iOS: Multiline TextInput onKeyPress event handler unexpectedly receives a Backspace event

Description

The TextInput onKeyPress event handler receives an unexpected Backspace event when multiline is true. The exact behavior varies between iOS 15 and iOS 16:

iOS 15: The Backspace event is received after value is reset to an empty string
iOS 16: The Backspace event is received on EVERY change AND when value is reset to an empty string

This has been tested on iOS 15.5, 16.4, and 16.5.

Possibly related: #34891

React Native Version

0.71.11

Output of `npx react-native info`

System:
OS: macOS 13.4
CPU: (16) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz
Memory: 27.38 GB / 64.00 GB
Shell: 5.9 - /usr/local/bin/zsh
Binaries:
Node: 18.16.0 - ~/.asdf/installs/nodejs/18.16.0/bin/node
Yarn: 1.22.19 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
npm: 9.6.6 - ~/.asdf/plugins/nodejs/shims/npm
Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
CocoaPods: 1.12.1 - /Users/jeff/.asdf/shims/pod
SDKs:
iOS SDK:
Platforms: DriverKit 22.4, iOS 16.4, macOS 13.3, tvOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4
Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
Android Studio: 2022.2 AI-222.4459.24.2221.10121639
Xcode: 14.3.1/14E300c - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
Java: 11.0.13 - /Users/jeff/.asdf/shims/javac
npmPackages:
@react-native-community/cli: Not Found
react: 18.2.0 => 18.2.0
react-native: 0.71.11 => 0.71.11
react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
react-native: Not Found

Steps to reproduce

Add a <TextInput multiline /> component and log all events received by onKeyPress
Type into the input
Observe that an event with nativeEvent.key set to 'Backspace' is received after every onKeyPress event is received for the typed key

Snack, code example, screenshot, or link to a repository

https://github.com/jbrowning/RN071TextInputBackspace

Same issue here

@NickGerleman

Cc: @NickGerleman

I'm having the same issue on iOS 16.4 with a single line textfield.

<TextInput onKeyPress={(e) => console.log(e.nativeEvent} />

Pressing a random key, such as 'a' results in the following log:

{"eventCount": 1, "key": "a", "target": 1205}
{"eventCount": 2, "key": "Backspace", "target": 1205}

I'm guessing it's related to iOS 16.4, because some of my components that were working before are now broken

My current clunky workaround is to check for the distance between events, under 100 milliseconds I ignore the Backspace:

function onKeyPress(e) {
    if (e.nativeEvent.key === 'Backspace' && Date.now() - latestTimestamp > 100) {
        // Handle backspace actually wanted by the user
    }

    if (e.nativeEvent.key !== 'Backspace') {
      latestTimestamp = Date.now()
    }
}

I'm also having this problem on a physical iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 16.1.1. My project is using Expo. The behaviour does not occur on Android.

I have the same issue, after each key press event of the TextInput component, I have a Backspace.

LOG F
LOG Backspace

React Native: 0.71.6
IOS: 16.4

We also seem to get duplicated Enter key presses.

System:
    OS: macOS 13.5.2
    CPU: (8) arm64 Apple M1 Pro
    Memory: 95.41 MB / 16.00 GB
    Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 18.16.1 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v18.16.1/bin/node
    Yarn: Not Found
    npm: 9.5.1 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v18.16.1/bin/npm
    Watchman: 2023.07.03.00 - /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
  Managers:
    CocoaPods: 1.12.1 - /Users/tibbe/.rbenv/shims/pod
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: DriverKit 23.0, iOS 17.0, macOS 14.0, tvOS 17.0, watchOS 10.0
    Android SDK: Not Found
  IDEs:
    Android Studio: 2022.2 AI-222.4459.24.2221.10121639
    Xcode: 15.0/15A240d - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  Languages:
    Java: 11.0.19 - /usr/bin/javac
  npmPackages:
    @react-native-community/cli: Not Found
    react: 18.2.0 => 18.2.0 
    react-native: 0.71.13 => 0.71.13 
    react-native-macos: Not Found
  npmGlobalPackages:
    *react-native*: Not Found

Same issue here, but with multiline = false. And also I hit on return key in my iOS simulator, it does not show any event

same here in 0.72.7 version

I experience the same issue
React Native: 0.70.10
iOS: 17.2, simulator

I am still experiencing this issue.

iOS 17.4.1 , iPhone 11
React Native: 0.73.6
Expo Managed Workflow
Expo SDK: 50.0.14

Has anyone got more information or found a way around this problem?

Still happens.

still happening. anybody get any progress here?

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.

Still an issue

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.

We recently updated our app to React Native version 0.81, and this issue no longer seems to happen:

This issue can likely be closed now. It likely got changed in some refactor of how the TextInput component works.

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.

This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 7 days with no activity.

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iOS: Multiline TextInput onKeyPress event handler unexpectedly receives a Backspace event #37967

Description

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Output of `npx react-native info`

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iOS: Multiline TextInput onKeyPress event handler unexpectedly receives a Backspace event #37967

Description

Description

React Native Version

Output of npx react-native info

Steps to reproduce

Snack, code example, screenshot, or link to a repository

Activity

rodrigoeidelvein commented on Jun 19, 2023

Pranav-yadav commented on Jun 21, 2023

gbalduzzi commented on Jun 28, 2023

chadders404 commented on Jun 28, 2023

mokhtarHamdoune commented on Aug 19, 2023

tibbe commented on Sep 19, 2023

pee0803 commented on Nov 23, 2023

vinaykumar0339 commented on Dec 4, 2023

raynox commented on Jan 23, 2024

chadders404 commented on Apr 8, 2024

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tibbe commented on Mar 18, 2025

gaoag commented on Apr 1, 2025

react-native-bot commented on Sep 29, 2025

tibbe commented on Sep 29, 2025

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pxpeterxu commented on Mar 29, 2026

react-native-bot commented on Sep 26, 2026

react-native-bot commented on Oct 3, 2026

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