Android build fails for libs with minSdkVersion 17 with react-native 0.64

[Andarius]

Describe the bug

The following command fails after upgrading to RN 0.64

./gradlew assembleDebug assembleAndroidTest -DtestBuildType=debug

With the following message (only this library seems to fail).

> Task :react-native-pager-view:processDebugAndroidTestManifest FAILED
[androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0] /.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/3050775700026023c1db3db79ab19a97/vectordrawable-animated-1.0.0/AndroidManifest.xml Warning:
        Package name 'androidx.vectordrawable' used in: androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0, androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable:1.0.1.
/node_modules/react-native-pager-view/android/build/intermediates/tmp/manifest/androidTest/debug/manifestMerger2807704319365703146.xml:5:5-74 Error:
        uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 17 cannot be smaller than version 21 declared in library [com.facebook.react:react-native:0.64.0] /.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/4e32a44ca1590525038237dd6b47cd32/jetified-react-native-0.64.0/AndroidManifest.xml as the library might be using APIs not available in 17
        Suggestion: use a compatible library with a minSdk of at most 17,
                or increase this project's minSdk version to at least 21,
                or use tools:overrideLibrary="com.facebook.react" to force usage (may lead to runtime failures)

See http://g.co/androidstudio/manifest-merger for more information about the manifest merger.

Running ./gradlew assembleDebug or ./gradlew bundleRelease then npx react-native run-android --variant=release works fine.

Maybe this issue should be posted in the react-native-pager-view repo but as I can only reproduce when running the detox build command I'm asking here first.

Steps To Reproduce

• I have tested this issue on the latest Detox release and it still reproduces

Expected behavior

Build should not fail with this error.

Detox Trace-Logs

NA

Device logs (adb logcat)

NA

Environment (please complete the following information):

• Detox: 18.9.0
• React Native: 0.64.0
• Node: v14.8.0
• Device: NA
• OS: KDE neon User Edition 5.21
• Test-runner (select one): jest-circus

[IPWright83]

I'm wondering @Andarius (seen we're using the same reps). Did you close this because you felt the issue was down to the dependencies?

What I've found interesting here is that:

1. Detox builds in a different way to the actual build of the app (which works and runs fine).
2. Despite the error the workarounds it suggests don't work
   • the minSdkVersion defined in your project build.gradle seems to be ignored
   • Adding a <uses-sdk> in an AndroidManfiest.xml doesn't seem to fix the issue either

We're left with just hacking/trying to get libraries we're relying upon updated. Which is one answer, but I don't understand why Detox builds differently/these fixes don't work.

[Andarius]

@IPWright83, yes, I felt that the issue was more related to react-native-pager-view and not Detox.
I'm not sure why it only failed with Detox indeed.

[IPWright83]

@LeoNatan I know you've shared your views on this library in the past - I'd be interested to know though if you could share any insight into why builds via Detox might fail in this way and why all the suggested workarounds don't work?

I've got a StackOverflow question where no one has been able to understand the nuances of the Detox build and why we're unable to resolve it. So far the only thing I've found works is to hack the build.gradle file within dependent packages (thanks to @Andarius's suggestion) but it's obviously not a great solution :/ While I appreciate the version mis-matches are not Detox's issue, something about the way Detox works exasperates trying to fix the problem and more insight may be helpful :)

[plaa]

I'm facing the same issue after upgrading RN 0.63.3 --> 0.64. I think it's related to the fact that RN 0.64 has dropped support for Android versions 16-20, even though I have minSdkVersion = 23.

