Google Play AIDL error with react-native-iap 15.2.0 + openiap-google 2.1.0 on Expo SDK 54

[HumanBased]

Environment:

• react-native-iap: 15.2.0

• openiap-versions.json: { "google": "2.1.0" }

• Expo SDK: 54

• React Native: 0.81.5

• Build: EAS Build (cloud)

Error from Google Play Console:

"Your app currently uses the AIDL version of the Google Play
Billing Library and must be updated to at least version 6.0.1"

Question:

Does openiap-google:2.1.0 use the new Play Billing Library
interface (6.0.1+) or the old AIDL interface?

The latest version on Maven Central appears to be 1.3.16 under
a different versioning scheme. Should we force 1.3.16 via Gradle
resolutionStrategy? Or is there another fix?

What is the exact Gradle configuration needed to resolve this?

[hyochan]

Checked this against both the published Android artifacts and the current setup docs.

First, the Play Billing artifact itself is not the old AIDL implementation: openiap-google:2.1.0 depends on com.android.billingclient:billing-ktx:8.3.0, and billing-ktx:8.3.0 depends on com.android.billingclient:billing:8.3.0.

• openiap-google:2.1.0 POM: https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/io/github/hyochan/openiap/openiap-google/2.1.0/openiap-google-2.1.0.pom
• billing-ktx:8.3.0 POM: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/android/billingclient/billing-ktx/8.3.0/billing-ktx-8.3.0.pom
• Maven metadata: https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/io/github/hyochan/openiap/openiap-google/maven-metadata.xml

So I would not force openiap-google:1.3.16. That is an older OpenIAP line. Even 1.3.16 used Play Billing 8.x, but downgrading OpenIAP is not the right fix.

The more important issue is the Expo setup path. The current docs say react-native-iap v15+ is for bare React Native CLI projects only and no longer supports Expo. For Expo projects, use expo-iap instead; it has the same API surface but uses Expo Modules architecture.

Docs:

• React Native setup: https://www.openiap.dev/docs/setup/react-native
• Expo setup: https://www.openiap.dev/docs/setup/expo

For Expo SDK 54, the expected migration is:

npx expo install expo-iap
# remove react-native-iap from the Expo app if it was installed only for IAP

Then configure the Expo plugin as expo-iap, not react-native-iap:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      "expo-iap"
    ]
  }
}

Expo SDK 54 already includes Kotlin 2.0+, so no extra Kotlin override is normally needed. If you keep an explicit override, make sure it is Kotlin 2.0+.

After changing packages/plugins, regenerate native output cleanly and avoid stale EAS/native cache:

npx expo prebuild --clean
# then rebuild with EAS

If Play Console still reports AIDL after migrating to expo-iap, the next thing to inspect is the final app bundle dependency tree / merged manifest. Google’s deprecation FAQ says to check the merged manifest for com.google.android.play.billingclient.version; Billing 8.3.0 contributes that metadata with value 8.3.0.

Run these against the generated Android project:

cd android
./gradlew :app:dependencyInsight --configuration releaseRuntimeClasspath --dependency com.android.billingclient:billing
./gradlew :app:dependencyInsight --configuration releaseRuntimeClasspath --dependency com.android.billingclient:billing-ktx
./gradlew :app:processReleaseMainManifest
grep -R "com.google.android.play.billingclient.version" app/build/intermediates/merged_manifest/release

If those show Billing 8.3.0 and the merged manifest contains the billingclient version metadata, then another dependency may be embedding old AIDL billing code/classes directly, and a Gradle resolutionStrategy will not fix embedded code. If the dependency tree resolves an older com.android.billingclient:*, use a temporary guard like this while identifying the package that brought it in:

subprojects {
    configurations.configureEach {
        resolutionStrategy.eachDependency { details ->
            if (details.requested.group == "com.android.billingclient" &&
                (details.requested.name == "billing" || details.requested.name == "billing-ktx")) {
                details.useVersion "8.3.0"
                details.because("OpenIAP 2.1.x uses Google Play Billing 8.3.0")
            }
        }
    }
}

References:

• Google Play Billing deprecation FAQ: https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/deprecation-faq
• Google Play Billing 8.3.0 release notes: https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/release-notes#8-3-0