information on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island on supported devices.

Prerequisite: Creating Live Activity

Live Activity layouts must be created once using createLiveActivity and marked with the 'widget' directive. The component receives your props as the first argument and a LiveActivityEnvironment object as the second.

import { Image, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font, foregroundStyle, padding } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';
import { createLiveActivity, type LiveActivityEnvironment } from 'expo-widgets';

type DeliveryActivityProps = {
  etaMinutes: number;
  status: string;
};

const DeliveryActivity = (props: DeliveryActivityProps, environment: LiveActivityEnvironment) => {
  'widget';
  const accentColor = environment.colorScheme === 'dark' ? '#FFFFFF' : '#007AFF';

  return {
    banner: (
      <VStack modifiers={[padding({ all: 12 })]}>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'bold' }), foregroundStyle(accentColor)]}>
          {props.status}
        </Text>
        <Text>Estimated arrival: {props.etaMinutes} minutes</Text>
      </VStack>
    ),
    compactLeading: <Image systemName="box.truck.fill" color={accentColor} />,
    compactTrailing: <Text>{props.etaMinutes} min</Text>,
    minimal: <Image systemName="box.truck.fill" color={accentColor} />,
    expandedLeading: (
      <VStack modifiers={[padding({ all: 12 })]}>
        <Image systemName="box.truck.fill" color={accentColor} />
        <Text modifiers={[font({ size: 12 })]}>Delivering</Text>
      </VStack>
    ),
    expandedTrailing: (
      <VStack modifiers={[padding({ all: 12 })]}>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'bold', size: 20 })]}>{props.etaMinutes}</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ size: 12 })]}>minutes</Text>
      </VStack>
    ),
    expandedBottom: (
      <VStack modifiers={[padding({ all: 12 })]}>
        <Text>Driver: John Smith</Text>
        <Text>Order #12345</Text>
      </VStack>
    ),
  };
};

export default createLiveActivity('DeliveryActivity', DeliveryActivity);

Starting a Live Activity

The example below continues from Creating Live Activity.

import { Button, View } from 'react-native';
import DeliveryActivity from './DeliveryActivity';

function App() {
  const startDeliveryTracking = () => {
    // Start the Live Activity
    const instance = DeliveryActivity.start(
      {
        etaMinutes: 15,
        status: 'Your delivery is on the way',
      },
      'myapp://deliveries/12345'
    );
    // Store instance
  };

  return (
    <View style={{ flex: 1, justifyContent: 'center', alignItems: 'center' }}>
      <Button title="Start Delivery Tracking" onPress={startDeliveryTracking} />
    </View>
  );
}
export default App;

Updating a Live Activity

The example below continues from Starting a Live Activity.

import { LiveActivity } from 'expo-widgets';

function updateDelivery(instance: LiveActivity<DeliveryActivityProps>) {
  instance.update({
    etaMinutes: 2,
    status: 'Delivery arriving soon!',
  });
}

Ending a Live Activity

Use end to finish a Live Activity. You can choose the dismissal policy, optionally provide a final content state, and pass a contentDate so the system can ignore stale updates.

import { after, type LiveActivity } from 'expo-widgets';

async function completeDelivery(instance: LiveActivity<DeliveryActivityProps>) {
  await instance.end(
    after(new Date(Date.now() + 15 * 60 * 1000)),
    {
      etaMinutes: 0,
      status: 'Delivered',
    },
    new Date()
  );
}

You can also pass 'default' or 'immediate' instead of after(date) for the dismissal policy.

Push tokens for remote updates

When enablePushNotifications is true, use addPushToStartTokenListener to receive the app-wide push-to-start token and instance.getPushToken() or instance.addPushTokenListener() to work with a specific Live Activity instance.

import { addPushToStartTokenListener } from 'expo-widgets';
import DeliveryActivity from './DeliveryActivity';

const pushToStartSubscription = addPushToStartTokenListener(event => {
  console.log('Push-to-start token:', event.activityPushToStartToken);
});

async function startDeliveryTracking() {
  const instance = DeliveryActivity.start({
    etaMinutes: 15,
    status: 'Your delivery is on the way',
  });

  const pushToken = await instance.getPushToken();
  console.log('Per-activity token:', pushToken);

  const subscription = instance.addPushTokenListener(event => {
    console.log('Updated push token:', event.activityId, event.pushToken);
  });

  // Later, when you no longer need updates:
  subscription.remove();
}

// Later, when you no longer need updates:
pushToStartSubscription.remove();

API

import { createWidget, createLiveActivity } from 'expo-widgets';

Classes

Methods

Event Subscriptions

Types