react-native-nitro-restart

App restart and process management for React Native built with Nitro Modules.

Overview

This module provides native-level app restart and process management functionality for both Android and iOS. It exposes simple JS/TS APIs to restart the app, exit the app, and get the current process ID.

Features

• � App Restart - Restart the entire React Native app
• � App Exit - Safely exit the application
• 🆔 Process ID - Get the current process identifier
• 🚀 Built with Nitro Modules for native performance and autolinking support
• 📱 Cross-platform support (iOS & Android)
• ⚡ Zero-config setup with autolinking

Requirements

• React Native >= 0.76
• Node >= 18
• react-native-nitro-modules must be installed (Nitro runtime)

Installation

npm install react-native-nitro-restart react-native-nitro-modules
# or
yarn add react-native-nitro-restart react-native-nitro-modules

Configuration

Android Setup

No additional configuration required. The module will automatically handle app restart through Android's activity management.

iOS Setup

No additional configuration required. The module uses React Native's built-in restart capabilities.

Troubleshooting

• Android: If restart doesn't work, ensure your app has proper activity lifecycle management
• iOS: Make sure your app delegate is properly configured for React Native
• Both platforms: Test on real devices for best results

Quick Usage

import { NitroRestartModule } from 'react-native-nitro-restart'

// Restart the app with default module name
NitroRestartModule.restartApp('YourAppName')

// Get current process ID
const processId = NitroRestartModule.getPid()
console.log('Current PID:', processId)

// Exit the app (use with caution)
NitroRestartModule.exitApp()

API Reference

App Management

restartApp(moduleName: string): void

Restarts the React Native application with the specified module name.

Parameters:

• moduleName (string): The name of the main React Native module to restart with

Example:

import { NitroRestartModule } from 'react-native-nitro-restart'

// Restart with your app's main module
NitroRestartModule.restartApp('MyApp')

exitApp(): void

Safely exits the application. On iOS, this moves the app to background instead of force terminating. On Android, this finishes the current activity and moves the app to background.

Note: Use this method with caution as it may violate app store guidelines if used inappropriately.

Example:

import { NitroRestartModule } from 'react-native-nitro-restart'

// Exit the app
NitroRestartModule.exitApp()

getPid(): number

Returns the current process identifier (PID) of the application.

Returns:

• number: The current process ID

Example:

import { NitroRestartModule } from 'react-native-nitro-restart'

// Get current process ID
const processId = NitroRestartModule.getPid()
console.log('Current PID:', processId)

Complete Example

import React, { useState } from 'react'
import { View, Button, Text, Alert } from 'react-native'
import { NitroRestartModule } from 'react-native-nitro-restart'

const App = () => {
  const [processId, setProcessId] = useState<number | null>(null)

  const handleGetPid = () => {
    const pid = NitroRestartModule.getPid()
    setProcessId(pid)
  }

  const handleRestart = () => {
    Alert.alert(
      'Restart App',
      'Are you sure you want to restart the application?',
      [
        { text: 'Cancel', style: 'cancel' },
        {
          text: 'Restart',
          onPress: () => NitroRestartModule.restartApp('YourAppName')
        }
      ]
    )
  }

  const handleExit = () => {
    Alert.alert(
      'Exit App',
      'Are you sure you want to exit the application?',
      [
        { text: 'Cancel', style: 'cancel' },
        {
          text: 'Exit',
          style: 'destructive',
          onPress: () => NitroRestartModule.exitApp()
        }
      ]
    )
  }

  return (
    <View style={{ flex: 1, justifyContent: 'center', padding: 20 }}>
      <Button title="Get Process ID" onPress={handleGetPid} />
      {processId && (
        <Text style={{ textAlign: 'center', margin: 10 }}>
          Current PID: {processId}
        </Text>
      )}
      
      <Button title="Restart App" onPress={handleRestart} />
      <Button title="Exit App" onPress={handleExit} color="red" />
    </View>
  )
}

export default App

Platform Support

Feature	iOS	Android	Notes
restartApp()	✅	✅	Creates new React context
exitApp()	✅	✅	Moves to background (safe)
getPid()	✅	✅	Returns process identifier

Best Practices

1. User confirmation: Always ask for user confirmation before restarting or exiting the app
2. Save state: Ensure important app state is saved before restart/exit operations
3. Error handling: Wrap operations in try-catch blocks for production apps
4. App store compliance: Be cautious with exitApp() - some app stores discourage apps from terminating themselves
5. Testing: Test restart functionality thoroughly on both platforms and different devices

Important Notes

⚠️ App Store Guidelines:

• iOS: Apple's guidelines discourage apps from programmatically terminating themselves
• Android: Google Play has similar recommendations
• Use exitApp() sparingly and only when absolutely necessary

📱 Platform Differences:

• iOS: Restart creates a new React Native context within the same process
• Android: Restart may create a new activity or recreate the React context
• Both platforms handle exitApp() by moving the app to background instead of force termination

TypeScript Interface

export interface NitroRestart
  extends HybridObject<{ ios: 'swift'; android: 'kotlin' }> {
  restartApp(moduleName: string): void
  exitApp(): void
  getPid(): number
}

Migration Notes

When updating spec files in src/specs/*.nitro.ts, regenerate Nitro artifacts:

npx nitro-codegen

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution workflow. Run npx nitro-codegen after editing spec files.

Project Structure

• android/ — Native Android implementation (Kotlin)
• ios/ — Native iOS implementation (Swift)
• src/ — TypeScript API exports
• nitrogen/ — Generated Nitro artifacts

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the following open-source projects which inspired and supported the development of this library:

• mrousavy/nitro – for the Nitro Modules architecture and tooling

License

MIT © Thành Công