Error Handling

Proper error handling is crucial for debugging and providing a good user experience. This guide covers error boundaries, LogBox, crash reporting, and debugging techniques.

LogBox

LogBox is React Native’s in-app notification system for errors, warnings, and logs.

Error Display

When an error occurs in development, LogBox shows:

// This error will trigger LogBox
function BrokenComponent() {
  throw new Error('Something went wrong!');
  return <View />;
}

// LogBox displays:
// ┌─────────────────────────┐
// │ ERROR                    │
// │ Something went wrong!    │
// │                          │
// │ BrokenComponent.tsx:2    │
// │   in BrokenComponent     │
// │   in App                 │
// └─────────────────────────┘

Warning Display

Warnings appear as yellow boxes:

// Triggers warning
console.warn('Deprecated API used');

// LogBox shows:
// ┌─────────────────────────┐
// │ WARNING                  │
// │ Deprecated API used      │
// └─────────────────────────┘

Configuring LogBox

app/_layout.tsx

import { LogBox } from 'react-native';

// Ignore specific warnings
LogBox.ignoreLogs([
  'Non-serializable values were found in the navigation state',
  'Warning: componentWillReceiveProps',
]);

// Ignore all logs (not recommended)
LogBox.ignoreAllLogs(true);

// Ignore using regex
LogBox.ignoreLogs([
  /GraphQL error:/,
  /Require cycle:/,
]);

Custom Log Handling

app/utils/logger.ts

import { LogBox } from 'react-native';

// Intercept console methods
const originalWarn = console.warn;
console.warn = (...args) => {
  // Filter or modify warnings
  if (args[0]?.includes('expected')) {
    return; // Suppress
  }
  originalWarn(...args);
};

// Custom error handler
const originalError = console.error;
console.error = (...args) => {
  // Log to external service
  logToSentry(args);
  originalError(...args);
};

Error Boundaries

Error boundaries catch JavaScript errors in component trees and display fallback UI.

Basic Error Boundary

app/components/ErrorBoundary.tsx

import React from 'react';
import { View, Text, Button, StyleSheet } from 'react-native';

interface Props {
  children: React.ReactNode;
  fallback?: React.ReactNode;
}

interface State {
  hasError: boolean;
  error: Error | null;
}

export class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component<Props, State> {
  constructor(props: Props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { hasError: false, error: null };
  }

  static getDerivedStateFromError(error: Error): State {
    return { hasError: true, error };
  }

  componentDidCatch(error: Error, errorInfo: React.ErrorInfo) {
    // Log error to service
    console.error('Error boundary caught:', error, errorInfo);
    
    if (!__DEV__) {
      // Report to crash reporting service
      logErrorToService(error, errorInfo);
    }
  }

  handleReset = () => {
    this.setState({ hasError: false, error: null });
  };

  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      if (this.props.fallback) {
        return this.props.fallback;
      }

      return (
        <View style={styles.container}>
          <Text style={styles.title}>Something went wrong</Text>
          <Text style={styles.message}>
            {this.state.error?.message}
          </Text>
          <Button title="Try Again" onPress={this.handleReset} />
        </View>
      );
    }

    return this.props.children;
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
    padding: 20,
  },
  title: {
    fontSize: 20,
    fontWeight: 'bold',
    marginBottom: 10,
  },
  message: {
    fontSize: 14,
    color: '#666',
    marginBottom: 20,
    textAlign: 'center',
  },
});

Using Error Boundaries

app/_layout.tsx

import { ErrorBoundary } from './components/ErrorBoundary';
import { Slot } from 'expo-router';

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <ErrorBoundary>
      <Slot />
    </ErrorBoundary>
  );
}

Route-Specific Error Boundaries

app/(tabs)/_layout.tsx

import { ErrorBoundary } from '@/components/ErrorBoundary';
import { Tabs } from 'expo-router';

export default function TabLayout() {
  return (
    <ErrorBoundary
      fallback={
        <View>
          <Text>Tab navigation error</Text>
        </View>
      }
    >
      <Tabs>
        <Tabs.Screen name="index" />
        <Tabs.Screen name="profile" />
      </Tabs>
    </ErrorBoundary>
  );
}

Expo Router Error Handling

Expo Router provides built-in error boundaries:

app/_layout.tsx

import { ErrorBoundary } from 'expo-router';

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <ErrorBoundary
      // Custom error screen
      errorElement={<CustomErrorScreen />}
    >
      <Slot />
    </ErrorBoundary>
  );
}

app/+not-found.tsx

import { Link, Stack } from 'expo-router';
import { View, Text } from 'react-native';

export default function NotFoundScreen() {
  return (
    <>
      <Stack.Screen options={{ title: 'Oops!' }} />
      <View>
        <Text>This screen doesn't exist.</Text>
        <Link href="/">Go to home screen</Link>
      </View>
    </>
  );
}

Async Error Handling

Promise Rejections

// Unhandled promise rejection
fetch('/api/data').then(response => {
  throw new Error('Processing failed');
});
// This won't be caught by error boundaries!

