Fix react-native-tts Android Build Error: Could Not Find Method jcenter()

Fixing react-native-tts Android Build Error: Could Not Find Method jcenter()

While running a React Native project on Android, I encountered the following build error:

A problem occurred evaluating project ':react-native-tts'.

> Could not find method jcenter() for arguments [] on repository container of type

The build failed when running:

./gradlew app:installDebug

After checking the stack trace, the error clearly pointed to the following file inside node_modules:

node_modules/react-native-tts/android/build.gradle

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Why This Error Happens

jcenter() has been deprecated and removed in newer versions of Gradle. However, some older React Native libraries still reference it.

In this case, the library react-native-tts was still using jcenter() in its Android Gradle configuration, which caused the build to fail immediately.

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The Tempting but Wrong Fix

You can temporarily fix the issue by directly editing the file inside node_modules — but this solution does not last.

Any of the following actions will undo your change:

• Running npm install
• Running yarn install
• Deleting node_modules

So we need a way to patch the dependency properly and permanently.

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The Correct Solution: patch-package

patch-package allows you to safely patch dependencies in node_modules and automatically re-apply those patches after every install.

This makes it ideal for fixing issues in third-party libraries like react-native-tts until they are officially updated.

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Step-by-Step: Patching react-native-tts

1. Install patch-package

npm install patch-package --save-dev

or with Yarn:

yarn add patch-package --dev

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2. Edit react-native-tts Gradle File

Open the following file:

node_modules/react-native-tts/android/build.gradle

Locate the buildscript repositories block and change it from:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
    }
}

to:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

This removes the deprecated repository and replaces it with supported ones.

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3. Generate the Patch

From the root of your project, run:

npx patch-package react-native-tts

This will generate a patch file similar to:

patches/react-native-tts+X.Y.Z.patch

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4. Apply the Patch Automatically

Update your package.json to include:

{
  "scripts": {
    "postinstall": "patch-package"
  }
}

This ensures the patch is re-applied every time dependencies are installed.

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5. Commit the Patch

Commit the patches/ directory to version control.

Do not commit node_modules.

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Verify the Fix

To confirm everything works as expected:

1. Delete node_modules
2. Run npm install or yarn install
3. Run the Android build again

The build should now succeed without the jcenter() error.

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Conclusion

As Gradle continues to remove deprecated features, issues like this will appear more frequently in older React Native libraries.

Until react-native-tts updates its Android configuration, using patch-package is a clean, reliable, and team-friendly workaround.

Hopefully this post saves someone else a good chunk of debugging time. 🚀

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