react-native-device-shield

Screen security and device integrity for React Native — jailbreak/root detection, emulator detection, screen-recording monitoring, and screenshot blocking via useDeviceSecurity().

Built for fintech, e-commerce, and healthcare apps that need layered client-side defenses (HIPAA / KVKK oriented workflows).

Features

• Jailbreak / root detection — heuristic checks on iOS and Android
• Emulator / simulator detection — including common device-farm images
• Screen recording detection — live events when capture starts or stops
• Screenshot protection — Android FLAG_SECURE; iOS secure-layer blanking
• Privacy mode — react when recording or a screenshot attempt is detected
• TurboModule — New Architecture ready

Installation

npm install react-native-device-shield
# or
yarn add react-native-device-shield

iOS:

cd ios && pod install

Requires the New Architecture (TurboModule). React Native 0.76+ is recommended.

Quick start

import { useDeviceSecurity } from 'react-native-device-shield';

export function SecureScreen() {
  const { isCompromised, isScreenRecording, isSecureScreenEnabled } =
    useDeviceSecurity({
      preventScreenCapture: true, // Android FLAG_SECURE → captures blanked
      onPrivacyModeChange: ({ active, reason }) => {
        // Capture detected — swap sensitive UI if you want
      },
    });

  // Sensitive content is blanked by the OS when capture is blocked.
  return null;
}

Optionally wrap screens with <PrivacyShield /> and renderOverlay to show a custom warning UI to the user. Screenshots and recordings still stay black when secure mode is on.

iOS screenshot note

iOS does not offer a public API as strong as Android FLAG_SECURE. This library blanks content via a secure UITextField container. It often does not work in the Simulator — test on a real device.

API

useDeviceSecurity(options?)

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | isJailbroken | boolean | iOS jailbreak signals | | isRooted | boolean | Android root signals (mirrors jailbreak on iOS) | | isEmulator | boolean | Emulator / Simulator / common device-farm images | | isScreenRecording | boolean | Screen recording / capture active | | isSecureScreenEnabled | boolean | Native screenshot blocking is on | | isPrivacyMode | boolean | Privacy mode after recording or screenshot | | isCompromised | boolean | isJailbroken \|\| isRooted \|\| isEmulator | | platform | 'ios' \| 'android' \| 'unknown' | Current platform | | isLoading | boolean | Initial native read in progress | | privacyReason | PrivacyModeReason \| null | Why privacy mode is active | | refresh() | () => void | Re-run checks immediately | | enableSecureScreen() | () => void | Enable screenshot / recording blocking | | disableSecureScreen() | () => void | Disable blocking | | exitPrivacyMode() | () => void | Leave privacy mode (ignored while recording) |

Options

| Option | Default | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | preventScreenCapture | true | Android FLAG_SECURE, iOS secure layer | | nativePrivacyOverlay | false | Native black cover; keep off for custom UI. iOS only — Android already blanks via FLAG_SECURE, so this flag is a no-op there | | onPrivacyModeChange | — | Callback when privacy mode toggles | | pollIntervalMs | 3000 | How often to re-check static signals | | lazy | false | Defer first read until refresh() |

Note: preventScreenCapture is read on every render — flipping it from true to false at runtime calls disableSecureScreen() for you, same as flipping it back on calls enableSecureScreen().

<PrivacyShield /> (optional)

Shows a custom overlay to the person using the device when capture is detected. Captured output remains blanked by FLAG_SECURE / the iOS secure layer.

import { PrivacyShield } from 'react-native-device-shield';

<PrivacyShield
  preventScreenCapture
  renderOverlay={({ reason, exitPrivacyMode }) => (
    <MySafeScreen reason={reason} onContinue={exitPrivacyMode} />
  )}
>
  <SensitiveScreen />
</PrivacyShield>

<PrivacyShield /> doesn't do the blocking itself — it just calls useDeviceSecurity() internally and adds an overlay slot on top. useDeviceSecurity() alone (no wrapper needed) already enables FLAG_SECURE / the iOS secure layer by default; wrap with <PrivacyShield> only when you want a custom warning UI or the usePrivacyShield() context below.

Use usePrivacyShield() inside children to read the same security state from context (throws if called outside a <PrivacyShield>).

Pass hideContentInPrivacyMode to unmount children while privacy mode is active, instead of just layering the overlay on top:

<PrivacyShield hideContentInPrivacyMode renderOverlay={() => <BlockedScreen />}>
  <SensitiveScreen />
</PrivacyShield>

Imperative helpers

import {
  enableSecureScreen,
  getSecurityStatus,
  isEmulator,
  isJailbroken,
  isRooted,
  isScreenRecording,
} from 'react-native-device-shield';

enableSecureScreen();
const status = getSecurityStatus();

Also available: disableSecureScreen, isSecureScreenEnabled, setNativePrivacyOverlayEnabled, subscribeScreenRecording, subscribeScreenshotDetected, isNativeModuleAvailable() (check before calling native APIs directly, e.g. to detect Expo Go).

Platform notes

• Android: FLAG_SECURE blanks screenshots and recordings; API 34+ uses ScreenCaptureCallback to detect attempts. Below API 34, capture is still blocked but no onScreenshotDetected event fires. isScreenRecording is a heuristic (looks for secondary displays named like "screen"/"record"/"capture"/"cast"/"mirror") — it can false-positive on things like Chromecast and miss recorders that don't match those names
• iOS: UIScreen.isCaptured, screenshot notifications, and a secure text-field layer. Apple gives no public API to block the screenshot action itself — onScreenshotDetected fires after the OS already took it, and prevented just means the captured frame was blanked by the secure layer. The secure layer relies on an undocumented UITextField internal-view trick, so treat it as best-effort, not guaranteed across iOS versions
• No single signal is 100% reliable — design defense in depth

Example app

yarn
yarn example ios
# or
yarn example android

License

MIT