React Native app crash: Unable to load script from assets 'index.android.bundle'

Question

I'm getting a crash on startup when running a React Native app on device, on release mode (debug mode works fine). The main error seems to be:

AndroidRuntime: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to load script from assets 'index.android.bundle'. Make sure your bundle is packaged correctly or you're running a packager server.

I've found various threads about this error but there are about old versions and none of the solutions provided was working.

The log is as follow:

12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: Thread-3
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime: Process: net.cozic.joplin, PID: 29088
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to load script from assets 'index.android.bundle'. Make sure your bundle is packaged correctly or you're running a packager server.
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.bridge.CatalystInstanceImpl.jniLoadScriptFromAssets(Native Method)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.bridge.CatalystInstanceImpl.loadScriptFromAssets(CatalystInstanceImpl.java:216)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.bridge.JSBundleLoader$1.loadScript(JSBundleLoader.java:32)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.bridge.CatalystInstanceImpl.runJSBundle(CatalystInstanceImpl.java:243)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.ReactInstanceManager.createReactContext(ReactInstanceManager.java:1114)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.ReactInstanceManager.access$900(ReactInstanceManager.java:116)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at com.facebook.react.ReactInstanceManager$5.run(ReactInstanceManager.java:913)
12-16 19:20:28.581 29088 29109 E AndroidRuntime:        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:761)
12-16 19:20:28.582  1695  1707 W ActivityManager:   Force finishing activity net.cozic.joplin/.MainActivity

This is my app/build.gradle file:

apply plugin: "com.android.application"

import com.android.build.OutputFile

apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"

def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = false
def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = false

android {
    compileSdkVersion rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion
    buildToolsVersion rootProject.ext.buildToolsVersion

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "net.cozic.joplin"
        minSdkVersion rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.ext.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode 2097414
        versionName "1.0.178"
        ndk {
            abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86"
        }
    }
    signingConfigs {
        release {
            if (project.hasProperty('JOPLIN_RELEASE_STORE_FILE')) {
                storeFile file(JOPLIN_RELEASE_STORE_FILE)
                storePassword JOPLIN_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD
                keyAlias JOPLIN_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS
                keyPassword JOPLIN_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD
            }
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
            signingConfig signingConfigs.release
        }
    }
    // 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:
            // http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide/apk-splits
            def versionCodes = ["armeabi-v7a":1, "x86":2]
            def abi = output.getFilter(OutputFile.ABI)
            if (abi != null) {  // null for the universal-debug, universal-release variants
                output.versionCodeOverride =
                        versionCodes.get(abi) * 1048576 + defaultConfig.versionCode
            }
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation project(':react-native-firebase')
    implementation (project(':react-native-camera')) {
        exclude group: "com.google.android.gms"
    }
    implementation project(':react-native-file-viewer')
    implementation project(':react-native-securerandom')
    implementation project(':react-native-fs')
    implementation project(':react-native-image-picker')
    implementation project(':react-native-vector-icons')
    implementation project(':react-native-fs')
    implementation fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    implementation "com.android.support:appcompat-v7:${rootProject.ext.supportLibVersion}"
    implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"  // From node_modules
    implementation project(':react-native-sqlite-storage')
    implementation project(':rn-fetch-blob')
    implementation project(':react-native-document-picker')
    implementation project(':react-native-image-resizer')
    implementation project(':react-native-share-extension')
    implementation project(':react-native-version-info')
    implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"

    implementation "com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:16.0.1" // For Firebase
    implementation "com.google.firebase:firebase-core:16.0.4" // For Firebase
    implementation "com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:17.3.4" // For Firebase
    implementation 'me.leolin:ShortcutBadger:1.1.21@aar' // For Firebase - this line if you wish to use badge on Android

    compile ("com.android.support:support-v4:26.0.1") {
        force = true //<-- force dependency resolution to 26.0.1 in my case
    }
}

// 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.compile
    into 'libs'
}

apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native-vector-icons/fonts.gradle"
apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services' // For Firebase

And android/build.gradle:

