Autolinking dependencies in React Native - react-native

Question

Context
I have a couple of React Native apps which share some components and helpers.
So I created a library to store the shared code, and I use it in my apps by adding it as a dependency in the respective package.json.
Inside my custom library, I use react-native.config.js to link some fonts
module.exports = {
assets: ['./assets/fonts']
};
And in my apps, I do npx react-native link my-custom-library to link these fonts.
Now, this shared library is also using react-native-community/react-native-localize.
And I don't know how to link it in my apps 🤔
I have 2 questions here:
Why do I need to do npx react-native link my-custom-library for the fonts?
Shouldn't React Native 60's autolinking feature do this for me automatically?
How can link react-native-localize using this setup?

Answer 1

1) About the fonts for RN 0.60+:
you should have a react-native.config.js
with a content like this:
module.exports = {
project: {
ios: {},
android: {},
assets: ['./src/assets/fonts', 'react-native-vector-icons'],
// Add the rn-vector icons in the above array only if you use that module, or your <libraryName> too.
};
Run react-native link and you should see a log like this:
info Linking assets to ios project info Linking assets to android
project success Assets have been successfully linked to your project
Add the fonts in Info.plist file:
<key>UIAppFonts</key>
<array>
<string>AntDesign.ttf</string>
<string>Entypo.ttf</string>
<string>EvilIcons.ttf</string>
<string>Feather.ttf</string>
<string>FontAwesome.ttf</string>
<string>FontAwesome5_Brands.ttf</string>
<string>FontAwesome5_Regular.ttf</string>
<string>FontAwesome5_Solid.ttf</string>
<string>Foundation.ttf</string>
<string>Ionicons.ttf</string>
<string>MaterialIcons.ttf</string>
<string>MaterialCommunityIcons.ttf</string>
<string>SimpleLineIcons.ttf</string>
<string>Octicons.ttf</string>
<string>Zocial.ttf</string>
</array>
Check Run Script Only When Installing in Xcode->YourProjectTarget->BuildPhases-> Copy Pods Resources
Make sure you clean all the cache:
rm -rf $TMPDIR/react- && rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro- && rm -rf $TMPDIR/haste-* && watchman watch-del-all && rm -rf ios/build and restart JS server.
Source and more info here:
https://medium.com/#mehran.khan/ultimate-guide-to-use-custom-fonts-in-react-native-77fcdf859cf4
I couldn't make the fonts work without the react-native link command and it seems that other people encountered this issue too.
2) About the react-native-localize
If you already linked it manually just run react-native unlink react-native-localize and then go to ios folder and run a pod install.
The line use_native_modules (from Podfile) will make the pod installer search for a pod spec file (RNLocalize.podspec) in the library folder from node_modules and install it and link it automatically.
Notes:
This answer has been tested in RN 0.61.4 on iOS simulator
Hints how to link a library that provides fonts I found here:
https://github.com/oblador/react-native-vector-icons/issues/1041