Intro

Youtube has a unique video playing experience. It allows you to drag a video to the corner of the screen which continues to play. You can then navigate through the site and select other videos. Additionally if you want to drag it back up you can drag back to the video you were viewing.

Setup

We'll need to install 2 different libraries, react-native-video and react-native-vector-icons . The video player is the more important one but in order to add some icons we need the icon library.

Run the commands below.

npm install react - native - video react - native - vector - icons -- save react - native link

Now we'll also need 3 assets. I've linked to them here.

1) The Video 2) Channel Icon 3) Thumbnail for videos in the playlist

Download those assets and save them in your directory. You can see in the code below of what we have named them.

This will be our starting code. You can see that we have

< TouchableOpacity > < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity >

This will be our behind the video content.

import React, { Component } from "react" ; import { AppRegistry, StyleSheet, Text, View, Image, Dimensions, ScrollView, TouchableOpacity, PanResponder, Animated, } from "react-native" ; import Video from "react-native-video" ; import Icon from "react-native-vector-icons/FontAwesome" ; import Lights from "./lights.mp4" ; import Thumbnail from "./thumbnail.jpg" ; import ChannelIcon from "./icon.png" ; export default class rnvideo extends Component { return ( < View style = {styles.container} > < TouchableOpacity > < Text > Content Below : Click To Reopen Video </ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > </ View > ); } } const styles = StyleSheet . create ({ container: { flex: 1 , alignItems: "center" , justifyContent: "center" , }, }); AppRegistry. registerComponent ( "rnvideo" , () => rnvideo);

Setup The Covering View

We have some content to cover, which means we're going to need a View that will contain all of our other content that we can position on top of stuff below.

Our render function will look something like this. We've added a <View style={StyleSheet.absoluteFill}> below our other content. We then used the helper method StyleSheet.absoluteFill that will apply an position: "absolute" as well as top: 0, left: 0, right: 0, bottom: 0 . This is built into React Native.

render () { < View style = {styles.container}> < TouchableOpacity onPress = {this.handleOpen}> < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > < View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill}> </ View > </ View > }

All of our video content will go inside of our View that is covering the back content.

Add the Video

Now lets add our Video . We need to first calculate the width and height. Our video is 1920x1080 .

That means that 1080/1920 = .5625 which is the ratio of width to height. So we can take an arbitrary width multiply it by .5625 and get a new height.

const { width, height: screenHeight } = Dimensions. get ( "window" ); const height = width * 0.5625 ;

We want our video to be across the entire screen so we'll use the Dimensions.get("window") function to get the width . Then multiply it by our ratio to get the appropriate video height so that there will not be any black bars.

We wrap our Video in an Animated.View so that we can animate the dragging of the video later. We also want to put the width and height on the Animated.View , then once again use the StyleSheet.absoluteFill so that our video is responsive and just covers all the space we have defined.

render () { const { width, height: screenHeight } = Dimensions. get ( "window" ); const height = width * 0.5625 ; return ( < View style = {styles.container}> < TouchableOpacity onPress = {this.handleOpen}> < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > < View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill}> < Animated.View style = {[{ width, height }]}> < Video repeat style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill} source = {Lights} resizeMode = "contain" /> </ Animated.View > </ View > </ View > ); }

Add Some Video and Channel Information

First thing we need to do is add an Animated.ScrollView below our video. We will the give it the style scrollView

Our style just looks like

scrollView: { flex: 1 , backgroundColor: "#FFF" , },

This will tell the ScrollView to take up the rest of the space. Our video is a dynamic height and we just want the ScrollView to take up the rest of the space for all our content.

It's important we use a ScrollView here so that our content will be able to scrollable because it will contain a lot of content.

render () { const { width, height: screenHeight } = Dimensions. get ( "window" ); const height = width * 0.5625 ; return ( < View style = {styles.container}> < TouchableOpacity onPress = {this.handleOpen}> < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > < View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill}> < Animated.View style = {[{ width, height }]} > < Video repeat style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill} source = {Lights} resizeMode = "contain" /> </ Animated.View > < Animated.ScrollView style = {[styles.scrollView]}> </ Animated.ScrollView > </ View > </ View > ); }

Lets look at what we want to achieve

You can see here that we want to have a title and some other content. It all looks unique except for the icons. We'll create a reusable component here that we'll call TouchableIcon . We'll just give it a name of an icon, and then add the text as the child and put it where we want.

