Unfocus a TextInput in React Native

Question

I'm building an Android app with React Native.

How can you force a TextInput to "unFocus", meaning the cursor is blinking inside the text field. There are functions for isFocused() and onFocus(), but how do I actually get the text field to give up focus. You would think it does so automatically once I hit enter, but that's not the case.

   import React, {Component} from 'react';
   import { AppRegistry, Text, View, StyleSheet, TextInput, TouchableOpacity} 
   from 'react-native';

   var SHA256 = require("crypto-js/sha256");

   export default class LoginForm extends Component{


constructor(props){
    super(props);
    this.state = {
        email: '',
        password:''
    };
}

tryLogin = () => {
    if(this.state.email=="email123" && this.state.password == "password"){
        console.log("password verified");
        this.props.navigator.replace({
            title: 'Dashboard'
        });
    }

    console.log(this.state.email);
    console.log(this.state.password);
    console.log("Hash" + SHA256(this.state.password));
}

render(){
    return(
        <View style={styles.container}>
            <TextInput 
                style={styles.input}

                placeholder="Email address" 
                placeholderTextColor="white"
                onChangeText={(email) => this.setState({email})}>
            </TextInput>
            <TextInput style={styles.input} 
                placeholder="Password" 
                placeholderTextColor="white" 
                secureTextEntry
                onChangeText={(password) => this.setState({password})}>
            </TextInput>

            <TouchableOpacity style={styles.loginButtonContainer} onPress={this.tryLogin}>
                <Text style={styles.loginButtonText}>LOGIN</Text>
            </TouchableOpacity>
        </View>
  );
}
}

AppRegistry.registerComponent('LoginForm', () => LoginForm);

const styles =  StyleSheet.create({
container: {
    padding: 20
},
input:{
    height: 40,
    backgroundColor: '#e74c3c',
    marginBottom: 20,
    color: 'white',
    paddingHorizontal: 15,
    opacity: .9
},
loginButtonContainer:{
    justifyContent: 'center',
    backgroundColor: '#bc4c3c',
    paddingVertical:15

},
loginButtonText:{
    textAlign:'center',
    color:'white',
    fontWeight: '700',
    fontSize: 24

}

   })

This probably won't matter as much for real users but I'm just emulating and its pesky if I want to reload.

Answer 1

A better way is to use ScrollView and Keyboard.dismiss. By using ScrollView when the user taps outside of textInput, keyboard dismissed. It's done because ScrollView default property for keyboardShouldPersistTaps is never. It's the behavior the user expects. For dismiss the keyboard, or it's equivalent blur the textInput, when the user tap on the login button add Keyboard.dismissed() to the tryLogin function.

import React, {Component} from 'react';
import { AppRegistry, Text, View, StyleSheet, TextInput, TouchableOpacity, ScrollView, Keyboard}
  from 'react-native';
var SHA256 = require("crypto-js/sha256");

export default class LoginForm extends Component{


  constructor(props){
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      email: '',
      password:''
    };
  }

  tryLogin = () => {
    Keyboard.dismiss();
    if(this.state.email=="email123" && this.state.password == "password"){
      console.log("password verified");
      this.props.navigator.replace({
        title: 'Dashboard'
      });
    }

    console.log(this.state.email);
    console.log(this.state.password);
    console.log("Hash" + SHA256(this.state.password));
  }

  render(){
    return(
      <ScrollView style={styles.container}>
        <TextInput
          style={styles.input}

          placeholder="Email address"
          placeholderTextColor="white"
          onChangeText={(email) => this.setState({email})}>
        </TextInput>
        <TextInput style={styles.input}
                   placeholder="Password"
                   placeholderTextColor="white"
                   secureTextEntry
                   onChangeText={(password) => this.setState({password})}>
        </TextInput>

        <TouchableOpacity style={styles.loginButtonContainer} onPress={this.tryLogin}>
          <Text style={styles.loginButtonText}>LOGIN</Text>
        </TouchableOpacity>
      </ScrollView>
    );
  }
}

AppRegistry.registerComponent('LoginForm', () => LoginForm);

const styles =  StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    padding: 20
  },
  input:{
    height: 40,
    backgroundColor: '#e74c3c',
    marginBottom: 20,
    color: 'white',
    paddingHorizontal: 15,
    opacity: .9
  },
  loginButtonContainer:{
    justifyContent: 'center',
    backgroundColor: '#bc4c3c',
    paddingVertical:15

  },
  loginButtonText:{
    textAlign:'center',
    color:'white',
    fontWeight: '700',
    fontSize: 24

  }

})