[0.62-rc.5] Android APK size increases after Gradle version bump

[robertying]

Description:

This is a known issue discussed in 0.62-rc release thread: react-native-community/releases#157.

Original issue posted by @willholen and workaround provided by @ArrayZoneYour.

---

Issue

...

An unresolved issue that may deserve a mention somewhere:

• Since the last Gradle upgrade, react.gradle is unable to remove unused executors and support libraries (

  react-native/react.gradle

  Line 304 in 64720ab

  def vmSelectionAction = {

  )
  • This means that apps using JSC based APKs are 600kb larger than necessary per arch in release mode, which can be can be remedied with a manual exclude "**/libhermes*.so" in packagingOptions
  • Hermes based APKs are 600kb larger than necessary. This can be remedied with exclude "**/libhermes-executor-debug.so", exclude "**/libhermes-inspector.so", exclude "**/libjsc.so" . Unfortunately, this change will also break debug builds, and I’m not aware of a workaround that works in both cases.

Workaround

I am using the workaround below for your last issue on 0.61, maybe it also works >on your case

android/app/build.gradle

def taskName = getGradle().getStartParameter().getTaskRequests().toString()

packagingOptions {
   // For Hermes, delete all the libjsc* files
   exclude "**/libjsc*.so"
   if (taskName.contains("Debug")) {
     // Release libs take precedence and must be removed
     // to allow debugging
     exclude '**/libhermes-executor-release.so'
   } else {
     // Reduce size by deleting the debugger/inspector
     exclude '**/libhermes-inspector.so'
     exclude '**/libhermes-executor-debug.so'
   }
}

React Native version:

System:
    OS: macOS 10.15.3
    CPU: (4) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100B CPU @ 3.60GHz
    Memory: 77.93 MB / 8.00 GB
    Shell: 5.7.1 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 13.11.0 - /var/folders/zk/s0vxnzqs4fjgd3n3kycxvl0c0000gn/T/yarn--1584447329704-0.93200619086904/node
    Yarn: 1.22.4 - /var/folders/zk/s0vxnzqs4fjgd3n3kycxvl0c0000gn/T/yarn--1584447329704-0.93200619086904/yarn
    npm: 6.13.7 - /usr/local/bin/npm
    Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: iOS 13.2, DriverKit 19.0, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13.2, watchOS 6.1
    Android SDK:
      API Levels: 29
      Build Tools: 29.0.3
      System Images: android-29 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom
      Android NDK: Not Found
  IDEs:
    Android Studio: 3.6 AI-192.7142.36.36.6200805
    Xcode: 11.3.1/11C504 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  npmPackages:
    @react-native-community/cli: 4.3.0 => 4.3.0 
    react: 16.13.0 => 16.13.0 
    react-native: 0.62.0-rc.4 => 0.62.0-rc.4 
  npmGlobalPackages:
    *react-native*: Not Found

Steps To Reproduce

1. Build with or without hermes with RN 0.62
2. See a size increase of 1-2 MB for each variant apk

Expected Results

Unused .so should be removed when packaging.

[Bardiamist]

I tried this (your suggestion) on my current project.

Before:

armeabi-v7a: 27 958 792 bytes (28 MB on disk)
arm64-v8a: 29 616 411 bytes (29,6 MB on disk)
x86: 41 721 692 bytes (41,7 MB on disk)
x86_64: 52 003 181 bytes (52 MB on disk)

After:

armeabi-v7a: 27 432 761 bytes (27,4 MB on disk)
arm64-v8a: 29 051 347 bytes (29,1 MB on disk)
x86: 41 110 026 bytes (41,1 MB on disk)
x86_64: 51 391 286 bytes (51,4 MB on disk)

[Bardiamist]

React native 0.63.1

Without:
94 266 084 bytes (94,3 MB on disk)

With:
91 818 978 bytes (91,8 MB on disk)

[alessioemireni]

I tried the workaround but without Hermes the app crash during startup (RN 0.62.2):

2020-09-16 10:38:24.940 22189-22331/? E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: create_react_context
    Process: -, PID: 22189
    java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: couldn't find DSO to load: libhermes.so result: 0
        at com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader.doLoadLibraryBySoName(SoLoader.java:825)
        at com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader.loadLibraryBySoName(SoLoader.java:673)
        at com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader.loadLibrary(SoLoader.java:611)
        at com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader.loadLibrary(SoLoader.java:559)
        at com.facebook.hermes.reactexecutor.HermesExecutor.<clinit>(HermesExecutor.java:20)
        at com.facebook.hermes.reactexecutor.HermesExecutorFactory.create(HermesExecutorFactory.java:29)
        at com.facebook.react.ReactInstanceManager$5.run(ReactInstanceManager.java:997)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:919)

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as a "Discussion" or add it to the "Backlog" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[Bardiamist]

I'll check in 0.64.0 when it comes out

[Bardiamist]

React native 0.64.0

Without workaround:
105 147 690 bytes

With workaround:
104 903 995 bytes

[Bardiamist]

With that workaround I'm getting:

couldn't find DSO to load: libjscexecutor.so

when using camera

Because:

exclude "**/libjsc*.so"

Update: still have that problem and without exclude "**/libjsc*.so"

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as a "Discussion" or add it to the "Backlog" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.