const TouchableIcon = ({ name , children }) => { return ( < TouchableOpacity style = {styles.touchIcon}> < Icon name = {name} size = { 30 } color = "#767577" /> < Text style = {styles.iconText}> {children} </ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > ); };

The styles for our TouchableIcon will center our icon and the text, and we'll use a little marginTop to separate the text from the icon.

touchIcon: { alignItems: "center" , justifyContent: "center" , }, iconText: { marginTop: 5 , },

We would theoretically also want to add an onPress function here to execute some sort of comamnd when you press on the button but we won't implement any actual functionality.

Now that we have our icon we can render our first chunk of content.

< View style = {styles.padding}> < Text style = {styles.title}>Beautiful DJ Mixing Lights</ Text > < Text >1M Views</ Text > < View style = {styles.likeRow}> < TouchableIcon name = "thumbs-up" >10,000</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "thumbs-down" >3</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "share" >Share</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "download" >Save</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "plus" >Add to</ TouchableIcon > </ View > </ View >

We create a generic padding style so that we have consistency through out our view. We increase the title size to 28 .

The important piece is the likeRow . We use flexDirection: "row" to distribute our TouchableButtons in a row, we add some additional padding on left and right. Then we use justifyContent: "space-around" to distribute each of the items with even spacing on each side. Without this flex box property we'd have to manually guess or calculate how far apart to make each button. Using justifyContent: "space-around" is the best way to achieve even spacing in a row.

title: { fontSize: 28 , }, likeRow: { flexDirection: "row" , justifyContent: "space-around" , paddingVertical: 15 , }, padding: { paddingVertical: 15 , paddingHorizontal: 15 , },

Then we'll add in our channel information. We'll apply the padding style so it's consistent with the above content. We'll use the ChannelIcon image that we imported in the starting code.

< View style = {[styles.channelInfo, styles.padding]}> < Image source = {ChannelIcon} style = {styles.channelIcon} resizeMode = "contain" /> < View style = {styles.channelText}> < Text style = {styles.channelTitle}>Prerecorded MP3s</ Text > < Text >1M Subscribers</ Text > </ View > </ View >

Then with our styles we'll add some general styling to our channelInfo style with borders on top and bottom. We'll also need to apply flexDirection: "row" so things flow in a row. The rest of the styles are just spacing and text styling. We'll also give the channelIcon a specific width and height.

channelInfo: { flexDirection: "row" , borderBottomWidth: 1 , borderBottomColor: "#DDD" , borderTopWidth: 1 , borderTopColor: "#DDD" , }, channelIcon: { width: 50 , height: 50 , }, channelText: { marginLeft: 15 , }, channelTitle: { fontSize: 18 , marginBottom: 5 , },

Our combined code now looks like this.

render () { const { width, height: screenHeight } = Dimensions. get ( "window" ); const height = width * 0.5625 ; return ( < View style = {styles.container}> < TouchableOpacity onPress = {this.handleOpen}> < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > < View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill}> < Animated.View style = {[{ width, height }]} > < Video repeat style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill} source = {Lights} resizeMode = "contain" /> </ Animated.View > < Animated.ScrollView style = {[styles.scrollView]}> < View style = {[styles.topContent, styles.padding]}> < Text style = {styles.title}>Beautiful DJ Mixing Lights</ Text > < Text >1M Views</ Text > < View style = {styles.likeRow}> < TouchableIcon name = "thumbs-up" >10,000</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "thumbs-down" >3</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "share" >Share</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "download" >Save</ TouchableIcon > < TouchableIcon name = "plus" >Add to</ TouchableIcon > </ View > </ View > < View style = {[styles.channelInfo, styles.padding]}> < Image source = {ChannelIcon} style = {styles.channelIcon} resizeMode = "contain" /> < View style = {styles.channelText}> < Text style = {styles.channelTitle}>Prerecorded MP3s</ Text > < Text >1M Subscribers</ Text > </ View > </ View > </ Animated.ScrollView > </ View > </ View > ); }

Add The Playlist

Again we will add our padding style to keep things consistent. Then throw some text on the page to say what videos are playing next. This gives us another chance to create a reusable component. Each of the videos in the playlist will have the same exact structure, so we should make a component out of it.

