Improve z-index implementation on iOS

React/Views/RCTShadowView.m

@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ - (void)applyLayoutToChildren:(YGNodeRef)node
     [self didUpdateReactSubviews];
     [applierBlocks addObject:^(NSDictionary<NSNumber *, UIView *> *viewRegistry) {
       UIView *view = viewRegistry[self->_reactTag];
-      [view clearSortedSubviews];
       [view didUpdateReactSubviews];
     }];
   }

React/Views/RCTView.h

@@ -47,13 +47,6 @@
  */
 @property (nonatomic, assign) UIUserInterfaceLayoutDirection reactLayoutDirection;
 
-/**
- * z-index, used to override sibling order in didUpdateReactSubviews. This is
- * inherited from UIView+React, but we override it here to reduce the boxing
- * and associated object overheads.
- */
-@property (nonatomic, assign) NSInteger reactZIndex;
-
 /**
  * This is an optimization used to improve performance
  * for large scrolling views with many subviews, such as a

React/Views/RCTView.m

@@ -105,8 +105,6 @@ @implementation RCTView
   UIColor *_backgroundColor;
 }
 
-@synthesize reactZIndex = _reactZIndex;
-
 - (instancetype)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
 {
   if ((self = [super initWithFrame:frame])) {
@@ -172,13 +170,16 @@ - (UIView *)hitTest:(CGPoint)point withEvent:(UIEvent *)event
   BOOL isPointInside = [self pointInside:point withEvent:event];
   BOOL needsHitSubview = !(_pointerEvents == RCTPointerEventsNone || _pointerEvents == RCTPointerEventsBoxOnly);
   if (needsHitSubview && (![self clipsToBounds] || isPointInside)) {
+    // Take z-index into account when calculating the touch target.
+    NSArray<UIView *> *sortedSubviews = [self reactZIndexSortedSubviews];
+
     // The default behaviour of UIKit is that if a view does not contain a point,
     // then no subviews will be returned from hit testing, even if they contain
     // the hit point. By doing hit testing directly on the subviews, we bypass
     // the strict containment policy (i.e., UIKit guarantees that every ancestor
     // of the hit view will return YES from -pointInside:withEvent:). See:
     //  - https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/qa/qa2013/qa1812.html
-    for (UIView *subview in [self.subviews reverseObjectEnumerator]) {
+    for (UIView *subview in [sortedSubviews reverseObjectEnumerator]) {
       CGPoint convertedPoint = [subview convertPoint:point fromView:self];
       hitSubview = [subview hitTest:convertedPoint withEvent:event];
       if (hitSubview != nil) {
@@ -294,7 +295,7 @@ + (UIEdgeInsets)contentInsetsForView:(UIView *)view
 - (void)react_remountAllSubviews
 {
   if (_removeClippedSubviews) {
-    for (UIView *view in self.sortedReactSubviews) {
+    for (UIView *view in self.reactSubviews) {
       if (view.superview != self) {
         [self addSubview:view];
         [view react_remountAllSubviews];
@@ -333,7 +334,7 @@ - (void)react_updateClippedSubviewsWithClipRect:(CGRect)clipRect relativeToView:
   clipView = self;
 
   // Mount / unmount views
-  for (UIView *view in self.sortedReactSubviews) {
+  for (UIView *view in self.reactSubviews) {
     if (!CGRectIsEmpty(CGRectIntersection(clipRect, view.frame))) {
 
       // View is at least partially visible, so remount it if unmounted

React/Views/UIView+Private.h

@@ -16,7 +16,4 @@
 - (void)react_updateClippedSubviewsWithClipRect:(CGRect)clipRect relativeToView:(UIView *)clipView;
 - (UIView *)react_findClipView;
 
-// zIndex sorting
-- (void)clearSortedSubviews;
-
 @end

React/Views/UIView+React.h

@@ -31,15 +31,15 @@
 @property (nonatomic, assign) UIUserInterfaceLayoutDirection reactLayoutDirection;
 
 /**
- * z-index, used to override sibling order in didUpdateReactSubviews.
+ * The z-index of the view.
  */
 @property (nonatomic, assign) NSInteger reactZIndex;
 
 /**
- * The reactSubviews array, sorted by zIndex. This value is cached and
- * automatically recalculated if views are added or removed.
+ * Subviews sorted by z-index. Note that this method doesn't do any caching (yet)
+ * and sorts all the views each call.
  */
-@property (nonatomic, copy, readonly) NSArray<UIView *> *sortedReactSubviews;
+- (NSArray<UIView *> *)reactZIndexSortedSubviews;
 
 /**
  * Updates the subviews array based on the reactSubviews. Default behavior is

React/Views/UIView+React.m

@@ -110,49 +110,38 @@ - (void)setReactLayoutDirection:(UIUserInterfaceLayoutDirection)layoutDirection
 
 - (NSInteger)reactZIndex
 {
-  return [objc_getAssociatedObject(self, _cmd) integerValue];
+  return self.layer.zPosition;
 }
 
 - (void)setReactZIndex:(NSInteger)reactZIndex
 {
-  objc_setAssociatedObject(self, @selector(reactZIndex), @(reactZIndex), OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
+  self.layer.zPosition = reactZIndex;
 }
 
-- (NSArray<UIView *> *)sortedReactSubviews
+- (NSArray<UIView *> *)reactZIndexSortedSubviews
 {
-  NSArray *subviews = objc_getAssociatedObject(self, _cmd);
-  if (!subviews) {
-    // Check if sorting is required - in most cases it won't be
-    BOOL sortingRequired = NO;
-    for (UIView *subview in self.reactSubviews) {
-      if (subview.reactZIndex != 0) {
-        sortingRequired = YES;
-        break;
-      }
+  // Check if sorting is required - in most cases it won't be.
+  BOOL sortingRequired = NO;
+  for (UIView *subview in self.subviews) {
+    if (subview.reactZIndex != 0) {
+      sortingRequired = YES;
+      break;
     }
-    subviews = sortingRequired ? [self.reactSubviews sortedArrayUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult(UIView *a, UIView *b) {
-      if (a.reactZIndex > b.reactZIndex) {
-        return NSOrderedDescending;
-      } else {
-        // ensure sorting is stable by treating equal zIndex as ascending so
-        // that original order is preserved
-        return NSOrderedAscending;
-      }
-    }] : self.reactSubviews;
-    objc_setAssociatedObject(self, _cmd, subviews, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
   }
-  return subviews;
-}
-
-// private method, used to reset sort
-- (void)clearSortedSubviews
-{
-  objc_setAssociatedObject(self, @selector(sortedReactSubviews), nil, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
+  return sortingRequired ? [self.reactSubviews sortedArrayUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult(UIView *a, UIView *b) {
+    if (a.reactZIndex > b.reactZIndex) {
+      return NSOrderedDescending;
+    } else {
+      // Ensure sorting is stable by treating equal zIndex as ascending so
+      // that original order is preserved.
+      return NSOrderedAscending;
+    }
+  }] : self.subviews;
 }
 
 - (void)didUpdateReactSubviews
 {
-  for (UIView *subview in self.sortedReactSubviews) {
+  for (UIView *subview in self.reactSubviews) {
     [self addSubview:subview];
   }
 }