Storing non-state variables in functional components

Just to support Tholle answer here is the official documentation

Reference

However, useRef() is useful for more than the ref attribute. It’s handy for keeping any mutable value around similar to how you’d use instance fields in classes.

This works because useRef() creates a plain JavaScript object. The only difference between useRef() and creating a {current: ...} object yourself is that useRef will give you the same ref object on every render.

Keep in mind that useRef doesn’t notify you when its content changes. Mutating the .current property doesn’t cause a re-render. If you want to run some code when React attaches or detaches a ref to a DOM node, you may want to use a callback ref instead.

The useRef hook is not just for DOM refs, but can store any mutable value you like.

Example

function FunctionalBar(props) {
  const [foo] = useState(new Animated.Value(0));
  const _foo = useRef(0);

  function showFoo() {
    let anim = Animated.timing(foo, { toValue: 1, duration: 1000, useNativeDriver: true });
    anim.start(() => console.log(_foo.current));
  }

  useEffect(() => {
    function _onChangeFoo({ value }) {
      _foo.current = value;
    }

    foo.addListener(_onChangeFoo);
    showFoo();
    return () => foo.removeListener(_onChangeFoo);
  }, []);

  return <View />;
}

You can use useRef hook (it's the recommended way stated in docs):

• Declaring variable: const a = useRef(5) // 5 is initial value
• getting the value: a.current
• setting the value: a.current = my_value