How do I prepare my app for the 64 bit version for React Native?

Question

Here is my build.gradle:

    apply plugin: "com.android.application"

import com.android.build.OutputFile

/**
 * The react.gradle file registers a task for each build variant (e.g. bundleDebugJsAndAssets
 * and bundleReleaseJsAndAssets).
 * These basically call `react-native bundle` with the correct arguments during the Android build
 * cycle. By default, bundleDebugJsAndAssets is skipped, as in debug/dev mode we prefer to load the
 * bundle directly from the development server. Below you can see all the possible configurations
 * and their defaults. If you decide to add a configuration block, make sure to add it before the
 * `apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"` line.
 *
 * project.ext.react = [
 *   // the name of the generated asset file containing your JS bundle
 *   bundleAssetName: "index.android.bundle",
 *
 *   // the entry file for bundle generation
 *   entryFile: "index.android.js",
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in debug mode
 *   bundleInDebug: false,
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in release mode
 *   bundleInRelease: true,
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in another build variant (if configured).
 *   // See http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide#TOC-Build-Variants
 *   // The configuration property can be in the following formats
 *   //         'bundleIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'
 *   //         'bundleIn${buildType}'
 *   // bundleInFreeDebug: true,
 *   // bundleInPaidRelease: true,
 *   // bundleInBeta: true,
 *
 *   // whether to disable dev mode in custom build variants (by default only disabled in release)
 *   // for example: to disable dev mode in the staging build type (if configured)
 *   devDisabledInStaging: true,
 *   // The configuration property can be in the following formats
 *   //         'devDisabledIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'
 *   //         'devDisabledIn${buildType}'
 *
 *   // the root of your project, i.e. where "package.json" lives
 *   root: "../../",
 *
 *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in debug mode
 *   jsBundleDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/debug",
 *
 *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in release mode
 *   jsBundleDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/release",
 *
 *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via
 *   // require('./image.png')), in debug mode
 *   resourcesDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/debug",
 *
 *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via
 *   // require('./image.png')), in release mode
 *   resourcesDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/release",
 *
 *   // by default the gradle tasks are skipped if none of the JS files or assets change; this means
 *   // that we don't look at files in android/ or ios/ to determine whether the tasks are up to
 *   // date; if you have any other folders that you want to ignore for performance reasons (gradle
 *   // indexes the entire tree), add them here. Alternatively, if you have JS files in android/
 *   // for example, you might want to remove it from here.
 *   inputExcludes: ["android/**", "ios/**"],
 *
 *   // override which node gets called and with what additional arguments
 *   nodeExecutableAndArgs: ["node"],
 *
 *   // supply additional arguments to the packager
 *   extraPackagerArgs: []
 * ]
 */

project.ext.react = [
    entryFile: "index.js"
]

apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"

/**
 * Set this to true to create two separate APKs instead of one:
 *   - An APK that only works on ARM devices
 *   - An APK that only works on x86 devices
 * The advantage is the size of the APK is reduced by about 4MB.
 * Upload all the APKs to the Play Store and people will download
 * the correct one based on the CPU architecture of their device.
 */
def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = false

/**
 * Run Proguard to shrink the Java bytecode in release builds.
 */
def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = false

android {
    compileSdkVersion 28
    buildToolsVersion "27.0.3"

    configurations {
        all*.exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-v4'
        all*.exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations'
        compile.exclude group: "org.apache.httpcomponents", module: "httpclient"
    }

    signingConfigs {
        release {
            if (project.hasProperty('MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE')) {
                storeFile file(MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE)
                storePassword MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD
                keyAlias MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS
                keyPassword MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD
            }
        }
    }


    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.example"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 28
        versionCode 1075
        versionName "1.0.75"
        multiDexEnabled true

        ndk {
            abiFilters 'armeabi-v7a' , 'x86'
        }


    dexOptions {
    javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    preDexLibraries = false
    incremental true
}

compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }

    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }




    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            matchingFallbacks = ['release', 'debug']
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
            signingConfig signingConfigs.release
        }
    }

    // applicationVariants are e.g. debug, release
    applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        variant.outputs.each { output ->
            // For each separate APK per architecture, set a unique version code as described here:
            // http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide/apk-splits
            def versionCodes = ["armeabi-v7a":1, "x86":2]
            def abi = output.getFilter(OutputFile.ABI)
            if (abi != null) {  // null for the universal-debug, universal-release variants
                output.versionCodeOverride =
                        versionCodes.get(abi) * 1048576 + defaultConfig.versionCode
            }
        }
    }
}


dependencies {

    compile project(':RNWebView')
    compile project(':react-native-share')
    implementation project(':lottie-react-native')

    implementation project(':react-native-smart-splashscreen')


    implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    implementation "com.facebook.fresco:fresco:1.0.1"
    implementation "com.facebook.fresco:animated-gif:1.0.1"
    compile "com.facebook.react:react-native:+" // From node_modules

}



// Run this once to be able to run the application with BUCK
// puts all compile dependencies into folder libs for BUCK to use
task copyDownloadableDepsToLibs(type: Copy) {
    from configurations.compile
    into 'libs'
}

I tried to add 64 bit yesterday and ran into a heap of problems so I converted everything back to 32. The app works perfectly in 32 bit but is there a way I can use both 32 and 64 bit without the app crashing once I open it?

I looked up some solutions but most of them was very confusing to follow. I updated ndk with the "x86", "x86_64", "armeabi-v7a", "arm64-v8a". Not sure if I also update the abi as well. Any help on this problem is gladly appreciated!

Dismuke

Answer 1

you are almost there remove ndk,

ndk {
    abiFilters 'armeabi-v7a' , 'x86'
} // these are not necessary it won't affect anything

then add in abi -> include

abi{
   ...
   include "x86", "x86_64", "armeabi-v7a", "arm64-v8a"
}

last add versionCodes,

def versionCodes = ["x86":1,"x86_64":2,"armeabi-v7a":3,"arm64-v8a":4]

Macronucleus

Great it works! Thank you so much! I can't tell how much of a struggle this was! – Dismuke

Would you please explain why would ndk not necessary anymore? Thanks! – Mirnamirror

It is necessary, but for the case of asker it is not needed. because ndk is not used by him. – Macronucleus

I have problem with this code in react-native and plugin OneSignal. – Callisthenics

Answer 2

React Native 0.59 fully supports 64-bit Android builds, it already has the needed changes for the Gradle scripts, so there is no need to search for what exactly should one add.

If you have the possibility to upgrade RN in your project, might just do that using great rn-diff-purge and the helper around it. But keep in mind that some other dependencies might also need to be upgraded to newer versions supporting RN 0.59.

Schipperke