[Due for payment 2026-02-04] Migrate App’s VideoPlayer from Deprecated expo-av to expo-video

[mountiny]

Coming from the proposal here

Background

Expo’s expo-av library, which powers video playback in our app (such as video attachments and previews), was officially deprecated as of Expo SDK 52. The Expo team has confirmed that it will not be updated for SDK 54 and beyond.

We are currently upgrading to Expo SDK 53 (in the React Native 0.79 bump). This means we are one version away from breaking compatibility with expo-av. At present, we maintain two custom patches to keep expo-av functional, which adds engineering overhead and risk. As dependencies evolve, these patches will become increasingly brittle.

In contrast, Expo has introduced expo-video and expo-audio as actively maintained alternatives to expo-av. These libraries are modular, aligned with Expo’s strategic direction, and offer a cleaner path forward for maintaining audio and video functionality in our app.

Problem

When we rely on the deprecated expo-av library during SDK upgrades, it forces us to maintain fragile custom patches, which prevents us from upgrading confidently and increases long-term instability.

Solution

We propose migrating all usage of expo-av to the new libraries officially recommended by the Expo team:

1. Verify feature parity and stability post-migration, ensuring no regressions in functionality.
2. Evaluate the necessity of the two existing custom patches – Once confirmed to be obsolete following the migration, these patches will be safely removed.
3. Replace expo-av video functionality with expo-video - This includes all video playback use cases such as previews and attachments.
4. Migrate any remaining audio-only functionality to expo-audio - Ensures separation of concerns and compliance with modular design practices.

These steps will reduce technical debt, align us with the current Expo ecosystem, and eliminate a critical point of failure before it blocks future development. Migrating now enables us to retain control over the timeline and scope of this transition, rather than being forced into reactive fixes later

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @adelekennedy (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[war-in]

I verified that expo-video & expo-audio cover all our use cases, so the migration should be possible 👍

I also checked if the two patches can be removed, and I can confirm that at least one can be.
It's hard to tell if the blank screen on android patch (link) will still be required without migrating and checking the behaviour. There was also an issue in the upstream repo, but it was closed without any action.
I suggest that we start the migration and try to remove it if possible

[mountiny]

Thank you! Lets start it

[melvin-bot]

@war-in Whoops! This issue is 2 days overdue. Let's get this updated quick!

[mountiny]

What are the next steps here?

[war-in]

@mountiny The migration will require some time, as it involves a deep dive into the internals of the VideoPlayer component, which contains fairly complex logic. To help with this task, I’ve invited @Guccio163 to collaborate. We'll aim to divide the work where feasible and begin sharing draft PRs as soon as possible.

As a first step, I attempted to migrate AttachmentPreview and noticed that expo-video already provides a shared player. This may allow us to simplify the current VideoPlayer implementation 🙏