Comparison of RenderHTML and Webview
I try to render HTML with display: 'inline' instead of 'block' with RenderHTML library, is there anyway I can achieve display: 'inline' like Webview? When a long text breaks line, in Webivew and many HTML online, the background color does not affect on the first line while with RenderHTML, it has background on all lines ( I think default of RenderHTML is display: 'block', I only see "flex" / "none" as the options of display property ) Thanks!
No. Currently, react-native-render-html does not support the CSS property display: inline. Its default behavior is block or flex-based, due to React Native styling constraints. This is why inline behavior like partial background coloring for multiline texts can't be directly achieved.
Why does this happen?
react-native-render-html internally translates HTML into React Native components (<Text>, <View>), which rely exclusively on Flexbox layout. CSS display values like "inline" or "inline-block" don't directly map to React Native styling.
As a result, elements that you'd normally style inline in the browser get converted to block or flex-based components, causing background styles to span entire lines.
Possible Solutions/Workarounds:
If accurate inline display is crucial for your HTML content, consider switching to WebView, as it fully supports browser-based rendering:
Example:
import { WebView } from 'react-native-webview';
<WebView
originWhitelist={['*']}
source={{ html: <span style="display:inline; background-color:yellow;"> This is a long inline text example that wraps into multiple lines. </span> }}
/>
✅ Pros:
Complete CSS support, exactly like browsers.
Handles complex inline layouts effortlessly.
❌ Cons:
Slightly heavier in terms of performance.
Less native feel compared to RenderHTML.
If your HTML is simple, you can manually simulate inline behavior using React Native's components:
import { View, Text } from 'react-native';
<View style={{ flexDirection: 'row', flexWrap: 'wrap' }}> <Text style={{ backgroundColor: 'yellow' }}> This is a long inline text example that wraps into multiple lines.
✅ Pros:
Purely native approach.
Good performance.
❌ Cons:
Not scalable for complex or dynamic HTML.
Manual effort required to handle complex scenarios.
Final Recommendation:
For complete and accurate inline rendering of HTML/CSS: use WebView.
For performance and simple cases, manually style with React Native's <Text> components or accept RenderHTML’s limitations.
Currently, there's no direct solution within react-native-render-html to fully replicate the browser's inline CSS rendering behavior.
