"VirtualizedList: You have a large list that is slow to update" warning even though all components are optimized

I've been having lots of trouble trying to avoid getting the "VirtualizedList: You have a large list that is slow to update" warning when using a <FlatList> component with React-Native.

I've already done loads of research and Google-Fu to try a solution, but none of the solutions helped, not even the solution on this GitHub issue.

Things to keep in mind:

• I'm using shouldComponentUpdate() { return false; } in my List Item component, so they are not updating at all.
• The component that renders the FlatList is already a PureComponent
• I added console.logs in the render methods of my components and can confirm they don't re-render.
• I'm not using anonymous functions, so the renderItem component is not being re-initialized on each call.

Important: The warning only seems to occur after switching to a separate tab using my BottomTabNavigator and then coming back and scrolling through my list; but this is confusing because when I do this, the FlatList screen component is not re-rendering and neither are the list items. Since the components aren't re-rendering when browsing to another tab, why would this error happen?

Here's my exact code:

App.tsx

const AppRoutes = [
  { name: "Home", Component: HomeScreen },
  { name: "Catalog", Component: CatalogScreen },
  { name: "Cart", Component: CartScreen }
];

export const StoreApp = () => {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <StatusBar barStyle="dark-content" />
      <Tabs.Navigator>
        {AppRoutes.map((route, index) => 
          <Tabs.Screen
            key={index}
            name={route.name}
            component={route.Component}
            options={{
              headerShown: (route.name !== "Home") ?? false,
              tabBarIcon: props => <TabIcon icon={route.name} {...props} />
            }}
          />
        )}
      </Tabs.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
};

CatalogScreen.tsx

import React from "react";
import { FlatList, SafeAreaView, Text, View, StyleSheet } from "react-native";
import { LoadingSpinnerOverlay } from "../components/LoadingSpinnerOverlay";
import { getAllProducts, ProductListData } from "../api/catalog";

class ProductItem extends React.Component<{ item: ProductListData }> {
  shouldComponentUpdate() {
    return false;
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <View>
        {console.log(`Rendered ${this.props.item.name}-${Math.random()}`)}
        <Text style={{height: 100}}>{this.props.item.name}</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

export class CatalogScreen extends React.PureComponent {
  state = {
    productData: []
  };
  
  componentDidMount() {
    getAllProducts()
    .then(response => {
      this.setState({ productData: response.data });
    })
    .catch(err => {
      console.log(err);
    });
  }

  private renderItem = (props: any) => <ProductItem {...props} />;
  private keyExtractor = (product: any) => `${product.id}`;
  private listItemLayout = (data: any, index: number) => ({
    length: 100,
    offset: 100 * index,
    index
  });

  render() {
    const { productData } = this.state;
    console.log("CATALOG RENDERED");

    return (
      <SafeAreaView style={styles.pageView}>
        {!productData.length && <LoadingSpinnerOverlay text="Loading products..." />}
        <View style={{backgroundColor: "red", height: "50%"}}>
          <FlatList
            data={productData}
            removeClippedSubviews
            keyExtractor={this.keyExtractor}
            renderItem={this.renderItem}
            getItemLayout={this.listItemLayout}
          />
        </View>
      </SafeAreaView>
    );
  }
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  pageView: {
    height: "100%",
    position: "relative",
  }
});

Since my components and lists are optimized and I'm still receiving the error, I'm starting to believe that this may be an actual issue with React Native - but if anyone can see what I'm doing wrong, or any workarounds, this would help greatly!

Additional Findings: I found that the warning no longer occurs if the CatalogScreen component is contained inside of a NativeStackNavigator with a single Screen. I believe this may indicate that this is a problem with the BottomTabNavigator module.

For example, the no warning no longer occurs if I make the following changes:

App.tsx

const AppRoutes = [
  { name: "Home", Component: HomeScreen },
  { name: "Catalog", Component: CatalogPage }, // Changed CatalogScreen to CatalogPage
  { name: "Cart", Component: CartScreen }
];

CatalogScreen.tsx

const Stack = createNativeStackNavigator();

export class CatalogPage extends React.PureComponent {
  render() {
    return (
      <Stack.Navigator>
        <Stack.Screen 
          name="CatalogStack" 
          options={{ headerShown: false }}
          component={CatalogScreen}
        />
      </Stack.Navigator>
    );
  }
}

With this workaround, I'm rendering the Stack Navigation component instead of the CatalogScreen component directly. This resolves the problem, but I don't understand why this would make a difference. Does React Native handle memory objects differently in Stack Navigation screens as opposed to BottomTabNavigator screens?