How to Create a Dropdown from Scratch in React Native

Dropdown menus are essential UI components that allow users to select one option from a list. In React Native, dropdowns can be implemented in various ways, depending on the design and user experience requirements. Here, we’ll explore two approaches to creating dropdowns from scratch:

• Using a Modal to display the dropdown.
• Inline display of the dropdown below a button or text field.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have React Native set up in your project. You can install React Native using:

npx react-native init MyApp

Approach 1: Dropdown Using a Modal

The modal approach is useful in cases where you want the dropdown to take up the full screen or focus the user’s attention on the options.

Steps:

• Create a Dropdown component that toggles a modal.
• Render dropdown options inside the modal.
• Pass the selected value back to the parent.

Code:

import React, { useState } from "react";
import {
  View,
  Text,
  Modal,
  TouchableOpacity,
  FlatList,
  StyleSheet,
} from "react-native";

const ModalDropdown = ({ data, onSelect }) => {
  const [isModalVisible, setModalVisible] = useState(false);
  const [selectedValue, setSelectedValue] = useState(null);

  const toggleModal = ()…