< View style = {styles.padding}> < Text style = {styles.playlistUpNext}>Up next</ Text > < PlaylistVideo image = {Thumbnail} name = "Next Sweet DJ Video" channel = "Prerecorded MP3s" views = "380K" /> { /* Render as many playlist videos as you want here from wherever */ } </ View >

Our component will have a wrapping view, and take some props including the name of the video, channel, number of views, and the image of the channel.

const PlaylistVideo = ({ name , channel , views , image }) => { return ( < View style = {styles.playlistVideo}> < Image source = {image} style = {styles.playlistThumbnail} resizeMode = "cover" /> < View style = {styles.playlistText}> < Text style = {styles.playlistVideoTitle}> {name} </ Text > < Text style = {styles.playlistSubText}> {channel} </ Text > < Text style = {styles.playlistSubText}> {views} views </ Text > </ View > </ View > ); };

Then you can see our styling here. Important styles to point out are the playlistThumbnail and playlistText styles.

The playlistThumbnail has width: null, height: null so that our flex: 1 proprety will actually set the width and height of the image. Then our playlistText adds some padding and flex: 2 .

Because these sit right next to each other the playlistText will take up twice as much space as the image. This just allows us to have dynamic sizing regardless of screensize but keep the same proportions of video to text.

playlistUpNext: { fontSize: 24 , }, playlistVideo: { flexDirection: "row" , height: 100 , marginTop: 15 , marginBottom: 15 , }, playlistThumbnail: { width: null , height: null , flex: 1 , }, playlistText: { flex: 2 , paddingLeft: 15 , }, playlistVideoTitle: { fontSize: 18 , }, playlistSubText: { color: "#555" , },

Setup our PanResponder for Dragging

To create interactive content that is draggable and touchable React Native provides PanResponder . We will do this in componentWillMount so we can attach it before things render.

We need to setup a few properties first.

We will use this._y to keep track of the actual animated value so we can offset it and allow for our video to be draggable back to it's original position.

We create this._animation so we have an Animated.Value to drive our animation. Then we use addListener so we can store our value on this._y .

this._y = 0 ; this._animation = new Animated . Value ( 0 ); this._animation. addListener (({ value }) => { this._y = value; })

The first part of a PanResponder contains onStartShouldSetPanResponder , and onMoveShouldSetPanResponder which always return true. This just tells React Native that "yes we want to receive touch events"

Then we will pipe the dy (delta y) from the gestureState automatically into our this._animation value. The delta y is the change in position from the original point that the finger was put down.

this._panResponder = PanResponder. create ({ onStartShouldSetPanResponder : () => true , onMoveShouldSetPanResponder : () => true , onPanResponderMove: Animated. event ([ null , { dy: this._animation, }, ]), })

Then we need to do something on the release of the video dragging. If our dy is greater than 100. Meaning the user has dragged the video in the y direction (towards the bottom) greater than 100 pixels then we will trigger our Animation to 300 with a duration of 200ms . The 300 value will be the value we use in interpolation later but it's the threshold that we setup.

We then need to use the setOffset to 300. This will allow the video to stay in the bottom corner. Then when the user comes to drag the video back into position. The dy will be 0 and thus our Animated.Value will be reset to 0 . But the offset will allow us to keep the video in the corner and allow the user to control the video dragging without things jumping.

If the user didn't drag far enough then we will execute our animated value back to 0 and then set our offset to 0 as well.

Essentially the usage of setOffset allows us to set and hold the position of the video and continue to use dy so that there is no jumping and drags are fluid.

onPanResponderRelease: ( e , gestureState ) => { if (gestureState.dy > 100 ) { Animated. timing (this._animation, { toValue: 300 , duration: 200 , }). start (); this._animation. setOffset ( 300 ); } else { this._animation. setOffset ( 0 ); Animated. timing (this._animation, { toValue: 0 , duration: 200 , }). start (); } },

This is what our complete setup and PanResponder code looks like.

componentWillMount () { this._y = 0 ; this._animation = new Animated . Value ( 0 ); this._animation. addListener (({ value }) => { this._y = value; }) this._panResponder = PanResponder. create ({ onStartShouldSetPanResponder : () => true , onMoveShouldSetPanResponder : () => true , onPanResponderMove: Animated. event ([ null , { dy: this._animation, }, ]), onPanResponderRelease : ( e , gestureState ) => { if (gestureState.dy > 100 ) { Animated. timing (this._animation, { toValue: 300 , duration: 200 , }). start (); this._animation. setOffset ( 300 ); } else { this._animation. setOffset ( 0 ); Animated. timing (this._animation, { toValue: 0 , duration: 200 , }). start (); } }, }); }

