Need support for 16KB page size on Android

[bc-lee]

Description

Android 15 offers an option for OEMs to use a 16KB page size for better performance [1]. This change is significant, as all shared objects (.so files in APKs) must be recompiled with the new page size. According to the Android team [2][3], 16KB page size compatibility will be required for app uploads to the Play Store next year (2025).

It seems that React-Native is not compatible with the 16KB page size. If I try to run a React-Native project on an emulator with a 16KB page size, I get the following error in the logcat:

Library 'libreact_render_componentregistry.so' is not PAGE(16384)-aligned - will not be able to open it directly from apk.

I checked all shared objects in the APK using my script check_elf_page_size.py and found that all shared objects use a 4KB page size.

$ check_elf_page_size.py android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/*.so
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libc++_shared.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libexpo-modules-core.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libfabricjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libfbjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libfolly_runtime.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libgifimage.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libglog.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libhermes.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libhermes_executor.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libhermesinstancejni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libimagepipeline.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libjscinstance.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libjsi.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libjsijniprofiler.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libjsinspector.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libmapbufferjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libnative-filters.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libnative-imagetranscoder.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_codegen_rncore.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_cxxreactpackage.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_debug.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_devsupportjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_featureflags.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_featureflagsjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_nativemodule_core.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_newarchdefaults.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_componentregistry.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_core.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_debug.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_element.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_graphics.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_imagemanager.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_render_mapbuffer.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreact_utils.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreactnativeblob.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreactnativejni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreactperfloggerjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libreanimated.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/librninstance.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/librnscreens.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/librrc_image.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/librrc_legacyviewmanagerinterop.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/librrc_view.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libruntimeexecutor.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libstatic-webp.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libturbomodulejsijni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libuimanagerjni.so: 4096
Page Size of android/app/build/intermediates/stripped_native_libs/debug/out/lib/arm64-v8a/libyoga.so: 4096

(Of course, one can manually check the page size of each shared object using the readelf -Wl command.)

I think React-Native should support the 16KB page size for the future.

[1] https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/page-sizes
[2] https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2024/05/the-second-beta-of-android-15.html
[3] https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/346830813#comment3

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a new Android emulator with a 16KB page size using the "Google APIs Experimental 16k Page Size Intel x86_64 Atom System Image" (see [1] for more details).
2. Create a new React-Native project using npx react-native init.
3. Build and run the project on the emulator using npx expo run:android.

React Native Version

0.74.2

Affected Platforms

Runtime - Android

Output of npx react-native info

$ npx react-native info
info Fetching system and libraries information...
System:
  OS: macOS 14.5
  CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M1 Max
  Memory: 101.97 MB / 32.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: 5.2.26
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/bash
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 18.20.2
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v18.20.2/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 1.22.22
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v18.20.2/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 10.7.0
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v18.20.2/bin/npm
  Watchman:
    version: 2024.06.10.00
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.15.2
    path: /Users/redacted/.rvm/gems/ruby-3.1.4/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 23.2
      - iOS 17.2
      - macOS 14.2
      - tvOS 17.2
      - visionOS 1.0
      - watchOS 10.2
  Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: EAP AI-241.17890.1.2412.11972402 AI-241.17890.1.2412.11972402
  Xcode:
    version: 15.2/15C500b
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 17.0.10
    path: /usr/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.1.4
    path: /Users/redacted/.rvm/rubies/ruby-3.1.4/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli": Not Found
  react:
    installed: 18.2.0
    wanted: 18.2.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.74.2
    wanted: 0.74.2
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: false
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found

Stacktrace or Logs

Library 'libreact_render_componentregistry.so' is not PAGE(16384)-aligned - will not be able to open it directly from apk.

Reproducer

npx create-expo-app@latest

Screenshots and Videos

[github-actions]

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[cortinico]

I think React-Native should support the 16KB page size for the future.

Agree.
We haven't planned support for 16K page size in the near future as we're focused on rolling out the New Architecture.

To unblock yourself you can however:

1. Turn on build from source https://reactnative.dev/contributing/how-to-build-from-source
2. Bump the NDK to 27
3. Use the -DANDROID_SUPPORT_FLEXIBLE_PAGE_SIZES=ON parameter as suggested in the guide (you'll have to patch.package also node_modules/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle.kts to pass that config there as well).