From f53aa05440ee0986904d4010a8857ce7c2954418 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mikl=C3=B3s=20Fazekas?= <mfazekas@szemafor.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:15:34 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] fix(android): don't pass autoBind=true when artboard has
 no default ViewModel

---
 android/src/main/java/com/rive/RiveReactNativeView.kt | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/android/src/main/java/com/rive/RiveReactNativeView.kt b/android/src/main/java/com/rive/RiveReactNativeView.kt
index 6bd9d89a..7753d936 100644
--- a/android/src/main/java/com/rive/RiveReactNativeView.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/java/com/rive/RiveReactNativeView.kt
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ class RiveReactNativeView(context: ThemedReactContext) : FrameLayout(context) {
     if (reload) {
       val hasDataBinding = when (config.bindData) {
         is BindData.None -> false
-        is BindData.Auto -> config.riveFile.viewModelCount > 0
+        is BindData.Auto -> false
         is BindData.Instance, is BindData.ByName -> true
       }
       riveAnimationView?.setRiveFile(

From 192f8a56a77da01660d1e2feb73fc9bf9951cdfb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mikl=C3=B3s=20Fazekas?= <mfazekas@szemafor.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:09:51 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] test: add harness test for Auto dataBind with no default
 ViewModel

---
 example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx    |  40 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 example/assets/rive/nodefaultbouncing.riv | Bin 0 -> 319 bytes
 2 files changed, 40 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 example/assets/rive/nodefaultbouncing.riv

diff --git a/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx b/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
index 1583a646..be734f9e 100644
--- a/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
+++ b/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ import type { ViewModelInstance } from '@rive-app/react-native';
 // Source: https://rive.app/community/files/25997-48571-demo-for-tracking-rive-property-in-react-native/
 const BOUNCING_BALL = require('../assets/rive/bouncing_ball.riv');
 
+// Simple animation with ViewModels defined but no default ViewModel assigned to the artboard
+// Source: https://rive.app/community/files/27026-50856-no-default-vm-for-artboard/
+const NO_DEFAULT_VM = require('../assets/rive/nodefaultbouncing.riv');
+
 function expectDefined<T>(value: T): asserts value is NonNullable<T> {
   expect(value).toBeDefined();
 }
@@ -264,3 +268,39 @@ describe('autoPlay prop (issue #138)', () => {
     cleanup();
   });
 });
+
+describe('Auto dataBind with no default ViewModel (issue #189)', () => {
+  it('plays without error when file has ViewModels but no artboard default', async () => {
+    const file = await RiveFileFactory.fromSource(NO_DEFAULT_VM, undefined);
+
+    const context: TestContext = { ref: null, error: null };
+    await render(
+      <View style={{ width: 200, height: 200 }}>
+        <RiveView
+          hybridRef={{
+            f: (ref: RiveViewRef | null) => {
+              context.ref = ref;
+            },
+          }}
+          style={{ flex: 1 }}
+          file={file}
+          autoPlay={true}
+          fit={Fit.Contain}
+          onError={(e) => {
+            context.error = e.message;
+          }}
+        />
+      </View>
+    );
+
+    await waitFor(
+      () => {
+        expect(context.ref).not.toBeNull();
+      },
+      { timeout: 5000 }
+    );
+
+    expect(context.error).toBeNull();
+    cleanup();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/example/assets/rive/nodefaultbouncing.riv b/example/assets/rive/nodefaultbouncing.riv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b97727880c937a5da899d895821421ac82655b0d
GIT binary patch
literal 319
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zpTONu(f3ej-CW{7-2|WE$8j9@z?~e`4orN%-OHy$GE%Q>vCR&<?6J=Qhm1Jpgec?h
zE#h5=RjumaL$wI9SzimFYhVIDZaTq88IgeLO4vBR^}<Ui0~z3DFPi`~BnPaz3kfi9
zm<1q?wU{Z`wjJYH$J>++rAz5i`ji1>NQo$8%7lWP0XwBBnk%K*v!L!@2RFXuY^JcZ
zE?6#Rkl&ZX>A$?YmB{j!tNrZ1ez7!n+VC2_RrM~erbXCz5cAl(^FzzQj^1Gxl_ycy
HeiYyry|+lg

literal 0
HcmV?d00001


From 25c2ff40eaac70a42db5dacd5935f4e16a86369a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mikl=C3=B3s=20Fazekas?= <mfazekas@szemafor.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:28:23 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] test: verify Auto dataBind still binds when default
 ViewModel exists

---
 example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 39 insertions(+)

diff --git a/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx b/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
index be734f9e..e8323b99 100644
--- a/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
+++ b/example/__tests__/autoplay.harness.tsx
@@ -270,6 +270,45 @@ describe('autoPlay prop (issue #138)', () => {
 });
 
 describe('Auto dataBind with no default ViewModel (issue #189)', () => {
+  it('auto-binds default ViewModel when one exists', async () => {
+    const file = await RiveFileFactory.fromSource(BOUNCING_BALL, undefined);
+
+    const context: TestContext = { ref: null, error: null };
+    await render(
+      <View style={{ width: 200, height: 200 }}>
+        <RiveView
+          hybridRef={{
+            f: (ref: RiveViewRef | null) => {
+              context.ref = ref;
+            },
+          }}
+          style={{ flex: 1 }}
+          file={file}
+          autoPlay={true}
+          fit={Fit.Contain}
+          onError={(e) => {
+            context.error = e.message;
+          }}
+        />
+      </View>
+    );
+
+    await waitFor(
+      () => {
+        expect(context.ref).not.toBeNull();
+      },
+      { timeout: 5000 }
+    );
+
+    expect(context.error).toBeNull();
+
+    const vmi = context.ref!.getViewModelInstance();
+    expect(vmi).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(vmi!.numberProperty('ypos')).toBeDefined();
+
+    cleanup();
+  });
+
   it('plays without error when file has ViewModels but no artboard default', async () => {
     const file = await RiveFileFactory.fromSource(NO_DEFAULT_VM, undefined);