React Native Task error ':app:processDebugMainManifest FAILED'

I recently upgraded React Native 0.63.4 to 0.70.1 and have been trying to iron everything out re upgrading packages and dependencies etc.
I’m really stuck on this particular error and can’t seem to find a solution.

The command prompt says:

Task :app:processDebugMainManifest FAILED

…

FAILURE: Build completed with 2 failures.

1: Task failed with an exception.

• What went wrong:
  Execution failed for task ‘:app:processDebugMainManifest’.

com.android.manifmerger.ManifestMerger2$MergeFailureException: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; lineNumber: 10; columnNumber: 6; The processing instruction target matching "[xX][mM][lL]" is not allowed.

2: Task failed with an exception.

• What went wrong:
  java.lang.StackOverflowError (no error message)

I haven’t been able to find a solution online apart from adding the line
‘org.gradle.jvmargs=–add-opens java.base/java.io=ALL-UNNAMED’ to my android/gradle.properties file, which hasn’t worked.

The issue that I had directly before this error was:-

Command prompt:

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

• What went wrong:
  Could not determine the dependencies of task ‘:app:compileDebugJavaWithJavac’.

Could not resolve all task dependencies for configuration ‘:app:debugCompileClasspath’.
Could not find org.webkit:android-jsc:r245459.
Required by:
project :app

I resolved this by changing ‘def jscFlavor = ‘org.webkit:android-jsc:r245459” to ‘def jscFlavor = ‘org.webkit:android-jsc:r250230” in my android/app/build.gradle file, as I noticed that my ‘node-modules/jsc-android/dist/org/webkit/android-jsc’ file contained an r250230 file rather than an r245459 one. I’m not sure whether changing this manually has cause the most recent error.

Here’s my android/app/build.gradle file:

apply plugin: "com.android.application"

import com.android.build.OutputFile

/**
 * The react.gradle file registers a task for each build variant (e.g. bundleDebugJsAndAssets
 * and bundleReleaseJsAndAssets).
 * These basically call `react-native bundle` with the correct arguments during the Android build
 * cycle. By default, bundleDebugJsAndAssets is skipped, as in debug/dev mode we prefer to load the
 * bundle directly from the development server. Below you can see all the possible configurations
 * and their defaults. If you decide to add a configuration block, make sure to add it before the
 * `apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"` line.
 *
 * project.ext.react = [
 *   // the name of the generated asset file containing your JS bundle
 *   bundleAssetName: "index.android.bundle",
 *
 *   // the entry file for bundle generation. If none specified and
 *   // "index.android.js" exists, it will be used. Otherwise "index.js" is
 *   // default. Can be overridden with ENTRY_FILE environment variable.
 *   entryFile: "index.android.js",
 *
 *   // https://reactnative.dev/docs/performance#enable-the-ram-format
 *   bundleCommand: "ram-bundle",
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in debug mode
 *   bundleInDebug: false,
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in release mode
 *   bundleInRelease: true,
 *
 *   // whether to bundle JS and assets in another build variant (if configured).
 *   // See http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide#TOC-Build-Variants
 *   // The configuration property can be in the following formats
 *   //         'bundleIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'
 *   //         'bundleIn${buildType}'
 *   // bundleInFreeDebug: true,
 *   // bundleInPaidRelease: true,
 *   // bundleInBeta: true,
 *
 *   // whether to disable dev mode in custom build variants (by default only disabled in release)
 *   // for example: to disable dev mode in the staging build type (if configured)
 *   devDisabledInStaging: true,
 *   // The configuration property can be in the following formats
 *   //         'devDisabledIn${productFlavor}${buildType}'
 *   //         'devDisabledIn${buildType}'
 *
 *   // the root of your project, i.e. where "package.json" lives
 *   root: "../../",
 *
 *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in debug mode
 *   jsBundleDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/debug",
 *
 *   // where to put the JS bundle asset in release mode
 *   jsBundleDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/assets/release",
 *
 *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via
 *   // require('./image.png')), in debug mode
 *   resourcesDirDebug: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/debug",
 *
 *   // where to put drawable resources / React Native assets, e.g. the ones you use via
 *   // require('./image.png')), in release mode
 *   resourcesDirRelease: "$buildDir/intermediates/res/merged/release",
 *
 *   // by default the gradle tasks are skipped if none of the JS files or assets change; this means
 *   // that we don't look at files in android/ or ios/ to determine whether the tasks are up to
 *   // date; if you have any other folders that you want to ignore for performance reasons (gradle
 *   // indexes the entire tree), add them here. Alternatively, if you have JS files in android/
 *   // for example, you might want to remove it from here.
 *   inputExcludes: ["android/**", "ios/**"],
 *
 *   // override which node gets called and with what additional arguments
 *   nodeExecutableAndArgs: ["node"],
 *
 *   // supply additional arguments to the packager
 *   extraPackagerArgs: []
 * ]
 */

