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letterSpacing property not working properly #54823
Description
Description
When Applying the letterSpacing to style in Text component, it applies the spacing after the character instead of adding space between the characters.
Here is the sample vanila code.
<Text
style={{
backgroundColor: 'blue',
color: 'white',
fontSize: 18,
alignSelf: 'center',
letterSpacing: 30,
fontVariant: ['tabular-nums'],
}}
>
1/3
</Text>
Output:
I also tried to apply the fontVariant: ['tabular-nums'], assuming that it may keep the character width same if that's the issue.
But seems that doesn't fix the error.
And this gap keeps increasing when you increase the letterSpacing.
Try 2:
<Text
style={{
backgroundColor: 'blue',
color: 'white',
fontSize: 18,
alignSelf: 'center',
letterSpacing: 90, // <- increased
fontVariant: ['tabular-nums'],
}}
>
1/3
</Text>
Output:
And thus How I conclude that it may adds the space after each character instead of gap.
Here is my package.json file's dependencies.
"dependencies": {
"@medusajs/js-sdk": "2.8.7",
"@medusajs/types": "2.8.7",
"@react-native-clipboard/clipboard": "^1.16.3",
"@react-native-community/geolocation": "^3.4.0",
"@react-native-documents/picker": "^11.0.0",
"@react-native-documents/viewer": "^2.0.2",
"@react-native-firebase/analytics": "^23.4.1",
"@react-native-firebase/app": "^23.4.1",
"@react-native-firebase/crashlytics": "^23.4.1",
"@react-native-firebase/remote-config": "^23.4.1",
"@react-navigation/bottom-tabs": "^7.4.6",
"@react-navigation/drawer": "^7.5.7",
"@react-navigation/native": "^7.1.17",
"@react-navigation/native-stack": "^7.3.25",
"@shopify/flash-list": "^2.1.0",
"@tanstack/react-query": "^5.85.2",
"dayjs": "^1.11.19",
"formik": "^2.4.9",
"i18next": "^25.5.2",
"jwt-decode": "^4.0.0",
"lodash": "^4.17.21",
"patch-package": "^8.0.0",
"postinstall-postinstall": "^2.1.0",
"qs": "6.12.0",
"react": "19.1.0",
"react-i18next": "^15.7.3",
"react-native": "0.80.2",
"react-native-config": "^1.5.6",
"react-native-fast-image": "^8.6.3",
"react-native-flash-message": "^0.4.2",
"react-native-gesture-handler": "^2.28.0",
"react-native-image-crop-picker": "^0.51.1",
"react-native-keyboard-aware-scroll-view": "^0.9.5",
"react-native-keyboard-controller": "^1.19.6",
"react-native-linear-gradient": "^2.8.3",
"react-native-mmkv": "^3.3.0",
"react-native-navigation-bar-color": "^2.0.2",
"react-native-otp-entry": "^1.8.5",
"react-native-permissions": "^5.4.4",
"react-native-reanimated": "^4.0.2",
"react-native-reanimated-carousel": "^4.0.3",
"react-native-render-html": "^6.3.4",
"react-native-safe-area-context": "^5.6.0",
"react-native-screens": "^4.14.1",
"react-native-svg": "^15.12.1",
"react-native-video": "^6.16.1",
"react-native-worklets": "^0.4.1",
"yup": "^1.7.1",
"zustand": "^5.0.7"
},
"devDependencies": {
"@babel/core": "^7.25.2",
"@babel/preset-env": "^7.25.3",
"@babel/runtime": "^7.25.0",
"@commitlint/cli": "^19.8.1",
"@commitlint/config-conventional": "^19.8.1",
"@react-native-community/cli": "19.1.1",
"@react-native-community/cli-platform-android": "19.1.1",
"@react-native-community/cli-platform-ios": "19.1.1",
"@react-native/babel-preset": "0.80.2",
"@react-native/eslint-config": "0.80.2",
"@react-native/metro-config": "0.80.2",
"@react-native/typescript-config": "0.80.2",
"@tanstack/eslint-plugin-query": "^5.83.1",
"@types/jest": "^29.5.13",
"@types/lodash": "^4.17.20",
"@types/react": "^19.1.0",
"@types/react-test-renderer": "^19.1.0",
"babel-plugin-module-resolver": "^5.0.2",
"cspell": "^9.3.2",
"eslint": "^8.19.0",
"eslint-plugin-import": "^2.32.0",
"husky": "^9.1.7",
"jest": "^29.6.3",
"lint-staged": "^16.1.5",
"prettier": "2.8.8",
"react-native-dotenv": "^3.4.11",
"react-test-renderer": "19.1.0",
"reactotron-react-native": "^5.1.15",
"typescript": "5.0.4"
},
Steps to reproduce
- Just paste the code blocks I added in the react native project created with same version as mine.
