Upgrading my React Native App to the latest and greatest for Android 16KB pages

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Postmortem: React Native Upgrade Failure Due to Android 16KB Page Size Requirements

Summary

A React Native upgrade attempt failed during Android compatibility improvements due to unresolved dependency conflicts, autolinking failures, and third-party bridge incompatibilities. The upgrade aimed to satisfy Android 12’s 16KB page size requirements for native libraries. Multiple attempts stalled without deploying to production.

Root Cause

Primary failure factors included:

  • Dependency version lock-in caused by libraries pinned to React Native versions incompatible with the new architecture
  • Native module bridge incompatibility as third-party packages lacked stable NDK ABIs (Application Binary Interfaces)
  • Circular dependency chains during autolinking triggered by broken package cycles
  • Multi-stage build failures where upgrading a core package broke secondary dependencies

Why This Happens in Real Systems

Systemic vulnerability points:

  • Hybrid ecosystems where JavaScript packages rely on natively-compiled binaries create versioning complexity
  • Transitive dependencies cascade breaking changes uncontrollably
  • Vendor abandonment leaves critical libraries stuck at legacy versions
  • NDK ABI instability occurs when native modules aren’t rebuilt against new headers
  • ottobre Monolithic upgrade approaches increase failure surface area dramatically

Real-World Impact

The failed upgrade caused:

  • 3 engineering weeks lost in iterative debugging loops
  • Blocked Play Store compliance with Android 12+ requirements
  • Delayed security updates due to frozen dependency chain
  • Escalating technical debt from deferred architectural changes

How Senior Engineers Fix It

Resolution strategies:

  • Incremental upgrades via react-native-git-upgrade with isolated version hops
  • Binary validation scripts confirming NDK compatibility before full builds: 
    # Validate .so file page alignment
readelf -S android/app/build/outputs/native/lib/*.so | grep -E 'ta | text'
  • Third-party module fork-and-patch strategy for abandoned libraries
  • Selective autolink overrides in react-native.config.js: 
    module.exports = {
  dependencies: {
    'problematic-package': {
      platforms: