Refs are a function provided by React to access the DOM element and the React element that you might have created on your own. They are used in cases where we want to change the value of a child component, without making use of props and all.

Should you use refs in React?

React refs make it possible for you to directly access the DOM in React. This is an important feature to have as you will occasionally need to perform certain actions on the DOM as you develop your React applications.

How do you use refs in functional component React native?

To create a ref in a functional component we use the useRef() hook which returns a mutable object with a . current property set to the initialValue we passed to the hook. This returned object will persist for the full lifetime of the component. Thus, throughout all of its re-rendering and until it unmounts.