Error handling

[ryanvazquez]

Feature Request: Error Handling Support in FlashList

Problem

We currently use FlashList to render an infinite social feed. A common error handling pattern is to check for an error and render a fallback component:

function MyComponent() {
  if (error) {
    return <Error />
  }
  return (
    <FlashList ... />
  )
}

Issue: This approach completely unmounts FlashList when an error occurs, requiring a full remount after the error is cleared. This results in:

• Loss of scroll position
• Performance overhead from remounting
• Poor user experience during error recovery

Workaround

Errors could be handled at the call site and ignored to keep FlashList mounted:

function MyComponent() {
  if (error) {
    // logError('error');
    // showToast('error')
  }
  return (
    <FlashList ... />
  )
}

Limitation: While this keeps FlashList mounted, it provides no visual feedback to users about the error state in the list itself.

Proposed Solution

Add built-in error handling support to FlashList, similar to how ListEmptyComponent works:

<FlashList
  data={data}
  renderItem={renderItem}
  ListErrorComponent={ErrorComponent}
  error={error}
  // ... other props
/>

This would allow FlashList to:

• Stay mounted during error states
• Gracefully display error fallbacks
• Maintain scroll position and performance
• Provide an idiomatic error handling pattern