One final piece is we need to add the panHandlers to the Animated.View wrapping our video. We spread them on with {...this._panResponder.panHandlers}

< Animated.View style = {[{ width, height }]} { ... this._panResponder.panHandlers} > < Video repeat style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill} source = {Lights} resizeMode = "contain" /> </ Animated.View >

Setup our Animations and Interpolations

Now that we have our handlers setup, the Animated.Value that we have will automatically get updated with the dy . We'll need to drive the views with interpolate .

IMPORTANT

The 300 value that we setup above is as far as you can drag before we determine that you can't drag any further. It's the upper drag limit and it's just an arbitrary number that I chose. It should likely be driven as a percentage of screen height. We will set the top region of our inputRange to 300 and clamp it.

The first interpolation is opacity , which will drive the opacity of the Animated.ScrollView as the video is dragged away.

const opacityInterpolate = this._animation. interpolate ({ inputRange: [ 0 , 300 ], outputRange: [ 1 , 0 ], });

The second is going to be used for both the Video and the ScrollView . To performantly move our views out of the way we will use translateY .

For our output we want to move the Video to the bottom corner, which is the length of the ScrollView . In our case that is screenHeight minus the height of the video. We'll add 40 as we want it to be slightly offset from the corner.

It is important to set extrapolate: "clamp" otherwise as the user drags beyond 300 the outputRange will cause the translateY property to overshoot our screenHeight - height + 40 calculation and it will be positioned off screen.

const translateYInterpolate = this._animation. interpolate ({ inputRange: [ 0 , 300 ], outputRange: [ 0 , screenHeight - height + 40 ], extrapolate: "clamp" , });

Finally our other 2 interpolations. These outputRange s were both selected by trial and error. I chose .5 for the scale, and then selected the translateX by testing out where I wanted the video to be positioned at .5 scale. The 85 just happens to be positioned offset from the bottom right corner at a scale of .5 .

const scaleInterpolate = this._animation. interpolate ({ inputRange: [ 0 , 300 ], outputRange: [ 1 , 0.5 ], extrapolate: "clamp" , }); const translateXInterpolate = this._animation. interpolate ({ inputRange: [ 0 , 300 ], outputRange: [ 0 , 85 ], extrapolate: "clamp" , });

Then we'll setup our styles by passing in our interpolations into dynamic style objects. Our ScrolLView will get opacity and translateY, and our video will get translateY, translateX, and scale transformation styles.

const scrollStyles = { opacity: opacityInterpolate, transform: [ { translateY: translateYInterpolate, }, ], }; const videoStyles = { transform: [ { translateY: translateYInterpolate, }, { translateX: translateXInterpolate, }, { scale: scaleInterpolate, }, ], };

Then we need to apply it to our views.

Our video

< Animated.View style = {[{ width, height }, videoStyles]} { ... this._panResponder.panHandlers} >

Our ScrollView

< Animated.ScrollView style = {[styles.scrollView, scrollStyles]}>

Touching Through Views

The final important piece is to be able to touch through our covering view. We have our

< View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill}>

But because it's covering the content behind we can see it but we won't be able to touch it. In order to fix this we need to add the correct pointerEvents property. We'll use the box-none property. This indicates that our wrapping view should ignore all touches, but our children and anything else should be able to be touched. It basically will operate as an invisible container.

< View style = { StyleSheet .absoluteFill} pointerEvents = "box-none" >

Then for our button behind when it's pressed we will set our offset to 0 and animate our animated value back to 0 . This will cause our video to rise from the corner and our ScrollView of content to return as well.

< TouchableOpacity onPress = {this.handleOpen}> < Text >Content Below: Click To Reopen Video</ Text > </ TouchableOpacity > handleOpen = () => { this._animation. setOffset ( 0 ); Animated. timing (this._animation, { toValue: 0 , duration: 200 , }). start (); }

The End

There you have it. A draggable video to the corner along with adding the ability to touch content behind our view.

Code + Demo + Edit Here Live

Live Demo

Code Link