[0.81] Cache prebuilt iOS binaries in ~/Library/Caches/ReactNative

[cipolleschi]

Target Branch

0.81

Link to commit or PR to be picked

facebook/react-native#56842

Description

This adds a shared cache layer at ~/Library/Caches/ReactNative/ for prebuilt iOS tarballs (Hermes, ReactNativeDependencies, ReactNativeCore). On first download, tarballs are saved to both the local Pods artifacts dir and the shared cache. On subsequent pod install runs, if the local Pods cache is empty but the shared cache has the tarball for that version, it is copied locally instead of re-downloaded from Maven.

This avoids redundant downloads when:

• The Pods directory is deleted between installs
• Multiple projects use the same React Native version
• CI environments have a persistent home directory

[github-actions]

Thank you for opening a new React Native Pick Request.

These are the criteria we follow when accepting or rejecting a code change into a React Native release branch (source).

If your Pick Request does not satisfy the criteria below, please close it as it will not be considered.

✅ Which Pick Requests we accept

1. ✅ Fixes for regressions to core APIs. Examples:
   • A core component is behaving differently between versions 0.X and 0.X-1
   • The TurboModule.getEnforcing function is throwing an unexpected assertion error.
2. ✅ Fixes to bugs in core React Native. Examples:
   • Breakpoints in React Native DevTools not working correctly in the debugger
   • Fast Refresh not working as expected
   • Metro bundler not starting properly or ignoring the configuration file
   • Buttons that are not clickable
3. ✅ Fixes to APIs used by third-party libraries and out-of-tree platforms. Examples:
   • An API used by react-native-macos is not behaving as expected or is regressing
4. ✅ Bump of patch version of dependencies. Example:
   • Bump Gradle from 8.11.0 to 8.11.1
5. ✅ Fixes for low/high severity security vulnerabilities. Example:
   • Bump Gradle from 8.11.0 to 8.12.0 if there is a security vulnerability in 8.11 and no 8.11.x version contains the same fix.
6. ✅ Fixes and reverts of accidental breaking changes. Example:
   • Reverting or fix-forwarding a Kotlin migration of a file (e.g. ReactRootView.java) if it is causing a breaking change for the React Native ecosystem.
7. ✅ Performance improvements. Examples:
   • Fixing unnecessary re-renders in FlatList.
8. ✅ Any Pick Request if the release is still in RC0 (after RC1, the previously listed criteria apply)

❌ Which Pick Requests we don't accept

9. ❌ Any Pick Request that introduces a breaking change after RC1. Example:
   • A bugfix that contains a refactoring, resulting in changes to the public API of a class
10. ❌ Any Pick Request that introduces a new feature after RC1. Example:
    • A commit that introduces a new API or a specific feature for a component.
11. ❌ Bump of major or minor version of dependencies. Examples:
    • Bump Gradle from 8.11.0 to 8.12.0
    • Bump Gradle from 8.11.0 to 9.0.0
12. ❌ Bump of a dependency to a pre-release version. Example:
    • Bump Gradle from 8.11.0 to 8.11.1-beta.1
13. ❌ Any Pick Request that introduces changes to the React Native testing infrastructure after RC1. Examples:
    • Changes to GitHub Actions workflows to optimize them, even if they are on main.
    • Changes to the logic used to publish packages to NPM or Maven Central
14. ❌ Pick Request composed of multiple commits that have several merge conflicts.
    • If your Pick Request is too complex to apply to the release branch, it will be rejected.
15. ❌ Any non-critical improvement that landed on main.
    • These will generally ship in the following version unless they fit one of the criteria above.
16. ❌ Any Pick Request considered a "nice to have".
    • Even one-line changes carry a risk of destabilizing and further delaying the release.

ℹ️ What makes for a good Pick Request

In order for your Pick Request to be considered, please do the following:

• ℹ️ Limit your Pick Request to one commit from main, or one PR against the release branch.
• ℹ️ Include a clear explanation of why your Pick Request should be considered, ideally referencing one of the criteria above.
• ℹ️ Target only one minor version of React Native (e.g. [0.76]). To have your Pick Request applied to more versions, please open separate Pick Requests.