Android builds fail due to Kotlin metadata version mismatch with play-services-cast-framework 22.3.0

[mblomdahl]

Description

All Android build jobs (build_android_apk, build_android_tv_apk, google_play) are failing during :app:compileReleaseKotlin with the following error:

Module was compiled with an incompatible version of Kotlin. The binary version of its metadata is 2.2.0, expected version is 2.0.0.

The error originates from play-services-cast-framework-22.3.0-api.jar, which is pulled in transitively by the react-native-google-cast dependency (^4.9.1). Google has updated play-services-cast-framework to version 22.3.0 which was compiled with Kotlin 2.2.0, but the project's Kotlin compiler version (bundled with Expo SDK 52 / React Native 0.76 / Gradle 8.10.2) is 2.0.x and cannot read the newer metadata format.

Affected workflows

• build_android_apk.yml
• build_android_tv_apk.yml
• google_play.yml

How to reproduce

Trigger a build from any downstream branded app repo (e.g. cust-app-xrtube). All Android jobs fail at the Gradle compile step.

Build log excerpt

e: jetified-play-services-cast-framework-22.3.0-api.jar!/META-INF/...kotlin_module
   Module was compiled with an incompatible version of Kotlin.
   The binary version of its metadata is 2.2.0, expected version is 2.0.0.
> Task :app:compileReleaseKotlin FAILED

Suggested fix

Either:

1. Pin play-services-cast-framework to a compatible version by adding a Gradle resolution strategy in app/build.gradle (e.g. force version 21.x that was compiled with Kotlin 2.0.x), or
2. Upgrade the Kotlin version to 2.2.x via expo-build-properties (which may require broader Expo/React Native upgrades), or
3. Add a dependency constraint in the Expo build properties plugin to cap the cast framework version