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

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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

android react-native google-play asyncstorage

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edited Apr 16 at 13:07

Mandeep Bagga

asked Apr 14 at 20:15

Mandeep BaggaMandeep Bagga

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• perhaps you use a library that uses requestLegacyExternalStorage since your manifest looks fine – tyczj Apr 14 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 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 at 5:11
• Were you able to fix it? – Mandeep Bagga Apr 15 at 7:27
• 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. 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 at 7:55

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