React Native 0.81 out!!!🚀 - Android 16 support, faster iOS builds, and many more...

We’ve got some exciting news to share — React Native 0.81 has just landed, and it’s packed with fresh features and improvements. 🚀

This release officially supports Android 16 (API level 36), brings along some stability fixes, bug squashes, and even a sneak peek at faster iOS builds thanks to experimental precompilation.

It’s not just another update — it’s a step toward building smoother, faster, and more future-ready apps.
So grab your coffee ☕, put on your dev hat 🧢, and let’s explore what’s new in React Native 0.81!

Official Blog

The React Native team is back with a fresh update! 🎉 You can check it out here: React Native 0.81 Blog Post.

Let’s dive in and break down the most important highlights so you know exactly what’s in store.

A] As previously announced by Google, Android 16 requires that apps are displayed edge-to-edge with no support for opting out. 📱

• In the updates above, they dropped the term edge-to-edge — but wait a sec… what does that actually mean in Android land? 🤔

Here’s the deal:
If your app targets SDK 35 or higher and runs on Android 15 or above, it will now stretch all the way across the screen. That means your app’s window covers the full width and height of the display, even going behind the system bars — like the status bar, caption bar, and navigation bar.

In short: more screen, less empty space. 📱✨

An app that targets Android 14 and is not edge-to-edge on an Android 15 device.

An app that targets Android 15 (API level 35) and is edge-to-edge on an Android 15 device. However, many elements are now hidden by the status bar, 3-button navigation bar, or display cutout due to the Android 15 edge-to-edge enforcements. Hidden UI includes the Material 2 top app bar, floating action buttons, and list items.

An app that targets Android 15 (API level 35), is edge to edge on an Android 15 device and applies insets so that UI is not hidden. image source

• In the updates above, they mention no support for opting out. let's go into the depths.

Back in Android 15, if your app targeted API level 35, edge-to-edge was enforced — but there was a sneaky back door. 🕵️‍♂️
You could set:

R.attr#windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement = true

…and boom — you’d opt-out.

Well, guess what? In Android 16 (API level 36), that escape route is officially closed.
The _windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement_ attribute is deprecated and disabled, so every app will be edge-to-edge — no exceptions.

B] We are also adding a new gradle property edgeToEdgeEnabled to let you choose if you wish to enable edge-to-edge on all supported Android versions beyond 16.

Enabling this property will apply the edge-to-edge behavior to devices running Android 4.1 and newer, which covers virtually all active Android devices today.

C] Predictive back gesture is now enabled by default for apps targeting Android 16. The BackHandler API should continue to work as before for most use cases. However, if your app relies on custom native code for back handling (such as overriding the onBackPressed() method), you may need to manually migrate your code or temporarily opt-out. Please test your app’s back navigation thoroughly after upgrading.

• BDW, What is this Predictive back gesture?

A gesture navigation feature, lets users preview where the back swipe takes them.

Starting with Android 15, the developer option for predictive back animations is no longer available. System animations such as back-to-home, cross-task, and cross-activity now appear for apps that have opted in to the predictive back gesture either entirely or at an activity level.

• And also we can opt out of Predictive back. To opt out, in AndroidManifest.xml, in the <application> tag, set the android:enableOnBackInvokedCallback flag to false.

<application
...
android:enableOnBackInvokedCallback="false"
... >
...
</application>

Setting this to false does the following:
Disables the predictive back gesture system animation. And Ignores OnBackInvokedCallback, but OnBackPressedCallback calls continue to work.

D] Google now expects apps to support adaptive layouts on large screen devices, regardless of orientation or size restrictions. While you can opt-out for now, it’s recommended to test and update your app for responsive UI on large screens before Android 17.

Adaptive Layouts - Android apps run on a wide variety of devices—from foldable flip phones to wall‑mounted TVs. To provide a great user experience on all types of devices, adapt your app's UI to different display sizes and configurations. The best Android apps make the most of the screen space they occupy and handle changes to that space at runtime, including orientation changes and window resizing in split‑screen and desktop windowing modes.

E] Starting November 1, 2025, all Google Play app submissions must meet the 16 KB page size requirement for native binaries. This applies to new apps and updates targeting Android 15+ devices. React Native is already 16KB page size compliant. Ensure all your native code and third-party libraries are compliant as well.

• What is the 16 KB page size requirement?

Android 15+ devices are moving to 16 KB memory pages (instead of the older 4 KB).

Native binaries (like .so files in your APK/AAB) must be built so they work correctly with this larger page size.

If your native code is not built for 16 KB pages, it may not run or may crash on these newer devices.

• Who is affected?

New apps submitted after Nov 1, 2025, targeting Android 15+.

Updates to existing apps targeting Android 15+ after that date.

This applies only if your app has native code (C, C++, NDK code, or some libraries that internally use them).

• React Native part

React Native itself is already compiled to meet the 16 KB page size requirement, so the React Native framework core is safe.

BUT — if your app:

Uses custom native modules (bridges in Java/Kotlin + C/C++ code),

Or depends on third-party native SDKs (e.g., camera SDKs, audio processing libs, games),

those binaries must also be recompiled for 16 KB pages.

F] For more details on Android 16 changes and migration steps, refer to this post in the discussions-and-proposals repository.

🚀 Wrapping Up
React Native 0.81 isn’t just another update — it’s a big step forward with Android 16 support, better performance, and exciting UI changes like edge-to-edge by default. Whether you’re building your first app or maintaining a large codebase, these changes can help you deliver a smoother, more modern experience to your users.

💡 Now’s the perfect time to explore these features, update your dependencies, and make your apps future-ready. The future of mobile development is here — let’s build it together! ✨