Android crash on splash after Clear Storage – Fast Deployment ghost mode (.NET MAUI 10)

[mugogi]

Description

Summary MAUI .NET 10 Android apps crash immediately on splash screen after “Clear Storage” or reinstall. The crash occurs before any managed code executes. This is caused by Visual Studio incorrectly packaging native libraries and leaving Fast Deployment artifacts active in Release builds.
Environment
• .NET MAUI 10
• Microsoft.Maui.Controls" Version="10.0.30"
• Visual Studio 2026 Insiders [11415.281]
• Android 14 (API 34)
• Physical device or emulator
• Release build
• Fast Deployment previously used in Debug mode
Reproduction Steps

1. Build and deploy a MAUI .NET 10 Android app in Debug mode (Fast Deployment ON by default).
2. Switch to Release mode.
3. Deploy the app.
4. On the device: Clear Storage or uninstall/reinstall the app.
5. Launch the app.
   Actual Behavior
   App crashes instantly on splash screen. No managed exception is thrown. Debugger does not catch the crash. App never reaches MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp() or App() constructor.
   Logcat Output
   Koda
   No assemblies found in '/data/user/0//files/.override/x86_64'
   Assuming this is part of Fast Deployment. Exiting...
   ALL entries in APK named lib/x86_64/ MUST be STORED. Gradle's minification may COMPRESS such entries.
   Fatal signal 6 (SIGABRT)
   Root Cause
   Visual Studio incorrectly:
6. Leaves Fast Deployment override logic active in Release builds.
7. Packages native libraries under lib/x86_64/ as compressed, not stored.
8. Causes MAUI runtime to search for .override assemblies that do not exist.
9. Triggers a native SIGABRT before managed code starts.
   This is a tooling bug, not an application bug.
   Expected Behavior
   • Release builds should never reference Fast Deployment override paths.
   • Native libraries must always be packaged as “stored”, not “compressed”.
   • App should start normally after Clear Storage or reinstall.
   Workaround (Confirmed Fix)
   Add the following to .csproj:
   <AndroidUseFastDeployment>false</AndroidUseFastDeployment>
   <EmbedAssembliesIntoApk>true</EmbedAssembliesIntoApk>
   <AndroidPackageFormat>aab</AndroidPackageFormat>

AndroidUseFastDeployment = false
EmbedAssembliesIntoApk = true
AndroidPackageFormat = aab

Then:

1. Delete bin/ and obj/
2. Uninstall the app from the device
3. Rebuild and redeploy
   After this, the crash disappears.
   Why This Needs Fixing
   • Every MAUI .NET 10 Android developer will hit this issue.
   • The crash is silent, native, and extremely difficult to diagnose.
   • It happens on a clean install or Clear Storage — a critical scenario for end users.
   • Developers will incorrectly assume their code is broken.
   Request
   Please fix the packaging pipeline so that:
   • Fast Deployment artifacts are never included in Release builds
   • Native libraries are always stored, not compressed
   • MAUI runtime does not attempt to load .override assemblies in Release mode

Steps to Reproduce

Reproduction Steps (copy/paste)
Build and deploy a .NET MAUI 10 Android app in Debug mode (Fast Deployment ON by default).

Switch to Release mode.

Deploy the app to an Android 14 (API 34) device or emulator.

On the device, open App info → Storage → Clear Storage
(or uninstall the app and reinstall it)

Launch the app.

Observed Behavior
The app crashes immediately on the splash screen.

No managed code executes (does not reach MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp).

Logcat shows MAUI runtime searching for .override Fast Deployment directories in Release mode.

Native SIGABRT is thrown.

Link to public reproduction project repository

No response

Version with bug

10.0.30

Is this a regression from previous behavior?

Yes, this used to work in .NET MAUI

Last version that worked well

10.0.0

Affected platforms

Android

Affected platform versions

Android 14 (API 34) – crash occurs consistently Device/emulator: any (tested on multiple), NET 10

Did you find any workaround?

Yes. A full workaround exists and completely prevents the crash.

To avoid the native SIGABRT on splash, add the following settings to your .csproj:
false true apk
Then perform a clean rebuild:

Delete bin/ and obj/

Uninstall the app from the device

Rebuild and redeploy

This forces MAUI to:

stop referencing the .override Fast Deployment directory

embed all assemblies directly into the APK

package native libraries as stored, not compressed

After applying this workaround, the crash disappears completely.