React Native Version
0.80.2
Affected Platforms
Runtime - Android, Runtime - iOS
Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info
info Fetching system and libraries information...
System:
OS: macOS 26.1
CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M4
Memory: 162.77 MB / 16.00 GB
Shell:
version: "5.9"
path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
Node:
version: 22.11.0
path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin/node
Yarn:
version: 3.2.3
path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin/yarn
npm:
version: 10.9.0
path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin/npm
Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
CocoaPods:
version: 1.16.2
path: /Users/aditya/.rbenv/shims/pod
SDKs:
iOS SDK:
Platforms:
- DriverKit 25.1
- iOS 26.1
- macOS 26.1
- tvOS 26.1
- visionOS 26.1
- watchOS 26.1
Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
Android Studio: 2025.1 AI-251.26094.121.2512.13840223
Xcode:
version: 26.1.1/17B100
path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
Java:
version: 21.0.8
path: /usr/bin/javac
Ruby:
version: 2.7.5
path: /Users/aditya/.rbenv/shims/ruby
npmPackages:
"@react-native-community/cli":
installed: 19.1.1
wanted: 19.1.1
react:
installed: 19.1.0
wanted: 19.1.0
react-native:
installed: 0.80.2
wanted: 0.80.2
react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
"*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
hermesEnabled: true
newArchEnabled: true
iOS:
hermesEnabled: true
newArchEnabled: true
info React Native v0.82.1 is now available (your project is running on v0.80.2).
info Changelog: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v0.82.1
info Diff: https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/?from=0.80.2&to=0.82.1
info For more info, check out "https://reactnative.dev/docs/upgrading?os=macos".
Stacktrace or Logs
Not a crash
MANDATORY Reproducer
https://snack.expo.dev/@aditya_thummar/moody-indigo-yogurt
Screenshots and Videos
Activity
Thotaharshavardhani commentedon Jan 5, 2026
Hello @aditya-thummar-devx , isn't this expected behaviour? as
letterSpacingincreases the advance width of each glyph (including the last character), as implemented by the underlying native text engines (CoreText on iOS, TextPaint on Android).aditya-thummar-devx commentedon Jan 5, 2026
@Thotaharshavardhani Thank you for your response !!
Not sure about the behaviour.
If that's the case then logically it's not right. Because
letterSpacingfeels like space between the letters, not the width of character.So My issue still stands 😅.
JubaKitiashvili commentedon Apr 17, 2026
The mismatch here is that RN measures text widths without applying
letterSpacingat the native advance level — iOS TextKit's.kernattribute and Android'sPaint.setLetterSpacingboth affect rendered advance, but RN's measurement callback doesn't account for that. Result: predicted line heights differ from rendered heights whenever spacing ≠ 0.A working approximation at the JS layer: add
letterSpacing × codePointCount(segment)to each segment's advance before line-fit. That matches the rendered result within sub-pixel tolerance for most fonts.We bundled this into
expo-pretext@1.0(useTextHeight(text, { …, letterSpacing: n }, width)) — cache-keyed on letterSpacing so different values don't collide. Doesn't fix the RN renderer, but at least the measurement side lines up. Happy to help if anyone's stuck.aditya-thummar-devx commentedon Apr 18, 2026
Thank you for the explanation 😃 , Although I am not that much of experienced enough to know the deep/under layer working. But I think you are referring to the height right?? If that's correct then I am not referring to the height in this issue.
The issue is, I applied some
letterspacingand instead of adding space in between each characters, it just applies space at the end of each character, meaning it may applying width and also the characters are the left side, not centerred. So in result this is not as predicted and as expected.Let me know if there is any misunderstanding in this, I'm open for the solutions and help 👍 .
aditya-thummar-devx commentedon Apr 18, 2026
@JubaKitiashvili Thanks for the help though, Please check this you are intersted.
JubaKitiashvili commentedon Apr 18, 2026
@aditya-thummar-devx — you're right, the rendering behavior you're describing is a different layer from the measurement gap I was talking about. My comment addressed the case where
Text.measure/onLayoutreports the wrong height or width whenletterSpacing > 0. What you're hitting is the visual distribution of the spacing around each glyph — letterSpacing is appended after each character (including the last) rather than split half-before / half-after. That's baked intoNSAttributedString.kernon iOS andPaint.setLetterSpacingon Android; both platforms do it the same way.So yeah — that's a native-renderer concern, not something measurement-side can fix. Sorry my comment didn't address your specific case. Worth keeping this open for a real fix from the RN team 🙏.
aditya-thummar-devx commentedon Apr 18, 2026
Yeah @JubaKitiashvili for sure, Thank you so much for your attention 🙏.
react-native-bot commentedon Oct 15, 2026
This issue is stale because it has been open 180 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 7 days.