title: How to solve the error Failed to execute aapt when building an APK with react-native?
body: <p>I have built a react-native app. It works fine on the android emulator and now I want to generate an APK. I have followed the docs for doing this <a href="https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/signed-apk-android.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">which can be seen here</a> I use the command </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>./gradlew assembleRelease</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>to build the apk but I keep getting an error when building the APK. I have checked various stack overflow questions on the topic including  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49389714/generate-signed-apk-android-failed-to-execute-aapt?utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_source=google_rich_qa&amp;utm_campaign=google_rich_qa">this one</a> also <a href="https://github.com/facebook/react-native/pull/17967" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this github issue</a>. I have included the line </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>android.enableAapt2=false</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The app level build.gradle file looks like this</p>
  
  <pre><code>apply plugin: "com.android.application"
  
  import com.android.build.OutputFile
  
  /**  * The react.gradle file registers a task for each build variant (e.g. bundleDebugJsAndAssets  * and bundleReleaseJsAndAssets).  * These basically call `react-native bundle` with the correct arguments during the Android build  * cycle. By default, bundleDebugJsAndAssets is skipped, as in debug/dev mode we prefer to load the  * bundle directly from the development server. Below you can see all the possible configurations  * and their defaults. If you decide to add a configuration block, make sure to add it before the  * `apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"` line.  *  * project.ext.react = [  *   // the name of the generated asset file containing your JS bundle  *   bundleAssetName: "index.android.bundle",  *  *   // the entry file for bundle generation  *   entryFile: "index.android.js",  *  *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in debug mode  *   bundleInDebug: false,  *  *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in release mode  *   bundleInRelease: true,  *  *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in another build variant (if configured).  *   // See http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide#TOC-Build-Variants
  *   // The configuration property can be in the following formats  *   //         'bundleIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'  *   //         'bundleIn${buildType}'  *   // bundleInFreeDebug: true,  *   // bundleInPaidRelease: true,  *   // bundleInBeta: true,  *  *   // whether to disable dev mode in custom build variants (by default only disabled in release)  *   // for example: to disable dev mode in the staging build type (if configured)  *   devDisabledInStaging: true,  * // The configuration property can be in the following formats  *   //  'devDisabledIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'  *   //         'devDisabledIn${buildType}'  *  *   // the root of your project, i.e. where "package.json" lives  *   root: "../../",  *  *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in debug mode  *   jsBundleDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/debug",  *  *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in release mode  *   jsBundleDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/release",  *  *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via  * // require('./image.png')), in debug mode  *   resourcesDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/debug",  *  *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via  * // require('./image.png')), in release mode  *   resourcesDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/release",  *  *   // by default the gradle tasks are skipped if none of the JS files or assets change; this means  *   // that we don't look at files in android/ or ios/ to determine whether the tasks are up to  *   // date; if you have any other folders that you want to ignore for performance reasons (gradle 
  *   // indexes the entire tree), add them here. Alternatively, if you have JS files in android/  *   // for example, you might want to remove it from here.  *   inputExcludes: ["android/**", "ios/**"],  * 
  *   // override which node gets called and with what additional arguments  *   nodeExecutableAndArgs: ["node"],  *  *   // supply additional arguments to the packager  *   extraPackagerArgs: []  * ] 
  */
  
  project.ext.react = [
      entryFile: "index.js" ]
  
  apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"
  
  /**  * Set this to true to create two separate APKs instead of one:  *
  - An APK that only works on ARM devices  *   - An APK that only works on x86 devices  * The advantage is the size of the APK is reduced by about 4MB.  * Upload all the APKs to the Play Store and people will download  * the correct one based on the CPU architecture of their device.  */ def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = false
  
  /**  * Run Proguard to shrink the Java bytecode in release builds.  */ def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = false
  
  android {
      compileSdkVersion 23
      buildToolsVersion "23.0.1"
      defaultConfig {
          applicationId "com.project"
          minSdkVersion 16
          targetSdkVersion 22
          versionCode 2
          versionName "1.0"
          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('MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE')) {
                  storeFile file(MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_FILE)
                  storePassword MYAPP_RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD
                  keyAlias MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS
                  keyPassword MYAPP_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD
              }
          }
      }
      buildTypes {
          release {
              minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
              proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
          }
      }
      // applicationVariants are e.g. debug, release
      applicationVariants.all { variant -&gt;
          variant.outputs.each { output -&gt;
          // 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
          }
      }
      }
      productFlavors {
      } }
  
  dependencies {
      compile project(':react-native-vector-icons')
      compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
      compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.0.1'
      compile 'com.facebook.react:react-native:+'
      // From node_modules
      implementation project(':react-native-maps')
      implementation(project(':react-native-maps')) {
          exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-base'
          exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-maps'
      }
      implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:10.2.4'
      implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:10.2.4' }
  
