📄 expo/versions/latest/sdk/system-ui

File: system-ui.md | Updated: 11/15/2025

Source: https://docs.expo.dev/versions/latest/sdk/system-ui

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Expo SystemUI

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A library that allows interacting with system UI elements.

GitHub Changelog npm

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Android

iOS

tvOS

Web

Bundled version:

~6.0.8

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expo-system-ui enables you to interact with UI elements that fall outside of the React tree. Specifically the root view background color, and locking the user interface style globally on Android.

Installation


Terminal

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- npx expo install expo-system-ui

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app , make sure to install expo in your project.

Configuration in app config


Enable the expo-system-ui config plugin when you use Continuous Native Generation (CNG) . The plugin allows you to configure userInterfaceStyle on Android and backgroundColor on iOS properties from app config . These properties cannot be set at runtime and require building a new app binary to take effect. If your app does not use CNG, then you'll need to manually configure the library.

Example app.json with config plugin

app.json

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{ "expo": { "backgroundColor": "#ffffff", "userInterfaceStyle": "light", "ios": { "backgroundColor": "#ffffff", } "android": { "userInterfaceStyle": "light" }, "plugins": ["expo-system-ui"], } }

Are you using this library in an existing React Native app?

If you're not using Continuous Native Generation (CNG ) or you're using native android and ios project manually, then you need to add the following configuration to your native project:

Android

To apply userInterfaceStyle on Android, you need to add the expo_system_ui_user_interface_style configuration android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml:

<resources> <!-- ... --> <string name="expo_system_ui_user_interface_style" translatable="false">light</string> <!-- or dark --> </resources>

iOS

To apply backgroundColor on iOS, you need to add the UIUserInterfaceStyle configuration in ios/your-app/Info.plist:

<plist> <dict> <!-- ... --> <key>UIUserInterfaceStyle</key> <string>Light</string> <!-- or Dark --> </dict> </plist>

API


import * as SystemUI from 'expo-system-ui';

Methods


SystemUI.getBackgroundColorAsync()

Android

iOS

tvOS

Web

Gets the root view background color.

Returns:

[Promise](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise) <[ColorValue](https://reactnative.dev/docs/colors) | null>

Current root view background color in hex format. Returns null if the background color is not set.

Example

const color = await SystemUI.getBackgroundColorAsync();

SystemUI.setBackgroundColorAsync(color)

Android

iOS

tvOS

Web

| Parameter | Type | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | color | null \| [ColorValue](https://reactnative.dev/docs/colors) | Any valid CSS 3 (SVG) color<br>. |

Changes the root view background color. Call this function in the root file outside of your component.

Returns:

[Promise](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise) <void>

Example

SystemUI.setBackgroundColorAsync("black");