I rebuilt my 2021 React Native image gallery in 2026 — every library I used is dead

Short summary

The author rebuilt a 2021 React Native image gallery tutorial in 2026 and found every original library dead or abandoned. The modern stack uses Expo SDK 57 with expo-router, expo-image for caching and transitions, and a custom ~150-line pinch-to-zoom viewer built with Reanimated 4 and Gesture Handler 2. The key lesson: don't build infrastructure around gaps the ecosystem is actively closing.

• •All 2021 libraries (react-native-fast-image, react-native-image-pan-zoom) are dead; Expo SDK 57 + expo-image replaces them
• •Custom pinch-to-zoom viewer built with Reanimated 4 + Gesture Handler 2 runs entirely on the UI thread in ~150 lines
• •Lesson: don't wrap features the platform is about to absorb—rebuild beats upgrade for 5-year-old projects

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