// Solution: Always catch promises
fetch('/api/data')
  .then(response => {
    throw new Error('Processing failed');
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Fetch error:', error);
    // Handle error
  });

Global Promise Handler

app/_layout.tsx

import { useEffect } from 'react';

export default function RootLayout() {
  useEffect(() => {
    // Handle unhandled promise rejections
    const handleRejection = (event: PromiseRejectionEvent) => {
      console.error('Unhandled promise rejection:', event.reason);
      
      if (!__DEV__) {
        // Report to crash service
        logErrorToService(event.reason);
      }
    };

    // @ts-ignore
    global.addEventListener?.('unhandledRejection', handleRejection);

    return () => {
      // @ts-ignore
      global.removeEventListener?.('unhandledRejection', handleRejection);
    };
  }, []);

  return <Slot />;
}

Async/Await Error Handling

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

export function DataComponent() {
  const [data, setData] = useState(null);
  const [error, setError] = useState<Error | null>(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    async function fetchData() {
      try {
        setLoading(true);
        const response = await fetch('/api/data');
        
        if (!response.ok) {
          throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
        }
        
        const json = await response.json();
        setData(json);
        setError(null);
      } catch (err) {
        console.error('Fetch failed:', err);
        setError(err instanceof Error ? err : new Error('Unknown error'));
      } finally {
        setLoading(false);
      }
    }

    fetchData();
  }, []);

  if (loading) return <Text>Loading...</Text>;
  if (error) return <Text>Error: {error.message}</Text>;
  return <Text>{JSON.stringify(data)}</Text>;
}

Native Crashes

iOS Crash Debugging

View crash logs in Xcode

Window > Devices and Simulators > Select device > View Device Logs

Symbolicate crash logs

# Export crash log from device
# Xcode > Window > Devices > Select Device > Export Log

# Symbolicate
atos -arch arm64 -o App.dSYM/Contents/Resources/DWARF/App -l 0x1000e4000 0x00000001000e4000

Enable crash reporting

ios/YourApp/AppDelegate.swift

import ExpoModulesCore

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: ExpoAppDelegate {
  override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?
  ) -> Bool {
    // Add crash reporting
    NSSetUncaughtExceptionHandler { exception in
      print("Uncaught exception: \(exception)")
      print("Stack trace: \(exception.callStackSymbols)")
    }
    
    return super.application(application, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: launchOptions)
  }
}

Android Crash Debugging

View crash logs with Logcat

# View crash logs
adb logcat | grep -i "fatal\|exception\|crash"

# Or in Android Studio
# View > Tool Windows > Logcat
# Filter: level:error

Handle native crashes

android/app/src/main/java/com/yourapp/MainApplication.kt

import android.util.Log
import expo.modules.ApplicationLifecycleDispatcher

class MainApplication : Application() {
  override fun onCreate() {
    super.onCreate()
    
    // Add crash handler
    Thread.setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler { thread, throwable ->
      Log.e("YourApp", "Uncaught exception in thread ${thread.name}", throwable)
      // Report to crash service
    }
  }
}

Crash Reporting Services

Sentry Integration

Install Sentry

npx expo install @sentry/react-native

Configure Sentry

app/_layout.tsx

import * as Sentry from '@sentry/react-native';
import { useEffect } from 'react';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: 'YOUR_SENTRY_DSN',
  enableInExpoDevelopment: false,
  debug: __DEV__,
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
});

export default Sentry.wrap(function RootLayout() {
  return <Slot />;
});

Report errors

try {
  // Risky operation
  await processData();
} catch (error) {
  Sentry.captureException(error, {
    tags: {
      section: 'data-processing',
    },
    extra: {
      userId: user.id,
      timestamp: Date.now(),
    },
  });
}

