Add native RTL support for bottom tabs on iOS & Android with optional direction override

[ahmedawaad1804]

Description

This PR adds proper RTL (Right-to-Left) layout support for native bottom tabs on both iOS and Android in react-native-screens.

Previously, bottom tabs did not automatically follow the system RTL direction, which caused incorrect tab ordering and layout in RTL locales (e.g. Arabic, Hebrew).

With this change bottom tabs now follow the system layout direction by default. This brings native behavior in line with expected platform RTL handling and React Native layout conventions.

Important

@kligarski: I noticed now that this approach doesn't work with sidebar (iPad). We're looking into it.

Details

@kligarski:

Android

On Android, the direction works out-of-the-box so no custom logic is necessary.

iOS

Badges

Setting semanticContentAttribute for _controller.tabBar and _controller.view is not enough, e.g. badges visible through liquid glass lens are still in LTR.

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.16.27.18.mov

To handle this, we're using the same approach as in native stack - we set UIView's appearanceWhenContainedInInstancesOfClasses of the tab bar (details how it's handled in the header are here).

In the future, we can consider using modern way to handle direction via trait overrides (this for iOS < 17.0 and this for iOS >= 17.0). I decided against it for now in order to maintain compatibility with approach in the header. Also, there are differences in trait propagation between iOS < 17.0 and iOS >= 17.0 that we would need to consider. I added a ticket on our internal board to research this: https://github.com/software-mansion/react-native-screens-labs/issues/987.

ScrollView

On iOS, there seems to be a very odd bug with content of the ScrollView being moved off screen after tab changes. I've created an issue on our internal board (https://github.com/software-mansion/react-native-screens-labs/issues/985) and we'll investigate this further.

Screen.Recording.2026-02-19.at.15.55.06.mov

Bottom Accessory

There seems to be a bug with bottom accessory in RTL when search role is NOT used for one of the tabs (Apple Music and Apple Podcasts use search role so the bug isn't visible).

no search role (bug)	search role (no bug)
Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.15.52.15.mov	Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.15.51.31.mov

This bug is reproducible in bare UIKit app on iOS 26.2.

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.16.19.15.mov

I've added this to our internal board (https://github.com/software-mansion/react-native-screens-labs/issues/986) and we'll check whether it has been fixed in iOS 26.3/26.4 beta.

Changes

• Added automatic RTL detection in native bottom tabs (iOS & Android)
• Synced tab layout direction with system layout direction by default
• Updated native layout logic to correctly reverse tab ordering in RTL mode
• Added example in Test3598.tsx

Before

(iOS only because Android works out of the box).

After

Android

Android Test3598
android_3613.mp4

iOS

iOS Test3598	iOS TestBottomTabs	iOS Test3288
Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.15.49.45.mov	Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.15.50.11.mov	Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.Pro.RTL.-.2026-02-19.at.15.51.31.mov

Test plan

Use Test3598, TestBottomTabs, Test3288 (iOS).

Tested on:

• Android (RTL system language enabled)
• iOS (RTL simulator + device)

Checklist

• Included code example that can be used to test this change.
• For visual changes, included screenshots / GIFs / recordings documenting the change.
• Ensured that CI passes

[kkafar]

Hey, thanks for the PR. This is great, we need it. I hope to review it somewhere this week. Will keep you up to date.

[kligarski]

Hi, thank you for the PR. I'll push some changes and update PR description so we can land it soon. I hope you don't mind.

[ahmedawaad1804]

@kligarski sure thank you :D

[ahmedawaad1804]

@kkafar welcome , any time :)