React Native view scaling - react-native

Question

So I'm developing a cross platform React Native app, the app is using allot of images as buttons as per design requirements that need to be given an initial height and width so that their aspect ratios are correct. From there I've built components that use these image buttons and then placed those components on the main screen. I can get things to look perfect on one screen by using tops and lefts/ rights to get the components positioned according to the design requirements that I've been given.
The problem I'm running into is now scaling this main screen for different screen sizes. I'm basically scaling the x and y via the transform property on the parent most view as such. transform: [{ scaleX: .8 }, { scaleY: .8 }] After writing a scaling function that accounts for a base height and current height this approach works for the actual size of things but my positioning is all screwy.
I know I'm going about this wrong and am starting to think that i need to rethink my approach but am stumped on how to get these components positioned correctly on each screen without having to hard code it.
Is there any way to position a view using tops and lefts/rights, lock that in place, then scale it more like an image?

Answer 1

First of all, try using flex as far as you can. Then when you need extra scaling for inner parts for example, you can use scale functions. I have been using a scale function based on the screen size and the pixel density, and works almost flawless so far.
import { Dimensions } from "react-native";
const { width, height } = Dimensions.get("window");
//Guideline sizes are based on standard ~5" screen mobile device
const guidelineBaseWidth = 350;
const guidelineBaseHeight = 680;
const screenSize = Math.sqrt(width * height) / 100;
const scale = size => (width / guidelineBaseWidth) * size;
const verticalScale = size => (height / guidelineBaseHeight) * size;
const moderateScale = (size, factor = 0.5) =>
size + (scale(size) - size) * factor;
export { scale, verticalScale, moderateScale, screenSize };
Then you can import these and use in your components. There are different types of scales, you can try and see the best one for your components.Hope that helps.

Answer 2

I ended up going through each view and converting everything that was using a hard coded height and width pixel to setting the width and then using the property aspectRatio and giving that the hard coded height and widths. That along with implementing a scaling function that gave me a fraction of the largest view, so say .9, and then scaling the main view using transform. People arent kidding when they say this responsive ui stuff is tough.
2022 update -
I resolved this problem on my next app by using flex everywhere & a function called rem that I use everywhere that needs a fixed pixel count. With this I can set the width on an image and define an aspect ratio based on the images original dimensions and get an image that scales to the screen size, it's been super reliable.
static width = Dimensions.get("window").width;
static height = Dimensions.get("window").height;
static orientation = 'PORTRAIT';
static maxWidth = 428;
static rem = size => {
let divisor = window.lockedToPortrait || Styles.orientation === 'PORTRAIT' ? Styles.width : Styles.height;
return Math.floor(size * (divisor / Styles.maxWidth))
};
The maxWidth is a predefined value from the largest device I could find to simulate which was probably an iPhone max.