[Looking for maintainers] React development for TVs (Renderer for low memory applications and Packager for TVs)

React-TV ·

import React from 'react'
import ReactTV, { Platform } from 'react-tv'

class Clock extends React.Component {
  state = { date: new Date() }

  componentDidMount() {
    setInterval(() => this.setState({date: new Date()}), 1000)
  }

  render() {
    if (Platform('webos')) {
      return (
        <h1>Time is {this.state.date.toLocaleTimeString()}</h1>
      )
    }

    return <h2>This App is available only at LG WebOS</h2>
  }
}

ReactTV.render(<Clock/>, document.getElementById('root'))

Summary

• About React-TV
  • Understanding the Problem
  • Articles
• react-tv-cli
  • Developing for WebOS
• react-tv
  • Platform
  • renderOnAppLoaded
  • Spatial Navigation
• Examples
  • Clock App
  • Youtube App
• References for Study
  • WebOS
  • Videos
  • Essentials to beginner
  • React Basics and Renderer Architecture
• Roadmap
• Credits

About React-TV

React-TV is an ecosystem for TV based React applications (from the renderer to CLI for pack/build applications).
At the moment we’re focusing on WebOS and SmartTV.
React-TV’s aims to be a better tool for building and developing fast for TVs.

Understanding the Problem

tl;dr: Crafting a high-performance TV user interface using React

Crafting a high-performance TV user interface using React is a real challenge, because of some reasons:

• Limited graphics acceleration
• Single core CPUs
• High Memory Usage for a common TV App

These restrictions make super responsive 60fps experiences especially tricky. The strategy is step in the renderer: Applying reactive concepts to unblock the processing on the renderer layer, plug the TV’s keyListener, avoid React.createElement.

In addition: Unify the build for multiple TV platforms.

Articles

Friendly list of tutorials and articles:

• Developing for TVs with React-TV

react-tv-cli

To install react-tv-cli (CLI Packager):

$ yarn global add react-tv-cli

Support for React-TV-CLI

Developing for WebOS

Short Description: WebOS, also known as Open WebOS or LG WebOS, (previously known as HP WebOS and Palm WebOS, stylized as webOS) is a Linux kernel-based multitasking operating system for smart devices such as Smart TVs and it has been used as a mobile operating system.

First of all, follow the instructions to install the SDK and Setup your WebOS Environment.

Then, init your react-tv project:

$ react-tv-cli init <my-app-name>

From the project directory, install the dependencies to enable building:

$ yarn install

You will need to keep the list of files related to your app on the React-TV entry up to date in package.json. The init command will already add index.html, bundle.js and style.css to the package.

{
  "name": "my-app-name",
  "react-tv": {
    "files": [
      "index.html",
      "bundle.js",
      "style.css"
    ]
  }
}

To build your project:

$ yarn build

Once the project is built, you can run it on a specific device or emulator:

$ react-tv-cli run-webos <device>

• If you do not specify a device, it runs on VirtualBox WebOS Simulator.

react-tv

To install react-tv (React Renderer):

$ yarn add react-tv

Platform

When building a cross-platform TV app, you’ll want to re-use as much code as possible. You’ll probably have different scenarios where different code might be necessary.
For instance, you may want to implement separated visual components for LG-WebOS and Samsung-Tizen.

React-TV provides the Platform module to easily organize your code and separate it by platform:

import { Platform } from 'react-tv'

console.log(Platform('webos')) // true
console.log(Platform('tizen')) // false
console.log(Platform('orsay')) // false

renderOnAppLoaded

Takes a component and returns a higher-order component version of that component, which renders only after application was launched, allows to not write diffent logics for many devices.

import { renderOnAppLoaded } from 'react-tv'

const Component = () => (<div></div>)
const App = renderOnAppLoaded(Component)

findDOMNode

Similar to react-dom findDOMNode

Navigation

If you want to start with Navigation for TVs. React-TV provides a package for spatial navigation with declarative support based on Netflix navigation system.

