react-native-pick-contact

A zero-permission contact picker for React Native. Lets the user pick a single contact (name + phone) via the native OS picker — without ever requesting READ_CONTACTS or Contacts authorization.

Look mom, no permission dialogs! 🚀

  Traditional library                    react-native-pick-contact
  ─────────────────────                  ─────────────────────────
  1. User taps "Pick Contact"            1. User taps "Pick Contact"
  2. 🔒 Permission dialog appears        2. 📱 Native picker opens instantly
  3. 😬 User hesitates / denies          3. User picks a contact
  4. ...or grants full address book       4. ✅ App receives name + phone
  5. App reads entire contact list
  6. App finds the one contact

  Permissions: READ_CONTACTS             Permissions: NONE
  Data exposed: EVERYTHING               Data exposed: 1 contact

New Architecture Ready

Many popular contact libraries are broken on React Native 0.76+ because they rely on the legacy Bridge and haven't migrated to TurboModules.

react-native-pick-contact is built from the ground up for the New Architecture:

• TurboModule native module (C++ codegen on iOS, Java codegen on Android)
• Codegen type-safe specs — no manual bridging, no NativeModules["..."] hacks
• Works out of the box with React Native 0.76+ — just install and go

If you're migrating to the New Architecture and your current contact library broke, this is a drop-in replacement.

Why this library?

Most React Native contact libraries require the READ_CONTACTS permission, which gives your app access to the entire address book. This is:

• A privacy concern — users see a scary permission dialog and may deny it
• A security risk — your app has access to data it doesn't need
• An App Store / Play Store review flag — reviewers question why you need full contact access

react-native-pick-contact takes a different approach:

| | Traditional Libraries | react-native-pick-contact | |---|---|---| | Permissions | READ_CONTACTS (full address book) | None | | Data access | All contacts, all fields | One contact, name + phone only | | User trust | Permission dialog before use | System picker, no dialog | | Privacy | App can read contacts in background | Only what user explicitly picks |

How it works

• iOS: Uses CNContactPickerViewController — an out-of-process system UI. Your app never touches the Contacts database directly.
• Android: Uses ActivityResultContracts.PickContact() — the system contact picker grants a temporary URI permission scoped to the single selected contact.

Requirements

• React Native 0.76+ (New Architecture enabled)
• iOS 15.0+
• Android minSdk 24+

Installation

npm install react-native-pick-contact

iOS

cd ios && pod install

No additional configuration needed. No Info.plist keys required.

Android

No additional configuration needed. The library declares READ_CONTACTS in its manifest as a fallback for Android 16+ devices where the zero-permission approach doesn't cover phone data (see Android 16+ fallback). This permission is only requested at runtime when needed — most users will never see a prompt.

Usage

import { pickContact } from 'react-native-pick-contact';

async function handlePickContact() {
  const contact = await pickContact();

  if (contact === null) {
    // User cancelled the picker
    return;
  }

  console.log(contact.name);  // "John Appleseed"
  console.log(contact.phone); // "+1 (555) 012-3456"
}

API

pickContact()

function pickContact(): Promise<Contact | null>;

Opens the native OS contact picker. Returns a Promise that resolves with:

• A Contact object if the user selected a contact
• null if the user cancelled

Contact

type Contact = {
  name: string;   // Full display name
  phone: string;  // First phone number (formatted)
};

Error codes

| Code | Description | |------|-------------| | E_NO_ACTIVITY | Android: no active Activity found | | E_NO_VIEW_CONTROLLER | iOS: no root view controller found | | E_PICKER_BUSY | Picker is already open (both platforms) | | E_LAUNCH_PICKER | Failed to launch the system picker | | E_CONTACT_RESOLVE | Failed to read data from the selected contact | | E_ACTIVITY_DESTROYED | Android: Activity destroyed while picker was open | | E_MODULE_DEALLOCATED | iOS: native module was deallocated mid-operation |

Notes

• On iOS, contacts without phone numbers are grayed out in the picker (cannot be selected).
• On Android, the selected phone number comes from the contact's data via a temporary URI permission — no manifest permission needed.
• The phone field returns the first phone number. If the contact has no phone numbers, it returns an empty string.

Android 16+ (Samsung) fallback

On some Android 16+ devices (notably Samsung), the system picker's temporary URI permission does not extend to the phone number data sub-path. When this happens, the library automatically:

1. Detects the empty phone number from the primary (zero-permission) path
2. Requests READ_CONTACTS permission at runtime (one-time OS prompt)
3. If granted, retrieves the phone number using the contact ID

The READ_CONTACTS permission is declared in the library's manifest for this fallback only. On devices where the primary path works (the vast majority), the permission is never requested and the user sees no dialog.

If the user denies the permission, the contact is returned with the name but an empty phone string — no crash.

Android 11+ Package Visibility

Android 11 (API 30) introduced package visibility filtering, which requires apps to declare <queries> in their manifest to interact with other apps. You do not need to add any <queries> tags for this library. The system contact picker is an OS-level component — Android launches it directly and grants a temporary URI permission for the selected contact. No inter-app resolution or manifest declarations are required.

Troubleshooting

iOS Simulator shows an empty contact list

The iOS Simulator ships with no contacts by default. The picker will open but display an empty list.

Fix: Import the test contacts file included in this repo by dragging test-contacts.vcf onto the Simulator window, or run:

xcrun simctl openurl booted "file://$(pwd)/test-contacts.vcf"

You can also open the Contacts app in the Simulator and add contacts manually. Alternatively, test on a real device where your iCloud or local contacts are available.

Picker opens but immediately closes (iOS)

This can happen if the root view controller is not fully presented yet (e.g., calling pickContact() during app launch). Wait until your screen is fully mounted before calling the function.

E_NO_ACTIVITY on Android

This occurs when pickContact() is called while no Activity is in the foreground (e.g., from a background task or headless JS). Ensure you only call it from a user-facing screen.

Contributing

Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Open an issue or submit a PR — contributions are welcome!

If this library saved you from dealing with READ_CONTACTS permissions, consider giving it a star on GitHub — it helps other developers discover the zero-permission approach.

License

MIT