> Task :appcenter:processDebugAndroidTestManifest FAILED
[androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0] /Users/vincit/.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/b90c4dc3713aaccab0722db6535196af/vectordrawable-animated-1.0.0/AndroidManifest.xml Warning:
        Package name 'androidx.vectordrawable' used in: androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0, androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable:1.0.1.
/Users/vincit/workspace/xxx/node_modules/appcenter/android/build/intermediates/tmp/manifest/androidTest/debug/manifestMerger15792560754909726717.xml:5:5-74 Error:
        uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 16 cannot be smaller than version 21 declared in library [com.facebook.react:react-native:0.64.0] /Users/vincit/.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/a3af935f4b0522fde8a7a26e8948e10a/jetified-react-native-0.64.0/AndroidManifest.xml as the library might be using APIs not available in 16
        Suggestion: use a compatible library with a minSdk of at most 16,
                or increase this project's minSdk version to at least 21,
                or use tools:overrideLibrary="com.facebook.react" to force usage (may lead to runtime failures)

After I upgraded appcenter (the newer version also happens to require API level 21) it didn't fail there, but on the next package (in my case react-native-haptic-feedback):

> Task :react-native-haptic-feedback:processDebugAndroidTestManifest FAILED
[androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0] /Users/vincit/.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/b90c4dc3713aaccab0722db6535196af/vectordrawable-animated-1.0.0/AndroidManifest.xml Warning:
        Package name 'androidx.vectordrawable' used in: androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0, androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable:1.0.1.
/Users/vincit/workspace/xxx/node_modules/react-native-haptic-feedback/android/build/intermediates/tmp/manifest/androidTest/debug/manifestMerger827925727068678095.xml:5:5-74 Error:
        uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 16 cannot be smaller than version 21 declared in library [com.facebook.react:react-native:0.64.0] /Users/vincit/.gradle/caches/transforms-2/files-2.1/a3af935f4b0522fde8a7a26e8948e10a/jetified-react-native-0.64.0/AndroidManifest.xml as the library might be using APIs not available in 16
        Suggestion: use a compatible library with a minSdk of at most 16,
                or increase this project's minSdk version to at least 21,
                or use tools:overrideLibrary="com.facebook.react" to force usage (may lead to runtime failures)

If you've managed to fix it, any assistance would be appreciated!

[Andarius]

@plaa for us the fix was to make sure that the library we were using (react-native-pager-view) had the right configuration (https://github.com/callstack/react-native-pager-view/pull/319/files#diff-197b190e4a3512994d2cebed8aff5479ff88e136b8cc7a4b148ec9c3945bd65a) in the android/build.gradle file.

Looking at the library you are using you are facing the same issue.
In this file https://github.com/junina-de/react-native-haptic-feedback/blob/master/android/build.gradle, replace
minSdkVersion 16 with rootProject.hasProperty('minSdkVersion') ? rootProject.minSdkVersion : 16

[plaa]

The rabbit hole gets deeper than I thought... 😱

@Andarius 's instructions fixed the react-native-haptic-feedback library, thanks a lot for that. Then the next library, react-native-navigation-bar-color failed, but that library does check the root project minSdkVersion. However, it uses rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion instead of rootProject.minSdkVersion, which doesn't work. After I forked and fixed that, the same is in react-native-webview.

It seems that pretty much every RN native library checks the values from rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion which doesn't work. Even both RN native library scaffold generators do it (bug reports by me):
callstack/react-native-builder-bob#158
https://github.com/brodybits/create-react-native-module/issues/445
(EDIT: Now that I understand better how they work these bugs are invalid. Root cause for confusion was gradle/gradle#16853)

It seems to me that this issue will bite every user who tries to use Detox on RN 0.64, while normal RN builds work just fine. It also seems weird why a library requiring a lower minSdkVersion is causing the build to fail.

Does @LeoNatan have any idea why the Detox builds fail, while the regular builds don't?

I think this bug should be reopened.

[Andarius]

@plaan, I don't have issues when the library is using rootProject.ext.get(prop) (for instance https://github.com/software-mansion/react-native-gesture-handler/blob/master/android/build.gradle).
Maybe there is something else wrong with your configuration ?

[IPWright83]

@plaa I think that depends on the root build.gradle file in your project. Normally located in /android/build.gradle. Mine has an ext section, created with the create-react-native-app script.

buildscript {
    ext {
        buildToolsVersion = "29.0.3"
        minSdkVersion = 23
        compileSdkVersion = 29
        targetSdkVersion = 29
        kotlinVersion = '1.3.61'
        ndkVersion = "20.1.5948944"
    }