How do I troubleshoot/fix React Native compile error: AAPT: No resource identifier found for attribute 'appComponentFactory' in package 'android'?

Question

We were able to successfully compile our iOS and Android App, Nov 9 in the morning. We compile using: cd android; ./gradlew assembleRelease

Between then and now (Nov 14) we added a couple typo-fix commits and when we compiled, the iOS app compiles fine, and the Android app will not compile.

Reverting to the commit where the Android app last built and attempting to recompile also fails.

Nothing in our user code has changed… so why won't the Android app compile?

I tried Googling for answers, couldn't find any solutions. I tried the below command to clear the cache, and I even tried restarting my laptop.

rm -rf $TMPDIR/react-* && rm -rf $TMPDIR/haste-map-react-native-packager-* && rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-bundler-cache-* && watchman watch-del-all && rm -rf ios/build && rm -rf node_modules/ && yarn cache clean && yarn install && yarn start --reset-cache

Below is the error output and the build.gradle files if they help.

I'm happy to do any suggested troubleshooting added in a comment.

Compile Output with Error

.
.
snip
.
.
:app:generateReleaseResValues UP-TO-DATE
:app:processReleaseGoogleServices
Parsing json file: /Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/android/app/google-services.json
:app:generateReleaseResources
:app:mergeReleaseResources
:app:bundleReleaseJsAndAssets
Scanning folders for symlinks in /Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/node_modules (15ms)
Scanning folders for symlinks in /Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/node_modules (15ms)
Loading dependency graph, done.
warning: the transform cache was reset.
bundle: Writing bundle output to: /Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/android/app/build/intermediates/assets/release/index.android.bundle
bundle: Done writing bundle output
bundle: Copying 21 asset files
bundle: Done copying assets
:app:processReleaseManifest UP-TO-DATE
:app:processReleaseResources
/Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml:47: AAPT: No resource identifier found for attribute 'appComponentFactory' in package 'android'

/Users/beau/Development/kip/kip-mobile-app/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml:47: error: No resource identifier found for attribute 'appComponentFactory' in package 'android'


:app:processReleaseResources FAILED

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:processReleaseResources'.
> com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Failed to execute aapt

myApp/android/build.gradle

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

// Remove override once fixed: https://developers.facebook.com/support/bugs/260814197942050/
def versionOverrides = [
    "com.facebook.android:facebook-android-sdk": "4.37.0",
]

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:2.2.3'

        // Firebase SDK
        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.0.1'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
        maven { url "https://maven.google.com" }
        mavenLocal()
        jcenter()
        maven {
            // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
            url "$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android"
        }
    }
    configurations.all {
        resolutionStrategy.eachDependency { DependencyResolveDetails details ->
            def overrideVersion = versionOverrides[details.requested.group + ":" + details.requested.name]

            if (overrideVersion != null && details.requested.version != overrideVersion) {
                details.useVersion overrideVersion
            }
        }
    }
}

ext {
    compileSdkVersion = 26
    buildToolsVersion = "26.0.1"
    minSdkVersion = 16
    targetSdkVersion = 26
    supportLibVersion = "26.1.0"

    // googlePlayServicesVersion = "<Your play services version>" // default: "+"
    // firebaseVersion = "<Your Firebase version>" // default: "+"
}

myApp/android/app/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 26
    buildToolsVersion "26.0.1"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.hellokip.app"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 26
        versionName "2.1.4" // human readable / app store / semver
        versionCode 2010411 // code based version - (major, minor, bug, build as "(0)0 00 00 00")
        ndk {
            abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
        multiDexEnabled true
    }
    signingConfigs {
        release {
            if (project.hasProperty('KIP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE')) {
                storeFile file(KIP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE)
                storePassword KIP_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD
                keyAlias KIP_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS
                keyPassword KIP_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD
            }
        }
    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            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 fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    compile "com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.1"
    compile "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"  // From node_modules

    // react-native-push-notifications
    compile project(':react-native-push-notification')
    compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-core:16.0.0'

    compile project(':react-native-fbsdk')
    compile project(':react-native-branch')
    compile project(':bugsnag-react-native')

    // Intercom
    compile 'io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-base:5.+'
    compile 'io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-fcm:5.+'

    // Additional Config
    compile project(':tipsi-stripe')
    compile project(':react-native-picker')
    compile project(':react-native-svg')
    compile project(':react-native-device-info')
    compile project(':react-native-intercom')
}

// 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'
}

apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

---

Update! Found a fix (hack?) …but not 100% sure why it works.

I was following random leads and came across the OneSignal Gradle Plugin (which automatically fixes and notifies you of required changes to make the OneSignal SDK compatible with your app).

After following the setup steps I tried to compile again using:

cd android; ./gradlew assembleRelease

And the app successfully builds! But why/how/what?

I see that I can add the --info flag when compiling to "to see log entries of version overrides being applied."

As much as I want to know how and why… I'm happy to add this plugin and move on at the current level of abstraction. 😜

Answer 1

Ok, after spending the better part of a day investigation this issue, I have a sketch of a solution.

For me the proximate cause is that various com.android.support libraries got upgraded to version 28.0.0 when the packages

io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-base:5.+
io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-fcm:5.+

were upgraded from 5.1.5 to 5.1.6, which occurred roughly around Nov 12 - Nov 14, fitting the timeline in question.

Running ./gradlew app:dependencies with 5.1.6, we see with that the android support libraries use 28.0.0

+--- io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-base:5.1.6
|    +--- com.android.support:design:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:animated-vector-drawable:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-vector-drawable:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-compat:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-core-utils:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-core-ui:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-fragment:28.0.0 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-annotations:28.0.0
|    +--- com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:28.0.0 (*)
...

Whereas with 5.1.5,

+--- io.intercom.android:intercom-sdk-base:5.1.5
|    +--- com.android.support:design:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:appcompat-v7:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:animated-vector-drawable:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-vector-drawable:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-compat:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-core-utils:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-core-ui:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-fragment:27.1.1 (*)
|    +--- com.android.support:support-annotations:27.1.1
|    +--- com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:27.1.1 (*)

Since we're using support library version 28.0.0 we now need to up compileSdkVersion to version 28.

In android/app/build.gradle,

android {
    compileSdkVersion 28
...