How do I enable multidex for react native?

Question

I'm pretty sure its a built in feature but I cant find anything when searching or in the docs. Is there a flag for building with multidex enabled?

On another note: Any way to see which libraries are messing with your method count? Hitting the 64k limit came as quite a surprise.

Answer 1

For RN 0.59+ and using Gradle 3.4.1, none of the answers here had the complete solution. I did the following and it worked:

1. In android/app/build.gradle, update the dependency block:

   dependencies {
       // ... your other dependencies
   
       // Multidex
       implementation 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.3'
   }
   

   And also update the defaultConfig in the android block:

   defaultConfig {
       // ... your `applicationId`, etc.
       multiDexEnabled true
   }
   

2. In MainApplication.java, replace

   import android.app.Application;
   

   at the top with

   import android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication;
   

   OR if you're on RN 0.60+ or have manually upgraded to AndroidX then use this instead:

   import androidx.multidex.MultiDexApplication;
   

3. Still in MainApplication.java, replace

   public class MainApplication extends Application implements ReactApplication {
   

   with

   public class MainApplication extends MultiDexApplication implements ReactApplication {
   

Answer 2

Found the answer somewhere else. It's no different than enabling it for any regular Android project.

android {
    ....
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        multiDexEnabled true
    }

As for method count, this site does the trick: http://inloop.github.io/apk-method-count/