Missing binary on Android with RN 0.76 & Expo SDK 52

[nzapponi]

How frequently does the bug occur?

Always

Description

Since upgrading to Expo SDK 52 & RN 0.76, any Android build fails with "Could not find binary" error.

All troubleshooting steps were taken, none helped.

Stacktrace & log output

No response

Can you reproduce the bug?

Always

Reproduction Steps

• Create an Expo project with SDK 52 (new arch not enabled)
• Add Realm
• Run

Version

12.14.0

What services are you using?

Local Database only

Are you using encryption?

Yes

Platform OS and version(s)

Android 14

Build environment

Tried both RN DevTools and Expo Dev Client

Cocoapods version

No response

[sync-by-unito]

➤ PM Bot commented:

Jira ticket: RJS-2921

[nzapponi]

Added repro sample project. This is a clean expo project with just realm added.
To reproduce:

• Clone project
• Install deps
• Run expo run:android

https://github.com/nzapponi/realm-bug-repro

[kbinder]

I am experiencing the same issue since updating to Expo 52 and React Native 0.76.1.

[nzapponi]

I did some quick checking and after running expo prebuild, no realm files are found in the android folder. It looks like they're not being bundled at all

[alexphl]

This is happening because Expo SDK 52 has removed @react-native-community/cli autolinking.

Although it's a breaking change, it is only briefly mentioned in their blog post:

Reduced size of Expo CLI by removing the dependency on RNC CLI. Expo projects use expo-modules-autolinking to discover both Expo Modules and modules built with the React Native module API (such as Turbo Modules). You can opt in to @react-native-community/cli autolinking by setting the environment variable EXPO_USE_COMMUNITY_AUTOLINKING=1 and running pod install again.

The fix is to add @react-native-community/cli to your package.json and set the EXPO_USE_COMMUNITY_AUTOLINKING=1 env variable, followed by running prebuild.

[nzapponi]

Ah awesome, thanks for the clarification.

I'll test this later today and close the ticket.

[kbinder]

@alexphl Thank you this solved my issue.

[nzapponi]

Thanks so much!

[susannah-mccloskey]

I'm still experiencing this issue even after I added @react-native-community/cli to my package.json, set the EXPO_USE_COMMUNITY_AUTOLINKING=1, and ran the prebuild. Any other suggestions of what to do next?