React Native has no built-in SVG support, but vector graphics are essential for crisp icons, illustrations, and charts. react-native-svg provides a full set of SVG primitives as React components, and it underpins many higher-level libraries like charting and animation tools.
Key takeaways
- Draw resolution-independent shapes, paths, and gradients that stay sharp at any size.
- It is the rendering foundation for many chart and icon libraries.
- Combine it with Reanimated for animated, data-driven vector graphics.
SVG primitives as components
The library exposes Svg, Path, Circle, Rect, Line, Polygon, Text, and gradient elements as components that mirror the SVG spec, so existing SVG markup translates almost directly. Because output is vector, the same graphic renders crisply on every screen density without exporting multiple raster sizes.
For static assets, a transformer plugin lets you import .svg files directly as components, which keeps illustrations in version control and themeable.
Charts and custom visuals
Most React Native charting libraries are built on react-native-svg, and when an off-the-shelf chart does not fit, you can compose paths and shapes yourself for fully custom visuals — progress rings, gauges, signature pads, and more.
Animating SVG
Pairing react-native-svg with Reanimated lets you animate path data, stroke offsets, and transforms on the UI thread, which is how smooth drawing animations and animated progress indicators are built.