Docs
BlogChangelogStar Us on GitHub
HomeGuidesEASReferenceLearn

Reference version

ArchiveExpo SnackDiscord and ForumsNewsletter
This is documentation for the next SDK version. For up-to-date documentation, see the latest version (SDK 55).

Text

A SwiftUI Text component for displaying styled text with support for nested texts.

iOS
tvOS

GitHub

npm

Changelog

Expo UI Text matches the official SwiftUI Text API.

Installation

Terminal
- npx expo install @expo/ui

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

Usage

Basic text

BasicTextExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';

export default function BasicTextExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text>Hello world</Text>
    </Host>
  );
}

Text with modifiers

Use modifiers to style the entire text.

StyledTextExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font, foregroundStyle } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function StyledTextExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text modifiers={[font({ size: 24, weight: 'bold' }), foregroundStyle('blue')]}>
        Large Bold Blue Text
      </Text>
    </Host>
  );
}

Nested text (per-segment styling)

Nest Text components to style individual segments differently. This is useful for inline formatting, such as bold or colored words within a sentence.

Note: Nested text uses SwiftUI's Text concatenation, so only modifiers that return Text (such as bold, italic, font, foregroundColor, and foregroundStyle with color) will apply to nested segments.

NestedTextExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { bold, italic, foregroundStyle } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function NestedTextExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text>
        Hello <Text modifiers={[bold(), foregroundStyle('red')]}>world</Text>!
      </Text>
    </Host>
  );
}

Mixed inline styles

Combine multiple styled segments for rich text formatting.

MixedStylesExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { bold, italic, foregroundStyle, font } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function MixedStylesExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text>
        This is <Text modifiers={[bold()]}>bold</Text>, <Text modifiers={[italic()]}>italic</Text>,
        and <Text modifiers={[foregroundStyle('orange')]}>colored</Text> text.
      </Text>
    </Host>
  );
}

Font weights

Use the font modifier to apply different font weights.

FontWeightsExample.tsx
import { Host, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function FontWeightsExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <VStack spacing={4}>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'ultraLight' })]}>Ultra Light</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'light' })]}>Light</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'regular' })]}>Regular</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'medium' })]}>Medium</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'semibold' })]}>Semibold</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'bold' })]}>Bold</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'heavy' })]}>Heavy</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ weight: 'black' })]}>Black</Text>
      </VStack>
    </Host>
  );
}

Font designs

Use the font modifier to apply different font designs.

FontDesignsExample.tsx
import { Host, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function FontDesignsExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <VStack spacing={4}>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ design: 'default', size: 18 })]}>Default Design</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ design: 'rounded', size: 18 })]}>Rounded Design</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ design: 'serif', size: 18 })]}>Serif Design</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ design: 'monospaced', size: 18 })]}>Monospaced Design</Text>
      </VStack>
    </Host>
  );
}

Custom fonts

Use the font modifier with a family parameter to use custom fonts. You can load custom fonts using expo-font library.

CustomFontExample.tsx
import { Host, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { font } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function CustomFontExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <VStack spacing={4}>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ family: 'Inter-Bold', size: 18 })]}>Inter Bold</Text>
        <Text modifiers={[font({ family: 'Inter-Regular', size: 18 })]}>Inter Regular</Text>
      </VStack>
    </Host>
  );
}

Text with line limit

Use the lineLimit modifier to truncate text after a certain number of lines.

LineLimitExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';
import { lineLimit } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui/modifiers';

export default function LineLimitExample() {
  const longText = 'This is a very long text that will be truncated after two lines. '.repeat(5);

  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text modifiers={[lineLimit(2)]}>{longText}</Text>
    </Host>
  );
}

Markdown

Use the markdownEnabled property to enable Markdown formatting for the text content.

MarkdownTextExample.tsx
import { Host, Text, VStack } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';

export default function MarkdownTextExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <VStack spacing={4}>
        <Text markdownEnabled>Regular text.</Text>
        <Text markdownEnabled>
          This is **bold text**, *italic text* and ***text in both bold and italic***.
        </Text>
        <Text markdownEnabled>~~Strikethrough text~~</Text>
        <Text markdownEnabled>`This is monospaced text`</Text>
        <Text markdownEnabled>
          Visit the [Expo Docs](https://docs.expo.dev/versions/latest/sdk/ui/) to learn more about
          Expo UI
        </Text>
      </VStack>
    </Host>
  );
}

Auto-updating date

Use the date and dateStyle props to display a date that automatically updates as time passes. This is especially useful in widgets and Live Activities.

DateTextExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';

export default function DateTextExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text date={new Date(Date.now() + 300000)} dateStyle="timer" />
    </Host>
  );
}

Timer interval

Use timerInterval to display a live countdown or count-up timer. This requires iOS/tvOS 16+.

TimerIntervalExample.tsx
import { Host, Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';

export default function TimerIntervalExample() {
  return (
    <Host matchContents>
      <Text
        timerInterval={{ lower: new Date(), upper: new Date(Date.now() + 600000) }}
        countsDown
      />
    </Host>
  );
}

Note: timerInterval, countsDown, and pauseTime require iOS 16.0+ / tvOS 16.0+. On older versions, the timer interval will not render.

API

import { Text } from '@expo/ui/swift-ui';

Component

Text

iOS
tvOS

Type: React.Element<TextProps>

TextProps

children

iOS
tvOS
Optional • Type: ReactNode

Text content or nested Text components.

countsDown

iOS 16.0+
tvOS 16.0+
Optional • Type: boolean • Default: true

Whether the timer counts down (true) or up (false).

date

iOS
tvOS
Optional • Type: Date

A date to display using the specified dateStyle. The text auto-updates as time passes.

dateStyle

iOS
tvOS
Optional • Type: TextDateStyle • Default: 'date'

The style used to format the date prop.

markdownEnabled

iOS
tvOS
Optional • Type: boolean

Enables Markdown formatting for the text content using SwiftUI LocalizedStringKey.

pauseTime

iOS 16.0+
tvOS 16.0+
Optional • Type: Date

A date at which the timer should appear paused.

timerInterval

iOS 16.0+
tvOS 16.0+
Optional • Type: ClosedRangeDate

A time interval to display as a live-updating timer.

Inherited Props

Types

TextDateStyle

iOS
tvOS

Literal Type: string

The style used to format a date in a SwiftUI Text view.

Acceptable values are: 'timer' | 'relative' | 'offset' | 'date' | 'time'