React-TV Navigation exports withFocusable and withNavigation which act as helpers for Navigation.

import React from 'react'
import ReactTV from 'react-tv'
import { withFocusable, withNavigation } from 'react-tv-navigation'

const Item = ({focused, setFocus, focusPath}) => {
  focused = (focused) ? 'focused' : 'unfocused'
  return (
    <div onClick={() => { setFocus() }} >
      It's {focused} Item
    </div>
  )
}

const Button = ({setFocus}) => {
  return (
    <div onClick={() => { setFocus('item-1') }}>
      Back To First Item!
    </div>
  )
}

const FocusableItem = withFocusable(Item)
const FocusableButton = withFocusable(Button)

function App({currentFocusPath}) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Current FocusPath: '{currentFocusPath}'</h1>,
      <FocusableItem focusPath='item-1'/>
      <FocusableItem focusPath='item-2'/>
      <FocusableButton
        focusPath='button'
        onEnterPress={() => console.log('Pressed enter on Button!')}/>
    </div>
  )
}

const NavigableApp = withNavigation(App)

ReactTV.render(<NavigableApp/>, document.querySelector('#app'))

See examples/navigation for more details about usage.

Examples

Clock App

Youtube App

References:

WebOS

• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/sdk/download/download-sdk/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/sdk/install-instructions/installing-sdk/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/sdk/emulator/introduction-emulator/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/develop/building-your-first-web-app-webos-tv/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/develop/app-test/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/api/web-api/supported-standard-web-api/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/develop/app-developer-guide/web-app-lifecycle/
• http://webostv.developer.lge.com/develop/js-services/calling-js-service/

Videos

Windows

• LG WebOS SDK Installing (Setup Webos IDE)

OSX

• Build Your First App for webOS TV (Setup OSX)

Essentials to beginner

• http://developer.samsung.com/tv/develop/getting-started/setup-sdk/installing-tv-sdk/
• http://developer.samsung.com/tv/develop/getting-started/using-sdk/tv-simulator
• http://developer.samsung.com/tv/develop/getting-started/essentials-for-beginner

Developing for SmartTV Guidelines

• https://github.com/ruiposse/smart-tv-app-dev-guidelines
• https://github.com/immosmart/smartbox
• https://github.com/linuxenko/awesome-smarttv

React Basics and Renderer Architecture

• https://github.com/reactjs/react-basic
• https://github.com/iamdustan/tiny-react-renderer
• https://facebook.github.io/react/blog/2015/12/18/react-components-elements-and-instances.html

Roadmap

Stage 1

Initial proof-of-concept. [DONE]

• CLI Build Abstraction of LG Webos (run-webos, run-webos-dev)
• Create a guide or script to Install all LG WebOS environment
• Renderer ReactElements to simple DOM
  • Support HOF and HOC
  • Support State and Lifecycle
  • Keyboard Navigation
• Check webos Platform
• Migrate to React-Reconciler

Stage 2 [IN PROGRESS]

Implement essential functionality needed for daily use by early adopters.

• Support render to Canvas instead DOM using React.CanvasComponent
• run-webos support TV device as param
• Optmizate DOMRenderer for TV
• Start CLI for Tizen
• Develop helpers for WebOS debbug (e.g: Log System).
• Support Cross Platform
  • Check executable bin path for Windows, OSX and Linux
• Bind all TV key listeners on React.Element
• Improve documentation
• Benchmark it

Stage 3

Add additional features users expect from a Renderer. Then fix bugs and stabilize through continuous daily use. At this point we can start to experiment with innovative ideas and paradigms.

• Start CLI for Orsay
• Update Benchmarks
• Handle common errors
• Reactive Renderer
• Testing and stability

See ReactTV’s Changelog.

Currently ReactTV is licensed by MIT License

Credits

Thanks react-dom for be example and a inspiration code :)