A React Native library that replicates Android's built-in "Show Taps" and "Pointer Location" developer options on both Android and iOS.
All drawing and touch interception happens entirely in native code (Kotlin/Swift) via a global overlay — no Fabric Views, no JS bridge overhead. The overlay is non-interactive: all touches pass through to your app.
Works with bare React Native and Expo (via a development build — not Expo Go), on both the old and new architectures. No manual native setup or config plugin required.
| Show Taps | Pointer Location |
|---|---|
 |
 |
- White semi-transparent circle with a dark stroke at each active touch point
- Fade-out animation on finger release
- Multi-touch support
- Data bar below the status bar with real-time touch metrics:
- P — active/max pointer count
- X / dX — X position while touching, delta from start after release
- Y / dY — Y position while touching, delta from start after release
- Xv — X velocity (pixels/millisecond)
- Yv — Y velocity (pixels/millisecond)
- Prs — pressure (Android always, iOS only on 3D Touch devices)
- Size — normalized contact area size
- Blue crosshair lines spanning the full screen at the primary touch point
- Velocity-colored gesture path — red (slow) → blue (fast), per finger
- Touch contact area indicator — rotated ellipse on Android, circle on iOS
- Multi-finger path drawing
- Both features toggle independently
- Global overlay renders above all app content (modals, navigation bars)
- Pass-through touches — your app functions normally underneath
- Smart resource management — overlay and listeners are attached only when needed
- Safe area aware — handles notches, cutouts, and orientation changes
- Supports both old and new React Native architectures
npm install react-native-pointer-location
# or
yarn add react-native-pointer-locationcd ios && pod installNo additional setup needed — auto-linking handles everything.
This library includes custom native code, so it does not work in Expo Go. Use an Expo development build instead.
npx expo install react-native-pointer-locationThen generate the native projects and run a development build:
npx expo prebuild
npx expo run:ios
# or
npx expo run:androidNo config plugin is required — the module is autolinked and self-installing (no Info.plist, AndroidManifest, AppDelegate, or MainApplication changes needed).
import { setShowTaps, setPointerLocation } from 'react-native-pointer-location';
// Enable show taps
setShowTaps(true);
// Enable pointer location
setPointerLocation(true);
// Disable
setShowTaps(false);
setPointerLocation(false);Since this is primarily a development tool, you can guard it with __DEV__:
import { setShowTaps, setPointerLocation } from 'react-native-pointer-location';
if (__DEV__) {
setShowTaps(true);
setPointerLocation(true);
}In production builds, Metro replaces __DEV__ with false and the minifier strips the dead code. The native module is never accessed, so there is zero runtime cost.
Enable or disable the "Show Taps" visual indicator. Draws a circle at every active touch point.
Enable or disable the "Pointer Location" developer overlay. Renders the data bar, crosshairs, gesture path, and touch area indicator.
| Feature | Android | iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure (Prs) | Always available | Only on 3D Touch devices (iPhone 6s–XS). Column is hidden on newer devices. |
| Touch area shape | Rotated ellipse (uses touchMajor, touchMinor, orientation) |
Circle (iOS only provides majorRadius, no orientation for finger touches) |
| Touch interception | Window.Callback wrapping |
UIApplication.sendEvent method swizzling |
| Overlay mechanism | View added to DecorView with max elevation |
UIWindow with high windowLevel |
This library supports both React Native architectures:
- New Architecture (TurboModules) — uses codegen-generated specs
- Old Architecture (Bridge) — uses
NativeModules/RCT_EXPORT_METHOD
No configuration needed — it auto-detects the architecture at runtime.
See ARCHITECTURE.md for a deep dive into the overlay mechanism, touch interception strategy, drawing pipeline, and cross-platform differences.
See LESSONS_LEARNED.md for real bugs we encountered during development — VelocityTracker gotchas, iOS platform limitations, safe area pitfalls, and more. Recommended reading before making changes to the native code.
MIT