React Native upgrade targetSdk to Sdk 35

Question

I have confusion Currently I am working on React native project based on React Native v 0.73.9 Now that starting from August 31 2025: New apps and app updates must target Android 15 (API level 35) or higher to be submitted to Google Play. Do i need to upgrade my react native project to higher version?

• gioravered: Not necessarily. You can update your targetSDKVersion and compileSdkVersion to 35. This may require a gradle plugin update.
• Lukas: CompileSDK is not needed

Answer 1

you can change the targetSdkVersion within android/build.gradle to 35:

android {
 ndkVersion rootProject.ext.ndkVersion
 buildToolsVersion rootProject.ext.buildToolsVersion
 compileSdk rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion
 namespace "com.rndiffapp"
 defaultConfig {
 applicationId "com.rndiffapp"
 minSdkVersion rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
 targetSdkVersion 35
 versionCode 1
 versionName "1.0"
 }
 signingConfigs {
 debug {
 storeFile file('debug.keystore')
 storePassword 'android'
 keyAlias 'androiddebugkey'
 keyPassword 'android'
 }
 }
 buildTypes {
 debug {
 signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
 }
 release {
 // Caution! In production, you need to generate your own keystore file.
 // see https://reactnative.dev/docs/signed-apk-android.
 signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
 minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
 proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
 }
 }
}

This is sufficient to meet the requirements.

Answer 2

Yes, you just have to change

targetSdkVersion 35

For me I have expo app with expo sdk 49 and react native 0.72.6

I have spent a lot of time to upgrade; finally, what worked for me is just to upgrade targetSdkVersion from 34 to 35, and my app works fine.

Here is my build.gradle file on a project level:

 ext {
 buildToolsVersion = findProperty('android.buildToolsVersion') ?: '34.0.0'
 minSdkVersion = Integer.parseInt(findProperty('android.minSdkVersion') ?: '24')
 compileSdkVersion = Integer.parseInt(findProperty('android.compileSdkVersion') ?: '34')
 targetSdkVersion = Integer.parseInt(findProperty('android.targetSdkVersion') ?: '35')
 kotlinVersion = findProperty('android.kotlinVersion') ?: '1.8.22'
 frescoVersion = findProperty('expo.frescoVersion') ?: '2.5.0'
 ndkVersion = "23.1.7779620"
 }