How to solve the error Failed to execute aapt when building an APK with react-native?

Question

I have built a react-native app. It works fine on the android emulator and now I want to generate an APK. I have followed the docs for doing this which can be seen here I use the command

./gradlew assembleRelease

to build the apk but I keep getting an error when building the APK. I have checked various stack overflow questions on the topic including this one also this github issue. I have included the line

android.enableAapt2=false

The app level build.gradle file looks like this

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 23
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.1"
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.project"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 22
        versionCode 2
        versionName "1.0"
        ndk {
            abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }
    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
            }
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
        }
    }
    // 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
        }
    }
    }
    productFlavors {
    } }

dependencies {
    compile project(':react-native-vector-icons')
    compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.0.1'
    compile 'com.facebook.react:react-native:+'
    // From node_modules
    implementation project(':react-native-maps')
    implementation(project(':react-native-maps')) {
        exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-base'
        exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-maps'
    }
    implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:10.2.4'
    implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:10.2.4' }

// 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' }

in my global gradle.properties file, I have also updated react-native to the latest 55.3 as of writing this, and I still get the error that looks like this.

Task :app:processReleaseResources Failed to execute aapt com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Failed to execute aapt at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder.processResources(AndroidBuilder.java:796) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.ProcessAndroidResources.invokeAaptForSplit(ProcessAndroidResources.java:551) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.ProcessAndroidResources.doFullTaskAction(ProcessAndroidResources.java:285) at com.android.build.gradle.internal.tasks.IncrementalTask.taskAction(IncrementalTask.java:109) at org.gradle.internal.reflect.JavaMethod.invoke(JavaMethod.java:73) at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$IncrementalTaskAction.doExecute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:173) at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$StandardTaskAction.execute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:134) at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$StandardTaskAction.execute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:121) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter$1.run(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:122) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:336) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:328) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:197) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:107) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeAction(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:111) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeActions(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:92) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:70) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.execute(SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.java:63) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.java:54) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ValidatingTaskExecuter.execute(ValidatingTaskExecuter.java:58) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.execute(SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.java:88) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.java:52) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.execute(SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.java:52) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.execute(SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.java:54) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.java:43) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.execute(CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.java:34) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker$1.run(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:248) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:336) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:328) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:197) at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:107) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:241) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:230) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.processTask(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:124) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.access$200(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:80) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:105) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:99) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.execute(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:625) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.executeWithTask(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:580) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.run(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:99) at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ExecutorPolicy$CatchAndRecordFailures.onExecute(ExecutorPolicy.java:63) at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ManagedExecutorImpl$1.run(ManagedExecutorImpl.java:46) at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ThreadFactoryImpl$ManagedThreadRunnable.run(ThreadFactoryImpl.java:55) Caused by: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Error while executing process /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt with arguments {package -f --no-crunch -I /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/platforms/android-23/android.jar -M /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml -S /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/merged/release -m -J /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/generated/source/r/release -F /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/release/resources-release.ap_ --custom-package com.project -0 apk --output-text-symbols /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/symbols/release --no-version-vectors} at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.getDoneValue(AbstractFuture.java:503) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.get(AbstractFuture.java:482) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture$TrustedFuture.get(AbstractFuture.java:79) at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder.processResources(AndroidBuilder.java:794) ... 41 more Caused by: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Error while executing process /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt with arguments {package -f --no-crunch -I /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/platforms/android-23/android.jar -M /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml -S /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/merged/release -m -J /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/generated/source/r/release -F /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/release/resources-release.ap_ --custom-package com.project -0 apk --output-text-symbols /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/symbols/release --no-version-vectors} at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.buildProcessException(GradleProcessResult.java:73) at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.assertNormalExitValue(GradleProcessResult.java:48) at com.android.builder.internal.aapt.AbstractProcessExecutionAapt$1.onSuccess(AbstractProcessExecutionAapt.java:78) at com.android.builder.internal.aapt.AbstractProcessExecutionAapt$1.onSuccess(AbstractProcessExecutionAapt.java:74) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.Futures$CallbackListener.run(Futures.java:1237) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors$DirectExecutor.execute(MoreExecutors.java:399) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.executeListener(AbstractFuture.java:911) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.complete(AbstractFuture.java:822) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.set(AbstractFuture.java:664) at com.google.common.util.concurrent.SettableFuture.set(SettableFuture.java:48) at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessExecutor$1.run(GradleProcessExecutor.java:58) Caused by: org.gradle.process.internal.ExecException: Process 'command '/Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt'' finished with non-zero exit value 1 at org.gradle.process.internal.DefaultExecHandle$ExecResultImpl.assertNormalExitValue(DefaultExecHandle.java:380) at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.assertNormalExitValue(GradleProcessResult.java:46) ... 9 more

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

• What went wrong: Execution failed for task ':app:processReleaseResources'.

  Failed to execute aapt

What is the right way to solve this issue so that I can successfully build an APK?

Answer 1

I have the same problem as you. I change the android.enableAapt2=false into android.enableAapt2=true in the file of gradle.properties and it's work to me. I hope it works for you too.

Answer 2

All you have to do is go to File>Setting and search for instant run.After search you would able to see the Enable Instant Run. Just unchecked that like in picture.And hit the apply button.Now the problem is solved.

Answer 3

As per the link shared by HedeH Remove the files you might have on:

android/app/src/main/res/drawable-mdpi/ android/app/src/main/res/drawable-xhdpi/ android/app/src/main/res/drawable-xxhdpi/

This worked like a charm !