Fails to start react native app on Android emulator (Task :app:checkDebugAarMetadata FAILED)

Question

To start with I've followed this article to setup React Native without Rosetta on MacBook Pro with Apple M1 chip. It works fine with iOS simulator but android emulator doesn't work.

I get this error:

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:checkDebugAarMetadata'.
> Could not resolve all files for configuration ':app:debugRuntimeClasspath'.
   > Could not find com.facebook.fresco:flipper:2.4.0.
     Searched in the following locations:
       - https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/.m2/repository/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/ReactNativeOnM1/node_modules/react-native/android/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/ReactNativeOnM1/node_modules/jsc-android/dist/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
       - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
       - https://www.jitpack.io/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom
     Required by:
         project :app > com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:0.91.1
   > Could not find com.facebook.fresco:stetho:2.4.0.
     Searched in the following locations:
       - https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/.m2/repository/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/ReactNativeOnM1/node_modules/react-native/android/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
       - file:/Users/username/ReactNativeOnM1/node_modules/jsc-android/dist/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
       - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
       - https://www.jitpack.io/com/facebook/fresco/stetho/2.4.0/stetho-2.4.0.pom
     Required by:
         project :app > com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:0.91.1

I tried to look at other questions on stack overflow, couldn't find any solution to this problem. According to error it seems like I have to change:

• com.facebook.fresco:flipper:2.4.0

to

• com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:0.91.1

This com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:0.91.1 is set in the article and I do exactly the same.

But where do I find com.facebook.fresco:flipper:2.4.0 ? how can I change it? Or is there some other solution?

build.gradle android:

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

buildscript {
    ext {
        buildToolsVersion = "30.0.2"
        minSdkVersion = 21
        compileSdkVersion = 30
        targetSdkVersion = 30
        ndkVersion = "21.4.7075529"
    }
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath("com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.2.2")
        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
        mavenLocal()
        maven {
            // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android")
        }
        maven {
            // Android JSC is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/jsc-android/dist")
        }

        google()
        maven { url 'https://www.jitpack.io' }
    }
}

build.gradle app:

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. If none specified and
 *   // "index.android.js" exists, it will be used. Otherwise "index.js" is
 *   // default. Can be overridden with ENTRY_FILE environment variable.
 *   entryFile: "index.android.js",
 *
 *   // https://reactnative.dev/docs/performance#enable-the-ram-format
 *   bundleCommand: "ram-bundle",
 *
 *   // 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 = [
    enableHermes: false,  // clean and rebuild if changing
]

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

/**
 * The preferred build flavor of JavaScriptCore.
 *
 * For example, to use the international variant, you can use:
 * `def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc-intl:+'`
 *
 * The international variant includes ICU i18n library and necessary data
 * allowing to use e.g. `Date.toLocaleString` and `String.localeCompare` that
 * give correct results when using with locales other than en-US.  Note that
 * this variant is about 6MiB larger per architecture than default.
 */
def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc:+'

/**
 * Whether to enable the Hermes VM.
 *
 * This should be set on project.ext.react and mirrored here.  If it is not set
 * on project.ext.react, JavaScript will not be compiled to Hermes Bytecode
 * and the benefits of using Hermes will therefore be sharply reduced.
 */
def enableHermes = project.ext.react.get("enableHermes", false);

/**
 * Architectures to build native code for in debug.
 */
def nativeArchitectures = project.getProperties().get("reactNativeDebugArchitectures")

android {
    ndkVersion rootProject.ext.ndkVersion

    compileSdkVersion rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.reactnativeonm1"
        minSdkVersion rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.ext.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86", "arm64-v8a", "x86_64"
        }
    }
    signingConfigs {
        debug {
            storeFile file('debug.keystore')
            storePassword 'android'
            keyAlias 'androiddebugkey'
            keyPassword 'android'
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        debug {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            if (nativeArchitectures) {
                ndk {
                    abiFilters nativeArchitectures.split(',')
                }
            }
        }
        release {
            // Caution! In production, you need to generate your own keystore file.
            // see https://reactnative.dev/docs/signed-apk-android.
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            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:
            // https://developer.android.com/studio/build/configure-apk-splits.html
            // Example: versionCode 1 will generate 1001 for armeabi-v7a, 1002 for x86, etc.
            def versionCodes = ["armeabi-v7a": 1, "x86": 2, "arm64-v8a": 3, "x86_64": 4]
            def abi = output.getFilter(OutputFile.ABI)
            if (abi != null) {  // null for the universal-debug, universal-release variants
                output.versionCodeOverride =
                        defaultConfig.versionCode * 1000 + versionCodes.get(abi)
            }

        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    //noinspection GradleDynamicVersion
    implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"  // From node_modules

    implementation "androidx.swiperefreshlayout:swiperefreshlayout:1.0.0"

    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
        exclude group:'com.facebook.fbjni'
    }

    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper-network-plugin:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
        exclude group:'com.facebook.flipper'
        exclude group:'com.squareup.okhttp3', module:'okhttp'
    }

    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
        exclude group:'com.facebook.flipper'
    }

    if (enableHermes) {
        def hermesPath = "../../node_modules/hermes-engine/android/";
        debugImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-debug.aar")
        releaseImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-release.aar")
    } else {
        implementation jscFlavor
    }
}

// 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.implementation
    into 'libs'
}

apply from: file("../../node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle"); applyNativeModulesAppBuildGradle(project)

Answer 1

If you look at the URL provided by the console:

 Could not find com.facebook.fresco:flipper:2.4.0.
     Searched in the following locations:
       - https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/com/facebook/fresco/flipper/2.4.0/flipper-2.4.0.pom

You will see that the URL returns 404, since there's no 2.4.0 directory, it doesn't exists and that triggers the error. The solution you asked is located at gradle.properties file, which will look like this

# Project-wide Gradle settings.

# IDE (e.g. Android Studio) users:
# Gradle settings configured through the IDE *will override*
# any settings specified in this file.

# For more details on how to configure your build environment visit
# http://www.gradle.org/docs/current/userguide/build_environment.html

# Specifies the JVM arguments used for the daemon process.
# The setting is particularly useful for tweaking memory settings.
# Default value: -Xmx10248m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m
# org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2048m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8

# When configured, Gradle will run in incubating parallel mode.
# This option should only be used with decoupled projects. More details, visit
# http://www.gradle.org/docs/current/userguide/multi_project_builds.html#sec:decoupled_projects
# org.gradle.parallel=true

# AndroidX package structure to make it clearer which packages are bundled with the
# Android operating system, and which are packaged with your app's APK
# https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/support-library/androidx-rn
android.useAndroidX=true
# Automatically convert third-party libraries to use AndroidX
android.enableJetifier=true

# Version of flipper SDK to use with React Native
FLIPPER_VERSION=0.100.0

The important bit is the last one, the FLIPPER_VERSION . Lookup the Flipper release list , pick a release, and introduce the value for the constant. Keep in mind checking if your build.gradle is properly configured with the correct SDK versions needed by Flipper.

In my case, using 0.100.0 version works fine with your build.gradle SDK configuration.