[SDK 49][0.72.7][Android] expo-dev-client causes NullPointerException in DevLoadingModule during hot-reload

[thespacemanatee]

Summary

After bumping react native to 0.72.7, saving the project will immediately crash the Android app.

It's definitely related to this commit. The introduction of DevLoadingModule does not play well with expo-dev-client.

Managed or bare workflow?

bare

What platform(s) does this occur on?

Android

Package versions

"dependencies": {
  "expo": "~49.0.19",
  "expo-dev-client": "~2.4.12",
  "expo-status-bar": "~1.7.1",
  "react": "18.2.0",
  "react-native": "0.72.7",
  "expo-splash-screen": "~0.22.0"
}

Environment

expo-env-info 1.0.5 environment info:
  System:
    OS: macOS 14.1.1
    Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 16.15.0 - ~/.asdf/installs/nodejs/16.15.0/bin/node
    Yarn: 1.22.19 - /opt/homebrew/bin/yarn
    npm: 8.5.5 - ~/.asdf/plugins/nodejs/shims/npm
    Watchman: 2023.06.26.00 - /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
  Managers:
    CocoaPods: 1.12.1 - /Users/thespacemanatee/.asdf/shims/pod
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: DriverKit 23.0, iOS 17.0, macOS 14.0, tvOS 17.0, watchOS 10.0
    Android SDK:
      API Levels: 23, 26, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34
      Build Tools: 26.0.3, 29.0.2, 30.0.3, 31.0.0, 33.0.0, 33.0.1, 33.0.2, 34.0.0, 34.0.0
      System Images: android-24 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a, android-26 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a, android-26 | Google APIs Intel x86_64 Atom, android-26 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-29 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a, android-33 | Desktop ARM 64 v8a, android-33 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a, android-33 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a, android-34 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a
  IDEs:
    Xcode: 15.0/15A240d - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  npmPackages:
    expo: ~49.0.19 => 49.0.20 
    react: 18.2.0 => 18.2.0 
    react-native: 0.72.7 => 0.72.7 
  npmGlobalPackages:
    eas-cli: 5.9.1
  Expo Workflow: bare

Reproducible demo

https://github.com/thespacemanatee/dev_loading_module_crash_repro

• Run the project and save any changes
• Crash

Please checkout branch without-expo-dev-client to see that hot reloading works without expo-dev-client

Stacktrace (if a crash is involved)

 ERROR  Your app just crashed. See the error below.
java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke interface method 'void com.facebook.react.devsupport.interfaces.DevLoadingViewManager.showMessage(java.lang.String)' on a null object reference
  com.facebook.react.modules.devloading.DevLoadingModule$1.run(DevLoadingModule.java:49)
  android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:958)
  android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
  android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:205)
  android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:294)
  android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8177)
  java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
  com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:552)
  com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:971)

[xseignard]

I confirm it is happening too with expo@49 and react-native@0.72.7

[T-Damer]

Same for me and my team on:

    "expo": "^49.0.20",
    "react-native": "0.72.7",

[Mitdd9707]

I am having the same problem!

"expo": "^49.0.14", "react-native": "0.72.7"

[Macpire]

Same:

"expo": "^49.0.20", 
"expo-dev-client": "~2.4.12",
"react-native": "0.72.7"

[lucasbasquerotto]

This happens with me too, although expo-doctor suggests to use 0.72.6 in the eas build:

Some dependencies are incompatible with the installed expo version:
  react-native@0.72.7 - expected version: 0.72.6

Weird that this warning doesn't show when running expo-doctor (1.1.3) locally.

[jeferagudeloc]

Hi guys,

Hi, I had the same problem, I just downgrade this dependencies to:

  "expo-dev-client": "^2.4.11",
  "react-native": "0.72.5",

And that solves the problem

[RohovDmytro]

Same with expo@49.0.21

[AntQwanlity]

Same issue here, simply reverting to react-native 0.72.6 fixes it

[CostasCF]

I can confirm this is happening to my team also.

[raulzilla]

I run the command npx -y expo-doctor and accepted the updates requested by the command, in this case it was a downgrade of react-native-gesture-handler from version 2.14.0 to 2.12.0 and after generating a new build of the app, it worked well for me

[trajano]

Perhaps the module should start considering use of the PanResponder rather than RNGH

[qizf7]

Same problem!
"expo-dev-client": "~2.4.12",
"react-native": "^0.72.6",
"expo": "^49.0.21",

[luicfrr]

I'm using expo in 49.0.21 version. I saw this problem right after updating all app's dependencies.

After running npx expo install --check a lot of dependencies were downgraded to expo's expected versions including:
react-native from 0.72.9 to 0.72.6
react-native-gesture-handler from 2.14.0 to 2.12.0

The error stoped after this.

[techgerm]

We're developing our expo app in an Nx monorepo along side other bare bones react native apps and this crash started happening once we upgraded react-native from 0.72.6 to 0.72.9. Worth noting that we're still on react-native-gesture-handler: 2.12.0 though.

For us it's not feasible to downgrade back to 0.72.6 but it's making android development on our expo app unbearable.
Is there any status update on when this could be fixed?

[brentvatne]

hi there!

this issue was caused by a regression in react-native in the 0.72.7 release. the react-native APIs that expo-dev-client uses are not always stable and we're working with Meta on improving that (see: react-native-community/discussions-and-proposals#759 (comment)).

we'll investigate what it would take to work around this regression.

[expo-bot]

Thank you for filing this issue!
This comment acknowledges we believe this may be a bug and there’s enough information to investigate it.
However, we can’t promise any sort of timeline for resolution. We prioritize issues based on severity, breadth of impact, and alignment with our roadmap. If you’d like to help move it more quickly, you can continue to investigate it more deeply and/or you can open a pull request that fixes the cause.

[Mahmoudkhoder01]

any solutions here? my dependecies:
"expo": "~49.0.15", "expo-dev-client": "~2.4.12", "react-native": "0.72.10", "react-native-gesture-handler": "~2.12.0",

[viniciuspetrachin]

The solution for me was in package.json:

Expo SDK: "expo": "~49.0.13"
React Native SDK: "react-native": "0.72.6"

I also removed the option for automatic updates, fixing the version at 0.72.6. This really solved the issue, as mentioned in the previous comment.

Before applying this solution, I was encountering the following error:

java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke interface method 'void com.facebook.react.devsupport.interfaces.DevLoadingViewManager.showMessage(java.lang.String)' on a null object reference

In Crashlytics, the logged error was:

com.facebook.react.modules.devloading.DevLoadingModule$1.run (DevLoadingModule.java:49)
android.os.Handler.handleCallback (Handler.java:958)
android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:99)
android.os.Looper.loopOnce (Looper.java:205)
android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:294)
android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:8177)
java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java)
com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:552)
com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:971)