react / react/react-native

Border can't be applied to nested <Text> components

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Description

Description

I'm rendering several Text components wrapped inside a parent Text component, like so:

<Text>
  <Text>text 1</Text>
  <Text style={{ borderWidth: 1, borderColor: 'red' }}>text 2</Text>
</Text>

I'm expecting "text 2" to have a red border, rendering inline along with "text 1". However, the border is not rendered.

If I change the container from Text to View, the border renders properly. However, there are scenarios where this is not feasible (e.g.: rendering inside a TextInput.

This issue was previously opened here and, arguably, wrongfully closed. The reason it was marked as closed was:

Nesting a Text component within a parent Text component is not supported.

However, the documentation clearly states the opposite:

Nested text

Both Android and iOS allow you to display formatted text by annotating ranges of a string with specific formatting like bold or colored text (NSAttributedString on iOS, SpannableString on Android). In practice, this is very tedious. For React Native, we decided to use web paradigm for this where you can nest text to achieve the same effect.

Steps to reproduce

Nest one Text element inside another, applying a border width/color to the nested element.

<Text>
  <Text>text 1</Text>
  <Text style={{ borderWidth: 1, borderColor: 'red' }}>text 2</Text>
</Text>
React Native Version

0.74.3

Affected Platforms

Runtime - Android, Runtime - iOS

Output of npx react-native info
System:
  OS: macOS 14.4.1
  CPU: (8) arm64 Apple M1
  Memory: 72.53 MB / 16.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 22.5.1
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 1.22.19
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 10.8.2
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/npm
  Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
  CocoaPods: Not Found
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 23.5
      - iOS 17.5
      - macOS 14.5
      - tvOS 17.5
      - visionOS 1.2
      - watchOS 10.5
  Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2023.1 AI-231.9392.1.2311.11330709
  Xcode:
    version: 15.4/15F31d
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 22.0.1
    path: /opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.3.3
    path: /Users/mhuggins/.rvm/rubies/ruby-3.3.3/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli": Not Found
  react:
    installed: 18.2.0
    wanted: 18.2.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.74.3
    wanted: 0.74.3
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found


### Stacktrace or Logs

```text
N/A
Reproducer

https://snack.expo.dev/@huggie/nested-text-border-bug

Screenshots and Videos

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the linked Expo Snack reproducer and the React Native nested-text documentation, then trace how nested Text styles are handled on Android and iOS. Reproduce the case from the issue and verify that a nested Text with borderWidth and borderColor renders its border inline inside a parent Text without breaking existing nested-text behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
react-native
Domain
mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
44/100

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