Multi-screen form architecture in React Native with Expo Router

[grantackerman]

I'm building a React Native app with Expo Router that needs a multi-screen/step form flow (name → date of birth → address → review screen). I'm trying to determine the best approach using TanStack Form, but couldn't find guidance in the docs for forms spanning multiple screens/routes/steps. I think these Form Groups are probably what I'd want, but until they're available, I'd like to understand what the best practice is for implementing multi-screen forms.

Context:

• Using Expo Router for navigation
• Conceptually this is one form that gets submitted after the review screen
• Each step should validate before allowing navigation to the next screen

Approaches I'm considering:

1. Separate forms per screen
   • Each screen has its own useAppForm.
   • Pros:
     • I can use onSubmit for validation
     • Easily use one route per screen.
   • Cons
     • I need to somehow store/pass the data between screens, probably with Zustand/AsyncStorage.
     • It feels like this should be one form logically.
2. Single form with conditional rendering
   • Everything on one route with step-based rendering
   • Use form state to track current step
   • Use withForm for each section (name, date-of-birth, address, review)
   • Validate current fields before showing next step
   • Pros:
     • Don't need to use React Context or Zustand
     • Only need one form.
   • Cons:
     • Can't use onSubmit for validation of each screen
     • Can't put each screen on its own route
3. Single form with shared state
   • One useAppForm in _layout
   • Pass form instance from _layout to the screens (/name, /date-of-birth, /address, /review) via React Context or Zustand
   • Each screen uses withForm along with the form instance from React Context or Zustand
   • Pros:
     • Only need one form.
     • One route per screen.
   • Cons:
     • Can't use onSubmit for validation of each screen
     • Still need to use ReactContext or Zustand to pass the form instance to the different screens

Questions:

• Which approach aligns best with TanStack Form's intended usage patterns?
• Is there a recommended way to handle validation at each step while maintaining the single form concept?
• Any plans to add multi-screen form examples to the documentation?

Any guidance on best practices would be greatly appreciated!