project.ext.react = [
    enableHermes: false
]

// MANUALLY REMOVED:
    apply from: '../../node_modules/react-native-unimodules/gradle.groovy'
    // apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"
    // apply from: "../../node_modules/expo-constants/scripts/get-app-config-android.gradle"
    // apply from: "../../node_modules/expo-updates/scripts/create-manifest-android.gradle"
//
// ADDED:
// apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('expo-modules-core/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../gradle.groovy")
apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('react-native/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../react.gradle")
apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('expo-updates/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../scripts/create-manifest-android.gradle")
//

/**
 * Set this to true to create two separate APKs instead of one:
 *   - An APK that only works on ARM devices
 *   - An APK that only works on x86 devices
 * The advantage is the size of the APK is reduced by about 4MB.
 * Upload all the APKs to the Play Store and people will download
 * the correct one based on the CPU architecture of their device.
 */
def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = false

/**
 * Run Proguard to shrink the Java bytecode in release builds.
 */
def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = false

/**
 * The preferred build flavor of JavaScriptCore.
 *
 * For example, to use the international variant, you can use:
 * `def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc-intl:+'`
 *
 * The international variant includes ICU i18n library and necessary data
 * allowing to use e.g. `Date.toLocaleString` and `String.localeCompare` that
 * give correct results when using with locales other than en-US.  Note that
 * this variant is about 6MiB larger per architecture than default.
 */
// Original:
// def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc:+'

// ***BUG FIX*** Specific version:
// def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc:r245459'

// ADDED NEW Specific version (?) found in (node-modules > jsc-android > dist > org > webkit > android-jsc > r250230):
def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc:r250230'

/**
 * Whether to enable the Hermes VM.
 *
 * This should be set on project.ext.react and mirrored here.  If it is not set
 * on project.ext.react, JavaScript will not be compiled to Hermes Bytecode
 * and the benefits of using Hermes will therefore be sharply reduced.
 */
def enableHermes = project.ext.react.get("enableHermes", false)

android {
    compileSdkVersion rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion

    compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.personalchef"
        minSdkVersion rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.ext.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"

     // ADDED:
        manifestPlaceholders = [
            'appAuthRedirectScheme': 'host.exp.exponent'
        ]
     //
    }
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86", "arm64-v8a", "x86_64"
        }
    }
    signingConfigs {
        debug {
            storeFile file('debug.keystore')
            storePassword 'android'
            keyAlias 'androiddebugkey'
            keyPassword 'android'
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        debug {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
        }
        release {
            // Caution! In production, you need to generate your own keystore file.
            // see https://reactnative.dev/docs/signed-apk-android.
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
        }
    }

    // applicationVariants are e.g. debug, release
    applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        variant.outputs.each { output ->
            // For each separate APK per architecture, set a unique version code as described here:
            // https://developer.android.com/studio/build/configure-apk-splits.html
            def versionCodes = ["armeabi-v7a": 1, "x86": 2, "arm64-v8a": 3, "x86_64": 4]
            def abi = output.getFilter(OutputFile.ABI)
            if (abi != null) {  // null for the universal-debug, universal-release variants
                output.versionCodeOverride =
                        versionCodes.get(abi) * 1048576 + defaultConfig.versionCode
            }