  // 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' }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>in my global gradle.properties file, I have also updated react-native to the latest 55.3 as of writing this, and I still get the error that looks like this.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Task :app:processReleaseResources
    Failed to execute aapt
    com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Failed to execute aapt
            at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder.processResources(AndroidBuilder.java:796)
            at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.ProcessAndroidResources.invokeAaptForSplit(ProcessAndroidResources.java:551)
            at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.ProcessAndroidResources.doFullTaskAction(ProcessAndroidResources.java:285)
            at com.android.build.gradle.internal.tasks.IncrementalTask.taskAction(IncrementalTask.java:109)
            at org.gradle.internal.reflect.JavaMethod.invoke(JavaMethod.java:73)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$IncrementalTaskAction.doExecute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:173)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$StandardTaskAction.execute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:134)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.DefaultTaskClassInfoStore$StandardTaskAction.execute(DefaultTaskClassInfoStore.java:121)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter$1.run(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:122)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:336)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:328)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:197)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:107)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeAction(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:111)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeActions(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:92)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:70)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.execute(SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.java:63)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.java:54)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ValidatingTaskExecuter.execute(ValidatingTaskExecuter.java:58)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.execute(SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.java:88)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.java:52)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.execute(SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.java:52)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.execute(SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.java:54)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.java:43)
            at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.execute(CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.java:34)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker$1.run(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:248)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:336)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:328)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:197)
            at org.gradle.internal.progress.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:107)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:241)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:230)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.processTask(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:124)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.access$200(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:80)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:105)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:99)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.execute(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:625)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.executeWithTask(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:580)
            at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.run(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:99)
            at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ExecutorPolicy$CatchAndRecordFailures.onExecute(ExecutorPolicy.java:63)
            at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ManagedExecutorImpl$1.run(ManagedExecutorImpl.java:46)
            at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ThreadFactoryImpl$ManagedThreadRunnable.run(ThreadFactoryImpl.java:55)
    Caused by: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Error while executing process /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt with arguments {package -f --no-crunch -I /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/platforms/android-23/android.jar -M /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml -S /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/merged/release -m -J /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/generated/source/r/release -F /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/release/resources-release.ap_ --custom-package com.project -0 apk --output-text-symbols /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/symbols/release --no-version-vectors}
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.getDoneValue(AbstractFuture.java:503)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.get(AbstractFuture.java:482)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture$TrustedFuture.get(AbstractFuture.java:79)
            at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder.processResources(AndroidBuilder.java:794)
            ... 41 more
    Caused by: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: Error while executing process /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt with arguments {package -f --no-crunch -I /Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/platforms/android-23/android.jar -M /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/manifests/full/release/AndroidManifest.xml -S /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/merged/release -m -J /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/generated/source/r/release -F /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/res/release/resources-release.ap_ --custom-package com.project -0 apk --output-text-symbols /Users/danieltuttle/project/code/frontend/traveler-mobile/android/app/build/intermediates/symbols/release --no-version-vectors}
            at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.buildProcessException(GradleProcessResult.java:73)
            at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.assertNormalExitValue(GradleProcessResult.java:48)
            at com.android.builder.internal.aapt.AbstractProcessExecutionAapt$1.onSuccess(AbstractProcessExecutionAapt.java:78)
            at com.android.builder.internal.aapt.AbstractProcessExecutionAapt$1.onSuccess(AbstractProcessExecutionAapt.java:74)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.Futures$CallbackListener.run(Futures.java:1237)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors$DirectExecutor.execute(MoreExecutors.java:399)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.executeListener(AbstractFuture.java:911)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.complete(AbstractFuture.java:822)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.AbstractFuture.set(AbstractFuture.java:664)
            at com.google.common.util.concurrent.SettableFuture.set(SettableFuture.java:48)
            at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessExecutor$1.run(GradleProcessExecutor.java:58)
    Caused by: org.gradle.process.internal.ExecException: Process 'command '/Users/danieltuttle/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/26.0.2/aapt'' finished with non-zero exit value 1
            at org.gradle.process.internal.DefaultExecHandle$ExecResultImpl.assertNormalExitValue(DefaultExecHandle.java:380)
            at com.android.build.gradle.internal.process.GradleProcessResult.assertNormalExitValue(GradleProcessResult.java:46)
            ... 9 more</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>What went wrong:
  Execution failed for task ':app:processReleaseResources'.
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Failed to execute aapt</p>
  </blockquote></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>What is the right way to solve this issue so that I can successfully build an APK?</p>