DEV Community

Cover image for How to fix `global._getAnimationTimestamp is not a function` After Upgrading to Expo SDK 55
Asta Silva
Asta Silva

Posted on

How to fix `global._getAnimationTimestamp is not a function` After Upgrading to Expo SDK 55

#javascript #mobile #reactnative

I recently spent far more time than I'd like to admit chasing down a hard crash after upgrading a project from Expo SDK 54 to 55.

The app launched fine. Navigation worked. Everything looked normal.

Then the moment a Reanimated animation fired, the app exploded with a red screen:

Render Error

global._getAnimationTimestamp is not a function (it is undefined)
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In my case, the crash happened inside a useEffect that called withTiming() on a shared value when a tab gained focus.

My first assumption was a dependency mismatch between react-native-reanimated and react-native-worklets. I checked versions, verified the dependency tree, and even started looking for Babel configuration issues.

Everything looked correct.

As it turns out, the problem wasn't in the JavaScript code at all.

What Is Actually Happening?

At first glance, this error looks like a breaking change inside Reanimated or a bad project configuration.

In reality, it's usually a sync problem between your JavaScript bundle and your native application binary.

The important clue is the function name itself:

_getAnimationTimestamp
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This isn't a function your application calls directly. It's one of the internal functions Reanimated expects to find in the native runtime.

Reanimated relies heavily on JSI (JavaScript Interface) to bridge JavaScript directly to native C++ code for performance-critical animation work.

When you upgrade to Expo SDK 55, Reanimated gets upgraded as well (typically from 4.1.x to 4.2.x, depending on your project).

Your Metro server immediately starts serving the updated JavaScript bundle.

The problem is that your custom development client is still running the native code that was compiled before the upgrade.

Now you have two different versions talking to each other:

  • The JavaScript side expects the newer Reanimated runtime.
  • The native side is still exposing the older implementation.

The updated JavaScript bundle expects _getAnimationTimestamp to exist.

Your older native client doesn't provide that function yet.

The moment Reanimated tries to use it, the app crashes.

Why Reinstalling Dependencies Doesn't Help

I went through the usual checklist first:

  • Reinstall dependencies
  • Verify package versions
  • Check Babel configuration
  • Clear node_modules
  • Run npm install again

None of it fixed the issue.

That's because the problem isn't living in your JavaScript dependencies.

Your packages can be perfectly correct while your device or simulator is still running an outdated native binary.

As long as the native client wasn't rebuilt after the upgrade, the crash will continue to happen.

When You'll Usually See This Error

One thing worth mentioning is that this mostly shows up when you're using a custom development client.

If you're using Expo Go, Expo manages the native runtime for you, so JavaScript and native code generally stay in sync.

This issue is much more common when you're working with:

  • Custom dev-clients
  • expo run:android
  • expo run:ios
  • Development builds generated through EAS

In those environments, it's entirely possible for Metro to be serving new JavaScript while your device is still running an older native build.

The Fix

A normal JavaScript reload won't solve this.

Pressing r in the Metro terminal only refreshes the JavaScript bundle. It does not rebuild the native application.

To fix the issue, you need both sides of the application running the same version.

Step 1: Clear Metro's Cache

Stop Metro completely and restart it with a clean cache:

npx expo start -c
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This removes the possibility of Metro serving stale transformed files.

Step 2: Rebuild the Native Client

If you're building locally, generate a fresh native application:

npx expo run:ios

# or

npx expo run:android
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This recompiles the native code using the versions currently installed in your project.

Step 3: Rebuild Your Development Build (EAS)

If you're using EAS development builds, you'll need to generate a completely new build and install it on your device.

eas build --profile development
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Once the build finishes, install the new IPA or APK and launch the updated client.

Why This Fix Works

After rebuilding, both sides of the application are finally using the same version of Reanimated:

  • Metro serves the updated JavaScript bundle.
  • The native binary contains the matching JSI bindings.

Once those versions line up again, Reanimated can find the functions it expects and the crash disappears.

A Quick Note on Debugging

This was one of those bugs that initially looked like a dependency issue, then a Babel issue, then a Reanimated issue.

In reality, it was just an out-of-date native build.

Problems like this are one of the more frustrating parts of React Native because the error message rarely points to the actual cause. It's easy to spend hours looking at package versions when the real fix is simply rebuilding the native client.

After spending enough evenings digging through stack traces, GitHub issues, and old forum threads, I ended up building a small tool called Fix My Error.

You paste in the error output, and it helps narrow down likely causes and fixes without having to bounce between ten different tabs looking for someone who hit the same problem three years ago.

For this particular error, though, the fix turned out to be much simpler than I expected: clear Metro, rebuild the native client, and make sure your JavaScript bundle and native runtime are actually running the same version.

Top comments (0)