Custom Crash Reporter

app/utils/crashReporter.ts

interface CrashReport {
  error: Error;
  componentStack?: string;
  timestamp: number;
  userId?: string;
  appVersion: string;
  platform: string;
}

export class CrashReporter {
  private static instance: CrashReporter;
  
  static getInstance() {
    if (!CrashReporter.instance) {
      CrashReporter.instance = new CrashReporter();
    }
    return CrashReporter.instance;
  }
  
  async reportCrash(report: Omit<CrashReport, 'timestamp' | 'appVersion' | 'platform'>) {
    const fullReport: CrashReport = {
      ...report,
      timestamp: Date.now(),
      appVersion: '1.0.0', // From Constants
      platform: Platform.OS,
    };
    
    try {
      await fetch('https://your-api.com/crashes', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
        body: JSON.stringify(fullReport),
      });
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Failed to report crash:', error);
    }
  }
}

Error Recovery Strategies

Retry Logic

async function fetchWithRetry(
  url: string,
  options: RequestInit = {},
  maxRetries = 3
): Promise<Response> {
  let lastError: Error;
  
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(url, options);
      if (response.ok) return response;
      throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
    } catch (error) {
      lastError = error as Error;
      console.warn(`Attempt ${i + 1} failed:`, error);
      
      if (i < maxRetries - 1) {
        // Exponential backoff
        await new Promise(resolve => 
          setTimeout(resolve, Math.pow(2, i) * 1000)
        );
      }
    }
  }
  
  throw lastError!;
}

Graceful Degradation

export function FeatureComponent() {
  const [hasError, setHasError] = useState(false);
  
  try {
    if (hasError) {
      // Fallback UI
      return <BasicVersion />;
    }
    
    // Feature with potential errors
    return <AdvancedVersion />;
  } catch (error) {
    setHasError(true);
    return <BasicVersion />;
  }
}

Debugging Tips

Source Maps

Ensure source maps work for readable stack traces:

app.json

{
  "expo": {
    "packagerOpts": {
      "sourceMaps": true
    }
  }
}

Error Context

Add context to errors:

class DataFetchError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public url: string,
    public statusCode: number
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'DataFetchError';
  }
}

try {
  const response = await fetch(url);
  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new DataFetchError(
      'Failed to fetch data',
      url,
      response.status
    );
  }
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof DataFetchError) {
    console.error('Fetch failed:', {
      url: error.url,
      status: error.statusCode,
    });
  }
}

Debug Mode Checks

if (__DEV__) {
  // Extra validation in development
  if (!props.userId) {
    throw new Error('userId is required');
  }
}

// More lenient in production
if (!props.userId) {
  console.warn('userId is missing, using default');
  props.userId = 'guest';
}

Next Steps

Unit Testing

Prevent errors with testing

E2E Testing

Test error scenarios

Debugging

Debug errors effectively

DevTools

Use dev tools for debugging

Development Builds

Debugging

Testing

Native Development

Error Handling

LogBox

Error Display

Warning Display

Configuring LogBox

Custom Log Handling

Error Boundaries

Basic Error Boundary

Using Error Boundaries

Route-Specific Error Boundaries

Expo Router Error Handling

Async Error Handling

Promise Rejections

Global Promise Handler

Async/Await Error Handling

Native Crashes

iOS Crash Debugging

Android Crash Debugging

Crash Reporting Services

Sentry Integration

Custom Crash Reporter

Error Recovery Strategies

Retry Logic

Graceful Degradation

Debugging Tips

Source Maps

Error Context

Debug Mode Checks

Next Steps

Unit Testing

E2E Testing

Debugging

DevTools

Development Builds

Debugging

Testing

Native Development

​LogBox

​Error Display

​Warning Display

​Configuring LogBox

​Custom Log Handling

​Error Boundaries

​Basic Error Boundary

​Using Error Boundaries

​Route-Specific Error Boundaries

​Expo Router Error Handling

​Async Error Handling

​Promise Rejections

​Global Promise Handler

​Async/Await Error Handling

​Native Crashes

​iOS Crash Debugging

​Android Crash Debugging

​Crash Reporting Services

​Sentry Integration

​Custom Crash Reporter

​Error Recovery Strategies

​Retry Logic

​Graceful Degradation

​Debugging Tips

​Source Maps

​Error Context

​Debug Mode Checks

​Next Steps

Unit Testing

E2E Testing

Debugging

DevTools

LogBox

Error Display

Warning Display

Configuring LogBox

Custom Log Handling

Error Boundaries

Basic Error Boundary

Using Error Boundaries

Route-Specific Error Boundaries

Expo Router Error Handling

Async Error Handling

Promise Rejections

Global Promise Handler

Async/Await Error Handling

Native Crashes

iOS Crash Debugging

Android Crash Debugging

Crash Reporting Services

Sentry Integration

Custom Crash Reporter

Error Recovery Strategies

Retry Logic

Graceful Degradation

Debugging Tips

Source Maps

Error Context

Debug Mode Checks

Next Steps