Relevant log output

01-21 15:36:27.568 W/oft.mobilevault(14535): Attempt to remove non-JNI local reference
01-21 15:36:27.568 W/monodroid-debug(14535): Trying to initialize the debugger with options: --debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,loglevel=0,address=10.0.2.2:64562,embedding=1,timeout=30000
01-21 15:36:27.568 F/monodroid(14535): No assemblies found in '/data/user/0/com.mugogisoft.mobilevault/files/.__override__/x86_64' or '<unavailable>'. Assuming this is part of Fast Deployment. Exiting...
01-21 15:36:27.568 F/monodroid(14535): ALL entries in APK named `lib/x86_64/` MUST be STORED. Gradle's minification may COMPRESS such entries.
01-21 15:36:27.568 F/monodroid(14535): Abort at monodroid-glue.cc:757:3 ('static MonoDomain *xamarin::android::internal::MonodroidRuntime::create_domain(JNIEnv *, jstring_array_wrapper &, bool, bool)')
01-21 15:36:27.568 F/libc    (14535): Fatal signal 6 (SIGABRT), code -1 (SI_QUEUE) in tid 14535 (oft.mobilevault), pid 14535 (oft.mobilevault)

[MihuBot]

I'm a bot. Here are possible related and/or duplicate issues (I may be wrong):

• [Bug]: Android release crash, debug work as normal maui#14653
• .net maui android app crashes when deployed to google play closed testing maui#11316

[jonathanpeppers]

There are two Android native libraries that is used depending on Debug or Release mode:

1. "C:\Program Files\dotnet\packs\Microsoft.Android.Runtime.Mono.36.android-arm64\36.1.2\runtimes\android-arm64\native\libmono-android.debug.so"
2. "C:\Program Files\dotnet\packs\Microsoft.Android.Runtime.Mono.36.android-arm64\36.1.2\runtimes\android-arm64\native\libmono-android.release.so"

It appears you have a Debug-mode app deployed with native library no. 1.

However, a Release build should have its own obj\Release folder vs obj\Debug. Switching from Debug to Release should completely rebuild and deploy everything.

I suspect the problem is Release isn't actually rebuilding or deploying.

Does this problem happen if you are not using an IDE, and just use the command-line to build/run?

[mugogi]

Today I played with the problem and found out that the problem was probably in building the application, the specificity of the error was that the crash occurred only after "clear cache" on the device and in the emulator. I restored the csproj from old projects but the error remained, I assume that the problem was/is in the incorrect building of the splash or icon (I rebuilt them with the default icon, splash, with the original line in the csproj). Every time after changing the "build" mode I delete obj/bin and then rebuild, the error is actually fixed with the "crash after clear cache" but sometimes the crash occurred at startup, this problem is difficult to identify, because it happens at startup. I did not run the "command-line to build/run" at all, because I found the described solution that worked. Tomorrow I will build the same project on VS 26 (not insider) on another computer to find out if the problem is only in my version of VS, a reinstall VS is required or the project is broken. Best regards

…

________________________________ Od: Jonathan Peppers ***@***.***> Poslano: Četrtek, Januar 22, 2026 17:11 Za: dotnet/android ***@***.***> Kp: mugogisoft ***@***.***>; Author ***@***.***> Zadeva: Re: [dotnet/android] Android crash on splash after Clear Storage – Fast Deployment ghost mode (.NET MAUI 10) (Issue #10708) [https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/840039?s=20&v=4]jonathanpeppers left a comment (dotnet/android#10708)<#10708 (comment)> There are two Android native libraries that is used depending on Debug or Release mode: 1. "C:\Program Files\dotnet\packs\Microsoft.Android.Runtime.Mono.36.android-arm64\36.1.2\runtimes\android-arm64\native\libmono-android.debug.so" 2. "C:\Program Files\dotnet\packs\Microsoft.Android.Runtime.Mono.36.android-arm64\36.1.2\runtimes\android-arm64\native\libmono-android.release.so" It appears you have a Debug-mode app deployed with native library no. 1. However, a Release build should have its own obj\Release folder vs obj\Debug. Switching from Debug to Release should completely rebuild and deploy everything. I suspect the problem is Release isn't actually rebuilding or deploying. Does this problem happen if you are not using an IDE, and just use the command-line to build/run? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#10708 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACPQBQZDN3HWLKV5GNO7A7T4IDZDTAVCNFSM6AAAAACSRF24G2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTOOBVGI3DANJQGM>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[dotnet-policy-service]

Hi @@mugogi. We have added the "need-info" label to this issue, which indicates that we have an open question for you before we can take further action. This issue will be closed automatically in 7 days if we do not hear back from you by then - please feel free to re-open it if you come back to this issue after that time.