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

buildscript {
    ext {
        buildToolsVersion = "27.0.3"
        minSdkVersion = 16
        compileSdkVersion = 27
        targetSdkVersion = 26
        supportLibVersion = "27.1.1"
    }
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        google()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.2.0' // Upgraded from 3.1.4 to 3.2.0 for Firebase
        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.0.1' // For Firebase

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        mavenLocal()
        google()
        jcenter() // Was added by me - still needed?
        maven {
            url "https://maven.google.com"
        }
        maven {
            // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
            url "$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android"
        }
    }
}


subprojects {
    afterEvaluate {project ->
        if (project.hasProperty("android")) {
            android {
                compileSdkVersion 26
                buildToolsVersion "27.0.3"
            }
        }
    }
}


task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
    gradleVersion = '4.4'
    distributionUrl = distributionUrl.replace("bin", "all")
}

Any idea what could be the issue?

Edit: I cannot downgrade gradle build tool from 3.2.0 to 3.1.4 as some answers suggest because 3.2.0 is required by the Firebase module.

Possible duplicate: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44446523/unable-to-load-script-from-assets-index-android-bundle-on-windows — Tareq El-Masri, Oct 14 '18 at 18:11
Tareq, the solutions in this question are for debug releases, while in my case it's a crash that only happens in release mode. I've tried anyway to apply some of the solutions there but none of them worked (could be because they apply to older versions of RN). — laurent, Oct 14 '18 at 18:44
Can you share your package.json file? Also have you used Expo or ignite for project generation? — Sandy....., Oct 15 '18 at 11:02
I don't use Expo, it's an ejected application. Package file is there: https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/master/ReactNativeClient/package.json — laurent, Dec 16 '18 at 19:30

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 15 '18 at 13:44

5

You should try to downgrade gradle build tool from 3.2.1 to 3.1.4

answered Oct 15 '18 at 13:44

DHL

51
3

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 16 '18 at 09:15

4

Downgrading from gradle build tool 3.2.1 to 3.1.4 solved the issue for me too. It took me a couple of days to figure it out.

answered Oct 16 '18 at 09:15

Nabyl Bennouri

41
3

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 03 '19 at 01:44

4

The fix is upgrading RN to 0.57.5 or downgrading gradle to 3.1.4.

For those who want a really neat workaround without having to upgrade/downgrade:

In your app/build.gradle add jsBundleDirRelease:

project.ext.react = [
    entryFile: "index.js",
    jsBundleDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/merged_assets/release/mergeReleaseAssets/out"
]

answered Feb 03 '19 at 01:44

AlVelig

1,989
15
9

I am on 0.57.7 but still need to add this – antiplayer Jun 26 '19 at 08:59

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 29 '18 at 12:15

3

You don't specify which version of react-native you're using. I had the same issue with 0.57.3, and the other answers put me on the right track: there was a bug in the android build system with android gradle plugin version 3.2, which was solved in 0.57.5 (changelog).

The bugfix is here and is very simple to manually integrate if you don't want to upgrade RN.

answered Nov 29 '18 at 12:15

Laurent S

4,106
3
26
50

I've tried this but now I'm getting a new error message and solutions on the net recommend downgrading to RN 0.57.2. I think you might have the solution but RN doesn't, and - as always - expects dev to play yoyo with releases. – laurent Dec 17 '18 at 00:51
Without knowing what the other error is, it's hard to say. Is your other error related to the build as well, or something different? I was having the issue because I had build flavours, but you don't seem to, looking at your `build.gradle`. – Laurent S Dec 17 '18 at 23:29
Eventually got it working by upgrading to 0.57.8. Thanks for pointing me to the right direction. – laurent Dec 18 '18 at 13:01

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 30 '18 at 06:19

Try running the command given below :

react-native bundle --platform android --dev false --entry-file index.js --bundle-output android/app/src/main/assets/index.android.bundle --assets-dest android/app/src/main/resreact-native bundle --platform android --dev false --entry-file index.js --bundle-output android/app/src/main/assets/index.android.bundle --assets-dest android/app/src/main/res

It works for me

React Native app crash: Unable to load script from assets 'index.android.bundle'

5 Answers5