My Journey with React Native: Solving Common Errors Step by Step

As a beginner in React Native, I was really excited to get my first app running on my Android device. But, like many beginners, I ran into several issues along the way. In this post, I’ll share my story of how I faced these problems and solved them, step by step. If you're just starting with React Native, this might help you avoid some common pitfalls!

1. The First Roadblock: Installing the App on My Phone

The first big challenge I faced was installing the app on my physical Android device. After running the npx react-native run-android command, the app just wouldn’t show up on my phone. It was like my device wasn't even connected.

What Went Wrong?

It turns out that I didn’t have USB Debugging enabled on my phone. Without this option, my phone couldn’t communicate with the development environment on my computer.

The Fix:

To resolve this, I had to:

Enable Developer Mode on my Android phone.
- Go to Settings → About Phone → Tap on Build Number 7 times.
In Developer Options, I turned on USB Debugging.
I made sure my phone and computer were connected via USB cable and accepted the permissions that popped up on the phone.

Once I did this, I ran the command adb devices to check if my phone was listed. Everything looked good, and I could move forward!

2. “Unable to Load Script” – The Next Challenge

I was ecstatic when the app finally installed on my device. But as soon as I launched it, I saw the dreaded error message: "Unable to load script". This meant the app couldn’t load the JavaScript code from the development server.

What Went Wrong?

This error usually happens when the app can’t connect to the development server to fetch the JavaScript code. It's typically a network issue, and it often occurs if the computer and phone aren’t on the same Wi-Fi network.

The Fix:

First, I ensured that my phone and computer were connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Then, I made sure the development server (Metro Bundler) was running by executing:
```
  npx react-native start
```
This command starts the Metro Bundler, which serves the JavaScript files to the app.

After ensuring both were on the same network and the server was running, I reopened the app, and the error was gone. Success!

3. App Still Not Working? Let’s Clear the Cache!

Even after fixing the "unable to load script" error, I faced another issue. The app kept crashing or showing weird behavior, and nothing seemed to work.

What Went Wrong?

React Native sometimes gets confused by cached data, especially when you’ve been testing and running the app multiple times. The old cached data might cause unexpected behavior.

The Fix:

I decided to clear the cache by running:

npx react-native start --reset-cache

This command clears any old data stored by the bundler. After that, I rebuilt the app using:

npx react-native run-android

This worked! The app started behaving normally again. A small but crucial step!

4. The App Still Didn’t Load! Time for a Clean Rebuild

After clearing the cache, my app worked fine for a while, but eventually, I ran into another problem. The app wouldn’t load at all—nothing showed up, just a blank screen.

What Went Wrong?

Sometimes the build folder might get corrupted or stuck, causing issues like this. When that happens, it's time to clean up and rebuild everything from scratch.

The Fix:

I ran the following commands to clean the build folder and start fresh:

Navigate to the android directory:
```
 cd android
```
Clean the project:
```
 ./gradlew clean
```
Go back to the root folder:
```
 cd ..
```
Rebuild and reinstall the app:
```
 npx react-native run-android
```

After this, everything worked fine again, and the app was up and running!

5. Stuck Again? Let’s Check the Logs!

After all this, I thought I was free from issues. But after some time, strange errors started popping up again. It was frustrating because nothing seemed to work.

What Went Wrong?

Sometimes React Native errors are hidden behind system logs, which you can’t see unless you specifically check. That's when I decided to use Android Logcat to dig deeper.

The Fix:

To view detailed logs, I used the following command:

adb logcat

The logs showed that there was a network issue preventing the app from loading correctly. I resolved the network issue, and the app worked perfectly after that.

Conclusion: Never Give Up!

Looking back at my journey with React Native, I can see that all the problems were frustrating at the time, but each one taught me something valuable. React Native development is full of challenges, especially for beginners, but with patience, persistence, and the right approach, you can solve them one by one.

Now, every time I face a new issue, I feel more confident in troubleshooting it because of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. If you’re just starting with React Native, don’t worry—you’ll get through it, too!