Upgrade ERN to support RN 0.77

[r0h0gg6]

ANDROID

Update Android Plugins/ tools and templates to support RN 0.77.x

DEFAULT_RN_GRADLE_PLUGIN_VERSION = '0.77.2';
ANDROID_GRADLE_PLUGIN_VERSION = '8.7.2';
ANDROIDX_APPCOMPACT_VERSION = '1.1.0';
ANDROIDX_LIFECYCLE_EXTENSIONS_VERSION = '2.1.0';
BUILD_TOOLS_VERSION = '35.0.0';
COMPILE_SDK_VERSION = '35';
GRADLE_DISTRIBUTION_VERSION = '8.11.1';
JSC_VARIANT = 'android-jsc';
KOTLIN_VERSION = '2.0.21';
MIN_SDK_VERSION_PRE_RN64 = '19';
MIN_SDK_VERSION_POST_RN64 = '21';
SUPPORT_LIBRARY_VERSION = '28.0.0';
TARGET_SDK_VERSION = '35';
SOURCE_COMPATIBILITY = 'VERSION_17';
TARGET_COMPATIBILITY = 'VERSION_17';
RN_GRADLE_PLUGIN_VERSION = '0.77.2';

IOS

Update iOS templates to support RN 0.77.x
Update min deployment target to 15.1

MAJOR CHANGES

• flipper dependency has been removed
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-extensions has been deprecated.
• added mavenCentral to repositories for central sonatype
• react native CLI commands moved out as separate module in @react-native-community/cli

[friederbluemle]

First off, wow! Thanks for the contribution @r0h0gg6 - This is probably the biggest update in years! 😄

I will try to test it locally later this week. Just left a couple minor comments for now.

Also one question: Is there a reason to go specifically with 0.77? I was thinking it might be slightly safer to first move up to 0.76 (or maybe jump directly to 0.79)? Preferably 0.76. One reason is that now that we so infrequent updates (compared to a few years ago), it would be better to stick to "more established" versions. Looking at Expo's version mapping, there is no direct 0.77 supported by them. Expo 52 -> RN 0.76 and Expo 53 (latest) -> RN 0.79

[r0h0gg6]

First off, wow! Thanks for the contribution @r0h0gg6 - This is probably the biggest update in years! 😄

I will try to test it locally later this week. Just left a couple minor comments for now.

Also one question: Is there a reason to go specifically with 0.77? I was thinking it might be slightly safer to first move up to 0.76 (or maybe jump directly to 0.79)? Preferably 0.76. One reason is that now that we so infrequent updates (compared to a few years ago), it would be better to stick to "more established" versions. Looking at Expo's version mapping, there is no direct 0.77 supported by them. Expo 52 -> RN 0.76 and Expo 53 (latest) -> RN 0.79

Thank you @friederbluemle

The reason we chose to use 0.77.2 was because this version of RN was the earliest version where the minimum version of AGP in RN is targeting Android SDK 35. This is due to a requirement by Google Play Store requiring all apps to target Android 35 for any app releases starting in August 2025.

P.S I have also tagged you as a reviewer in other ERN repos required for this RN upgrade, please take a look as well. Thank you!

[friederbluemle]

The reason we chose to use 0.77.2 was because this version of RN was the earliest version where the minimum version of AGP in RN is targeting Android SDK 35. This is due to a requirement by Google Play Store requiring all apps to target Android 35 for any app releases starting in August 2025.

Ah okay, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I checked and you are right - starting August 31, 2025, all new apps and update on Google Play must target SDK 35 or higher 🤯

I also noticed that only RN 0.78 changed targetSdkLevel to 35, RN 0.77 by default still comes with 34.

[r0h0gg6]

The reason we chose to use 0.77.2 was because this version of RN was the earliest version where the minimum version of AGP in RN is targeting Android SDK 35. This is due to a requirement by Google Play Store requiring all apps to target Android 35 for any app releases starting in August 2025.

Ah okay, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I checked and you are right - starting August 31, 2025, all new apps and update on Google Play must target SDK 35 or higher 🤯

I also noticed that only RN 0.78 changed targetSdkLevel to 35, RN 0.77 by default still comes with 34.

@friederbluemle

The upgrade helper tool is not referencing things correctly with updated values.

If you see here https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/v0.77.2/packages/react-native/gradle/libs.versions.toml
RN 0.77.2 pulls the targetSDK from libs.versions.toml to be used throughout as targetSDK 35.

[friederbluemle]

Amazing update! Thanks @r0h0gg6 for all the work! And thanks @rthic23 for the help with the review. 👍