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I Built a React Native Scheduling Timeline Library — Here’s Why

#mobile #reactnative #showdev #ui

I Built a React Native Scheduling Timeline Library — Here’s Why

Scheduling UIs look simple… until you try to build one.

After working on multiple products that required time-based layouts — planners, calendars, EPG-style TV guides, and complex schedulers — I realized how quickly things become complicated:

  • precise time positioning
  • virtualization and performance
  • scrolling synchronization
  • focus handling on TV devices
  • responsive layouts for mobile and tablet
  • drag & drop interactions
  • real-world edge cases everywhere

I described many of these challenges in detail in this article:

👉 https://dev.to/kozerkarol/building-scheduling-timeline-uis-in-react-native-why-it-gets-hard-so-fast-38g2

While solving those problems, I ended up building something bigger.

Introducing a React Native Scheduling / Timeline Component

Hey everyone 👋

I wanted to share something I’ve been working on for quite a while.

I built a React Native time-based scheduling / timeline component designed for:

  • schedulers
  • planners
  • calendars
  • EPG-style timelines
  • any UI that represents data across time

And it’s built for real production use cases, not just demos.

Designed for Real Devices

The component works across multiple environments:

  • iPad & iPhone
  • Android devices
  • TV platforms (Android TV and similar)

It supports time-based layouts such as schedules, timelines, and TV guides — where precision, performance, and usability really matter.

Below are short demo videos showing the component running on real hardware:

iPad demo

iPhone demo

Android TV demo

Current Beta Status

The library is currently in beta, and there are a few important notes:

TV navigation

If you plan to use it in a TV environment, you’ll need to implement custom imperative navigation for now.

Native TV navigation is already planned for upcoming releases.

Drag & Drop

Drag & Drop is not available yet in the current beta.

It’s already on the roadmap and will be introduced in a future version.

Looking for Early Testers

I’m currently looking for developers who would like to:

  • test it in real projects
  • give feedback
  • suggest improvements
  • or just try to break it 😄

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out:

Subject: Planby Native

Email: contact@planby.app

Project website: https://planby.app/

I’d Love Your Feedback

I’d especially love to hear:

  • what use cases you would try this for
  • what you expect from a scheduler / timeline component
  • any developer-experience feedback

Your input will directly shape the next releases.

Final Thoughts

Building time-based scheduling UIs in React Native is far more complex than it first appears.

This library is my attempt to make that problem:

  • easier to solve
  • production-ready
  • performant across mobile and TV
  • flexible enough for real-world apps

If you’re working on anything involving time, schedules, or timelines, I’d love for you to try it and share your thoughts.

Thanks for checking it out 🙌

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