React Native - Play Store Warning "Starting May 5th you must let us know why your app requires broad storage access"

Question

I have a react native app which is on play store for some time and recently i received this important notice from play store, stating if i don't fix this my app will be removed from play store.

Can anyone tell me what this is and how to fix it?

Here is the complete message from Play store

We've detected that your app contains the requestLegacyExternalStorage flag in the manifest file of 1 or more of your app bundles or APKs.

Developers with apps on devices running Android 11+ must use Scoped Storage to give users better access control over their device storage. To release your app on Android 11 or newer after May 5th, you must either:

Update your app to use more privacy friendly best practices, such as the Storage Access Framework or Media Store API

Update your app to declare the All files access (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission in the manifest file, and complete the All files access permission declaration in Play Console from May 5th

Remove the All files access permission from your app entirely.

For apps targeting Android 11, the requestLegacyExternalStorage flag will be ignored. You must use the All files access permission to retain broad access.

Apps requesting access to the All files access permission without a permitted use will be removed from Google Play, and you won't be able to publish updates.

my package.json

{
    "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage": "^1.13.4",
    "@react-native-community/masked-view": "^0.1.10",
    "@react-navigation/bottom-tabs": "^5.11.8",
    "@react-navigation/drawer": "^5.12.3",
    "@react-navigation/material-bottom-tabs": "^5.3.14",
    "@react-navigation/native": "^5.9.2",
    "@react-navigation/stack": "^5.14.2",
    "axios": "^0.21.1",
    "fuse.js": "^6.4.6",
    "react": "16.13.1",
    "react-native": "0.63.4",
    "react-native-device-info": "^8.0.1",
    "react-native-gesture-handler": "^1.10.0",
    "react-native-linear-gradient": "^2.5.6",
    "react-native-paper": "^4.7.1",
    "react-native-reanimated": "^1.13.2",
    "react-native-safe-area-context": "^3.1.9",
    "react-native-screens": "^2.17.1",
    "react-native-svg": "^12.1.0",
    "react-native-vector-icons": "^8.0.0"
}

And manifest.xml

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.elevel.fromto">

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

    <application
      android:name=".MainApplication"
      android:label="@string/app_name"
      android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
      android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
      android:allowBackup="false"
      android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
      android:usesCleartextTraffic="true">
      <activity
        android:name=".MainActivity"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenSize|uiMode"
        android:launchMode="singleTask"
        android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
      </activity>
      <activity android:name="com.facebook.react.devsupport.DevSettingsActivity" />
    </application>

</manifest>

Also in Play Console under App bundle explorer I found out my app is using following permissions:

android.permission.INTERNET
com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE
com.google.android.finsky.permission.BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE

perhaps you use a library that uses `requestLegacyExternalStorage` since your manifest looks fine — tyczj, Apr 14 '21 at 20:22
I do not understand exactly which library is causing the problem. My guess was the async storage community version, but it's manifest looked fine. Should i put `requestLegacyExternalStorage` in my Manifest — Mandeep Bagga, Apr 14 '21 at 20:48
I have same message from play store for my react native application. My manifest also contains android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true". — N. P., Apr 15 '21 at 05:11
My assumption is that this warning won't be an issue after setting target SDK to Android 11. Then, requestLegacyExternalStorage won't have any effect on Android 11+ devices but only on Android 10 devices which is an [allowed use-case by the Android team](https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage#scoped-storage). After setting target SDK to Android 11, you need to make sure that your plugins continue to work as expected (these should be plugins that save/load files of any sorts). — yasirkula, Apr 15 '21 at 07:55
I'm using React Native .63, it's not advisable to manually change target version. I guess I'll have to update to RN version .64 it have target version as Android 11. — Mandeep Bagga, Apr 15 '21 at 08:01
Also there seems to be a lengthy discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/mqzls8/ominous_scoped_storage_warning_messages/ — yasirkula, Apr 15 '21 at 08:04

Mandeep Bagga · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-15T10:37:36.840

4

I found out that, if we are targeting Android API 29 we need not worry about the warning, just set requestLegacyExternalStorage=true in your app's manifest file.

Although we will have to upgrade to Android API 30 by November.

edited May 15 '21 at 10:37

answered May 01 '21 at 17:48

Mandeep Bagga

393
4
11

Where do you set the legacy flag to true? – JohnnyAce May 14 '21 at 03:29
Exactly, this is nothing to worry about. Even if you are targeting 30, `requestLegacyExternalStorage=true` will be ignored... – ClassA May 24 '21 at 18:39

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 15 '21 at 08:52

My understanding that we should be able to fix the problem using this option even when targeting Android 11:

Update your app to declare the All files access (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission in the manifest file, and complete the All files access permission declaration in Play Console from May 5th

Which I think is the way to fix the fact that android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" will be ignored on Android 11. While I'm not sure how to declare All files access permission in Play Console. There should be some form where you supposed to specify the reason your app needs this permission. Anyone can see where this form is?

I don't really need to access external storage, is there any way to specify this in manifest? — Mandeep Bagga, Apr 15 '21 at 10:04

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 23 '21 at 04:44

1

Not a fix, but there is a thread on Reddit you may be interested in reading. There are reports of people receiving this message, even if they did not enable the requestLegacyExternalStorage flag.

answered Apr 23 '21 at 04:44

Robert Hung

165
13

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 15 '21 at 18:58

0

It could be that you are using some a RN dependency that is calling to MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

example Path Example -> /MyProject/node_modules/rn-fetch-blob/android/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

<!-- Required to read and write the expansion files on shared storage -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

I had this dependence RNFetchBlob rn-fetch-blob installed even when I was not using it, so you may need to look for a external dependence that is using the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true"

edited Apr 15 '21 at 18:58

Dharman

30,962
25
85
135

answered Apr 15 '21 at 18:52

Jan

935
8
20

I found ` ` in node-modules folder under react-native/ReactAndroid/androidTest/AndroidManifest.xml and react-native/ReactAndroid/androidTest/buck-runner/AndroidManifest.xml – Mandeep Bagga Apr 16 '21 at 13:57

score -1 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 16 '21 at 03:46

-1

I found out what is causing my merged AndroidManifest.xml to contain android:requestLegacyExternalStorage from the logs located at the following location:

./android/app/build/outputs/logs/manifest-...-report.txt

Just find requestLegacyExternalStorage in the file.

edited Apr 16 '21 at 03:46

Dharman

30,962
25
85
135

answered Apr 16 '21 at 03:41

risk1996

1
1

In my **manifest-merger-release-report.txt** I did not found any instance of `requestLegacyExternalStorage`. Also in Play Console under App Bundle explorer sectionI found out my app is using following permissions `android.permission.INTERNET`, `com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE`, `com.google.android.finsky.permission.BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE` – Mandeep Bagga Apr 16 '21 at 13:02

React Native - Play Store Warning "Starting May 5th you must let us know why your app requires broad storage access"

5 Answers5