diff --git a/template/android/app/build.gradle b/template/android/app/build.gradle
index 69e47e2..1baf948 100644
--- a/template/android/app/build.gradle
+++ b/template/android/app/build.gradle
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ android {
             // see https://reactnative.dev/docs/signed-apk-android.
             signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
             minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
-            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
+            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/template/android/gradle.properties b/template/android/gradle.properties
index a6de6f6..50a0ed6 100644
--- a/template/android/gradle.properties
+++ b/template/android/gradle.properties
@@ -42,3 +42,8 @@ hermesEnabled=true
 # This allows your app to draw behind system bars for an immersive UI.
 # Note: Only works with ReactActivity and should not be used with custom Activity.
 edgeToEdgeEnabled=true
+
+# Opt out of built-in kotlin and new DSL behavior that ships with AGP 9.
+# Starting from AGP 10.x these opt outs will be removed.
+android.builtInKotlin=false
+android.newDsl=false
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/template/android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/template/android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 37f78a6..c61a118 100644
--- a/template/android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/template/android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-9.3.1-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-9.4.1-bin.zip
 networkTimeout=10000
 validateDistributionUrl=true
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME