[expo-media-library] getAssetsAsync causes the app to crash in Android (Expo Client and Standalone)

🐛 Bug Report

Summary of Issue

Calling MediaLibrary.getAssetsAsync crashes the app on both Expo Client and standalone. There is no error logged and no indication of what could be causing the issue. This only happens in Android devices, works fine for iOS.

Environment - output of expo diagnostics & the platform(s) you’re targeting

  Expo CLI 3.28.2 environment info:
    System:
      OS: Linux 5.9 Manjaro Linux
      Shell: 5.0.18 - /bin/bash
    Binaries:
      Node: 12.18.1 - ~/.config/nvm/versions/node/v12.18.1/bin/node
      Yarn: 1.22.4 - ~/.config/nvm/versions/node/v12.18.1/bin/yarn
      npm: 6.14.5 - ~/.config/nvm/versions/node/v12.18.1/bin/npm
    npmGlobalPackages:
      expo-cli: 3.28.2
    Expo Workflow: managed

Expo SDK: 39
expo-media-library: 9.2.1

And the standalone app is running on a Pixel 4 with Android 11 (although this issue has been happening since Android 10).

Reproducible Demo

I created this snack with the code I’m currently using, however I cannot reproduce the same error in the snack for some reason.

Steps to Reproduce

        const params = {
            first: 59,
            mediaType: [
                MediaLibrary.MediaType.photo,
                MediaLibrary.MediaType.video,
            ],
            sortBy: [MediaLibrary.SortBy.modificationTime],
        };

        if (lastItemId) {
            params.after = lastItemId;
        }

        try {
            const library = await MediaLibrary.getAssetsAsync(params);

            if (library.totalCount) {
                if (lastItemId !== library.endCursor) {
                    setGallery([...gallery, ...library.assets]);
                    setLastItemId(library.endCursor);
                }
            }
        } catch(e) {
            Alert.alert(
                'Gallery failed', 'An error happened fetching the gallery'
            );

            Logger.error('Error fetching gallery', e);
        }

Nothing after const library = await MediaLibrary.getAssetsAsync(params) gets executed and the app suddenly crashes.

Expected Behavior vs Actual Behavior

This is similar to some previous issues that are currently closed (#9440, #10168, #10488) and this is still happening in SDK 39. I have tested this same code in a physical iPhone and an iPhone simulator, with and without images to load, and has never crashed. I’m not sure if it is the same bug from the above mentioned tickets that is still persisting in SDK 39 or if this is a new one.

[maxipetrucci]

Upgrade to SDK39 and MediaLibrary 9.2.1 (automatically if you upgrade via expo’s upgrade command) solves the problem.

[isotopeee]

UPDATE: as i rechecked in prod we used old version - “expo-media-library”: "^8.1.0, and with “expo-media-library”: "^9.2.1 there is no crash in Android 10, confirmed (in my case) @maxipetrucci was right 😃

Works on Android 11 as well. This thread saved my life. 🙏