        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    //noinspection GradleDynamicVersion

    implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"  // From node_modules

    implementation "androidx.swiperefreshlayout:swiperefreshlayout:1.0.0"

    implementation project(':react-native-fs')
    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
      exclude group:'com.facebook.fbjni'
    }
    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper-network-plugin:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
        exclude group:'com.facebook.flipper'
        exclude group:'com.squareup.okhttp3', module:'okhttp'
    }
    debugImplementation("com.facebook.flipper:flipper-fresco-plugin:${FLIPPER_VERSION}") {
        exclude group:'com.facebook.flipper'
    }
    addUnimodulesDependencies()

    if (enableHermes) {
        def hermesPath = "../../node_modules/hermes-engine/android/"
        debugImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-debug.aar")
        releaseImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-release.aar")
    } else {
        implementation jscFlavor
    }
}

// Run this once to be able to run the application with BUCK
// puts all compile dependencies into folder libs for BUCK to use
task copyDownloadableDepsToLibs(type: Copy) {
    // ORIGINAL:
        // from configurations.compile
        // into 'libs'
    // MANUALLY ADDED:
    from configurations.implementation
    into 'libs'
}
// MANUALLY REMOVED:
apply from: file("../../node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle"); applyNativeModulesAppBuildGradle(project)
//
// ADDED:
// apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../native_modules.gradle");
// applyNativeModulesAppBuildGradle(project)
//

My android/build.gradle file:

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {
    ext {

        // MANUALLY REMOVED:

        // buildToolsVersion = "29.0.3"
        // minSdkVersion = 21
        // compileSdkVersion = 30
        // targetSdkVersion = 30

        //
        // MANUALLY ADDED:
        buildToolsVersion = "31.0.0"
        minSdkVersion = 21
        compileSdkVersion = 31
        targetSdkVersion = 31

        if (System.properties['os.arch'] == "aarch64") {
            // For M1 Users we need to use the NDK 24 which added support for aarch64
            ndkVersion = "24.0.8215888"
        } else {
            // Otherwise we default to the side-by-side NDK version from AGP.
            ndkVersion = "21.4.7075529"
        }
        //
    }
    repositories {
        google()

        // MANUALLY REMOVED:

        // jcenter()

        //

        // ADDED MANUALLY:

        mavenCentral()

        //
    }
    dependencies {
        // MANUALLY REMOVED:

        // classpath("com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.1.0")

        //
        // MANUALLY ADDED:

        classpath("com.android.tools.build:gradle:7.2.1")
        classpath("com.facebook.react:react-native-gradle-plugin")
        classpath("de.undercouch:gradle-download-task:5.0.1")

        //

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {

        google()

        // MANUALLY REMOVED:

        // mavenLocal()

        //

        maven {
            // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android")
        }
        maven {
            // Android JSC is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/jsc-android/dist")
        }

        // ADDED MANUALLY:

        mavenCentral {
            // We don't want to fetch react-native from Maven Central as there are
            // older versions over there.
            content {
                excludeGroup "com.facebook.react"
            }
        }

        //

        // MANUALLY REMOVED:

        // jcenter()

        //

        maven { url 'https://www.jitpack.io' }
    }
}

My android/settings.gradle file:

rootProject.name = 'PersonalChef'

// MANUALLY REMOVED:
   // apply from: file("../node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle"); applyNativeModulesSettingsGradle(settings)
//

// MANUALLY REMOVED:
// apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('expo-modules-core/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../gradle.groovy");
// includeUnimodulesProjects()

// ADDED:
apply from: '../node_modules/react-native-unimodules/gradle.groovy'; includeUnimodulesProjects()
apply from: new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/package.json')"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim(), "../native_modules.gradle");
applyNativeModulesSettingsGradle(settings)
//

include ':app'
includeBuild('../node_modules/react-native-gradle-plugin')


if (settings.hasProperty("newArchEnabled") && settings.newArchEnabled == "true") {
    include(":ReactAndroid")
    project(":ReactAndroid").projectDir = file('../node_modules/react-native/ReactAndroid')
    include(":ReactAndroid:hermes-engine")
    project(":ReactAndroid:hermes-engine").projectDir = file('../node_modules/react-native/ReactAndroid/hermes-engine')
}

Thank you in advance if you’re able to help.