iOS 26: Global touch dispatch dies after 2-4 warm restarts (Expo SDK 54, RN 0.81.5)

[BruckAssefa]

[github-actions]

Hey! 👋

The issue doesn't seem to contain a minimal reproduction.

Could you provide a snack or a link to a GitHub repository under your username that reproduces the problem?

[github-actions]

Hey! 👋

It looks like you've omitted a few important sections from the issue template.

Please complete Description, Steps to reproduce, Snack or a link to a repository, Screens version, React Native version and Platforms sections.

[kligarski]

Hi, @BruckAssefa. To investigate the issue, we need more information: description, steps to reproduce & minimal reproduction example and the versions of dependencies you're using.

[BruckAssefa]

Apologies — original issue body got eaten by the email-to-GitHub bridge. Reposting with proper template fields plus the resolution we landed on, in case it helps other SDK 54 + iOS 26 users hitting the same wall.

Description

On iOS 26 production builds (TestFlight via EAS Build), the entire app's touch dispatch dies after 2–4 close-and-reopen cycles. UI renders normally, animations run, JS thread is fully alive (no Sentry ANR events at a 1-second threshold), but Pressable components stop firing — bottom tab bar AND buttons on the unauthenticated welcome screen all become unresponsive. Only a true force-quit recovers, and the pattern then repeats.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install production iOS build on an iOS 26 device (TestFlight, not Expo Go or dev client)
2. Open app, navigate anywhere
3. Swipe-up close (true close, not background)
4. Reopen
5. Try tapping any button or tab
6. Repeat steps 3–5
7. Around the 2nd–4th reopen, touches stop being delivered to JS

Snack or a link to a repository

Bug confirmed on a private codebase; I can put together a minimal repro repo if the maintainers want one. The bug only repros in production / TestFlight builds (not Expo Go or dev client) so a Snack won't reproduce it.

Screens version

~4.16.0 (Expo SDK 54 default pin). Resolved by overriding to ~4.23.0 via expo.install.exclude in package.json — see "Resolution" below.

React Native version

0.81.5

Platforms

iOS 26 only (have not tested Android)

JavaScript runtime

Hermes

Workflow

Expo managed workflow (no ios/ folder), expo@~54.0.33, expo-router@~6.0.23

Architecture

Old (default for SDK 54)

Build type

Release / TestFlight via EAS Build

Device

iPhone, iOS 26

---

Resolution (for future searchers)

react-native-screens@~4.23.0 fixes the bug. After upgrading from the SDK 54 default ~4.16.0 and shipping a build, I ran 15 consecutive close-and-reopen cycles with no freeze.

package.json:

"dependencies": {
  "react-native-screens": "~4.23.0",
  ...
},
"expo": {
  "install": {
    "exclude": ["react-native-screens"]
  }
}

The expo.install.exclude array tells npx expo install --check not to override the pinned version back to the SDK default.

Why specifically ~4.23.0 (the version constraint cliffs)

• 4.16.0 (SDK 54 default): has the bug
• 4.17.0: adds iOS 26 interactiveContentPopGesture fix
• 4.21.0: adds screen reattachment during quick back swipes — the most directly relevant fix for the warm-restart detachment pattern
• 4.23.0: highest version that compiles in this stack ✅
• 4.24.0: renames the internal class RNSBottomTabsScreenComponentView → RNSTabsScreenComponentView. expo-router (or one of its dependencies) still references the old name, so 4.24.0 breaks compilation with: unknown type name 'RNSBottomTabsScreenComponentView'; did you mean 'RNSTabsScreenComponentView'?
• 4.25.0+: drops support for RN < 0.82. SDK 54 ships RN 0.81.5, so 4.25.0+ fails to compile with: 'yoga/style/Style.h' file not found

Diagnostic findings before the fix

For anyone debugging similar symptoms, what we ruled out via Sentry instrumentation:

• Not a JS thread block (zero App Hang events at 1-second threshold; manual Sentry.captureException events surface within minutes, so capture itself is verified working)
• Not screen-specific (welcome screen with just a Pressable + image freezes the same way as the tab bar)
• Not realtime / overlay components (disabling InAppBanner, all Supabase realtime subs, and RevenueCat Purchases.configure did not fix it)
• Not solvable via enableScreens(false) / enableFreeze(false) — those fall back to even older code paths that also have iOS 26 issues, and lose access to newer in-screens fixes

Suggestion for maintainers

Would the Expo team consider bumping the SDK 54 default pin from ~4.16.0 to ~4.23.0? This appears to be a real iOS 26 production-blocker for SDK 54 users who don't know about the override mechanism. Anecdotally, the bug pattern matches several other open issues:

• [SDK 54][IOS 26] Screen Freezes when using Native Tabs and Stack with nested directory expo/expo#39908 — SDK 54 + iOS 26 freeze with Native Tabs and Stack
• Modal screens are broken in Expo 54 + iOS 26 expo/expo#42002 — Modal screens broken in Expo 54 + iOS 26
• [expo-screen-orientation] lockAsync() silently ignored on iOS 16+ during react-native-screens navigation transitions expo/expo#43692 — react-native-screens warm restart breaks view hierarchy

Happy to provide more details, sysdiagnose logs, or a minimal repro repo if any of that would be useful.

[kligarski]

Would the Expo team consider bumping the SDK 54 default pin from ~4.16.0 to ~4.23.0?

If the bug is fixed in newer versions of react-native-screens, there is nothing more we can do on our end. Please reach out to the Expo / Expo Router team.