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Troubleshooting

iOS​

'utility' file not found / 'vector' file not found / 'chrono' file not found​

Symptom: Xcode build fails during ScanDependencies for the react-native-image-editor target with errors like:

error: 'utility' file not found (in target 'react-native-image-editor' from project 'Pods')
error: 'vector' file not found
error: 'chrono' file not found

Cause: The pod target is being compiled as plain Objective-C (-x objective-c), which cannot include C++ standard-library headers pulled in transitively by TurboModule/JSI headers. This happens when CLANG_CXX_LANGUAGE_STANDARD is not set on the pod target.

Fix: Add the following to your Podfile's post_install block:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    if target.name == "react-native-image-editor"
      target.build_configurations.each do |config|
        config.build_settings['CLANG_CXX_LANGUAGE_STANDARD'] = 'c++17'
        config.build_settings['OTHER_CPLUSPLUSFLAGS'] =
          '$(inherited) -DFOLLY_NO_CONFIG -DFOLLY_MOBILE=1 -DFOLLY_USE_LIBCPP=1'
      end
    end
  end
  # ... rest of your post_install
end

Then re-run pod install and rebuild.

Swift is not supported for static frameworks​

Symptom: Pod install or build fails with a message about Swift and static frameworks.

Cause: The iOSPhotoEditor dependency is a Swift framework and requires use_frameworks! :linkage => :static in the Podfile.

Fix: Add this line near the top of your Podfile (before the target block):

use_frameworks! :linkage => :static

Editor presents as a sheet instead of fullscreen​

Symptom: On iOS 13+ the editor appears as a card/sheet, not fullscreen.

Cause: iOS 13 changed the default modal presentation style to .pageSheet.

Status: The library explicitly sets modalPresentationStyle = .fullScreen — this should not happen with v1.0.3+. If you see it, check that you're on the latest pod version.

Image is nil / blank editor opens​

Symptom: The editor opens but shows a blank canvas.

Cause: The image at path could not be loaded.

Fix:

  1. Verify the file exists with RNFS.exists(path) before calling ImageEditor.open().
  2. If you're using a file:// URI, that's fine — the library strips the scheme internally.
  3. content:// URIs are not supported — copy the file to the app sandbox first (see File Paths guide).

Android​

NoClassDefFoundError: com/ahmedadeltito/photoeditorsdk/R$layout​

Symptom: App crashes immediately when tapping the sticker button or text button with:

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Failed resolution of: Lcom/ahmedadeltito/photoeditorsdk/R$layout;

Cause: A pre-1.0.3 version of the bundled photo-editor-android.jar referenced com.ahmedadeltito.photoeditorsdk.R$layout, which was never generated as a class in the final APK.

Fix: Update to v1.0.3 or later. The JAR's bytecode has been patched to reference ui.photoeditor.R$layout (the correct library namespace), and the two required layout XML files have been added.

ActivityNotFoundException when opening the editor​

Symptom: App crashes with ActivityNotFoundException the moment the editor tries to open.

Cause: The editor activities are not declared in AndroidManifest.xml.

Fix: Add both activities to android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:

<activity android:name="com.ahmedadeltito.photoeditor.PhotoEditorActivity" />
<activity android:name="com.yalantis.ucrop.UCropActivity" />

Could not resolve com.github.yalantis:ucrop​

Symptom: Gradle sync or build fails with a dependency resolution error for UCrop.

Cause: JitPack is not in the repository list.

Fix: Add JitPack to android/build.gradle (or android/settings.gradle for Gradle 7+ projects):

// android/build.gradle
allprojects {
    repositories {
        maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
    }
}

Editor returns to the wrong screen / navigation stack corrupted​

Symptom: After dismissing the editor the app navigates to an unexpected screen.

Cause: The editor uses startActivityForResult / onActivityResult, which interacts with the Activity back stack. Some React Navigation setups handle this differently.

Fix: This is generally handled by React Native's ActivityEventListener. If you experience issues, make sure you're not intercepting onActivityResult elsewhere in your app without forwarding the event to React Native.

Stickers don't appear in the picker (Android)​

Symptom: The sticker panel opens but shows no images.

Cause: The drawable resource names don't match, or the files are missing from res/drawable/.

Fix:

  1. Confirm the .png files exist in android/app/src/main/res/drawable/.
  2. Verify the names are lowercase and match exactly what you pass in stickers.
  3. Run a clean build: cd android && ./gradlew clean.

UnsupportedOperationException or blank image after crop (UCrop)​

Symptom: The crop step crashes or produces a blank image.

Cause: UCrop requires the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or READ_MEDIA_IMAGES permission on older Android versions.

Fix: Request the appropriate storage permission before opening the editor, or use a path inside the app's private sandbox (no permission required).

General​

onCancel receives 0 instead of a meaningful code​

This is expected behaviour. Android passes Activity.RESULT_CANCELED (0) and iOS passes an empty array. Use the cancellation event itself rather than the code value to detect dismissal.

The editor modifies the original file — how do I keep a backup?​

Copy the file before passing it to the editor:

import RNFS from 'react-native-fs';

const original = '/path/to/original.jpg';
const working  = `${RNFS.CachesDirectoryPath}/edit_${Date.now()}.jpg`;

await RNFS.copyFile(original, working);

const saved = await ImageEditor.edit(working);
// original is untouched, saved === working

Still stuck?​

Open an issue on GitHub with:

  • React Native version
  • Platform (iOS/Android) and OS version
  • New Architecture enabled? (newArchEnabled=true / RCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED=1)
  • Full error message and stack trace