[critical] continuous crashing of signal app in android 14

[olumolu]

For last few days my signal application is crashing. I have tried to resolve the issue by deleting app data followed by erasing account and then reopening but this problem still persists. But in my another phone a signal on a different account is working smoothly. Please look into the issues

screenshot

screenrecord

VID-20240831-WA0006.2.mp4

device info:-

Model- Motorola edge 40
Android ver- 14
Signal ver- 7.14.2
Playstore version

7.15.4 updated reinstalled and deleted the account completely and reopened issue still exists.
Don't know why it takes so much time to fix. As it os s major problem.critical in nature

[kaswarh]

Did you transfer Signal-account and data (chat history, etc.) from another device with Android 12 or 13?

[olumolu]

Did you transfer Signal-account and data (chat history, etc.) from another device with Android 12 or 13?

No i did not.

Similar issue
#13668
#13655
#13662
But i did not do any backup stuff.as i don't take backups.
After this issue i have reinstalled signal and also reopened signal account after permanently deleting that.
But issue still persists.

[olumolu]

This is totally unusable can you loook into and provide a fix asap.

[DeathDragonAW]

My SD card just died so I don't even have a current backup :/

I get this crash report:

android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabaseCorruptException: FullCode: 11 | ErrorCode: 11 | ExtendedErrorCode: 0 | Message: database disk image is malformed | ExtraMessage: null
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteConnection.nativeExecuteForCursorWindow(Native Method)
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteConnection.executeForCursorWindow(SQLiteConnection.java:881)
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteSession.executeForCursorWindow(SQLiteSession.java:871)
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteQuery.fillWindow(SQLiteQuery.java:68)
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteCursor.fillWindow(SQLiteCursor.java:196)
	at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteCursor.getCount(SQLiteCursor.java:135)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.traceSql(SQLiteDatabase.java:115)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.traceSql(SQLiteDatabase.java:95)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.rawQuery(SQLiteDatabase.java:353)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.ThreadTable.getUnarchivedConversationList(ThreadTable.kt:938)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.conversationlist.ConversationListDataSource$UnarchivedConversationListDataSource.getCursor(ConversationListDataSource.java:213)
	at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.conversationlist.ConversationListDataSource.load(ConversationListDataSource.java:77)
	at org.signal.paging.FixedSizePagingController.lambda$onDataNeededAroundIndex$1(FixedSizePagingController.java:111)
	at org.signal.paging.FixedSizePagingController.$r8$lambda$W[...}4(FixedSizePagingController.java:0)
	at org.signal.paging.FixedSizePagingController$$ExternalSyntheticLambda2.run(R8$$SyntheticClass:0)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1167)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:641)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:919)
	at org.signal.core.util.concurrent.SignalExecutors$1.run(SignalExecutors.java:32)
	at [[ ↑↑ Original Trace ↑↑ ]].(:0)
	at [[ ↓↓ Exception Message ↓↓ ]].(:0)
	at FullCode: 11 | ErrorCode: 11 | ExtendedErrorCode: 0 | Message: database disk image is malformed | ExtraMessage: null.(:0)

[nicholas-signal]

Signal v7.15.4 is now available on Google Play as well as our website. Please let us know if the crash is resolved.

[olumolu]

This seems to be fixed i did not face this issue after the latest update still I won't close this i will keep testing for next 2days if everything works well i will close this thanks.

[DeathDragonAW]

Signal v7.15.4 is now available on Google Play as well as our website. Please let us know if the crash is resolved.

No update available for me. Guess it would not be possible to update with an apk when it was installed via Play Store?

[nicholas-signal]

No update available for me. Guess it would not be possible to update with an apk when it was installed via Play Store?

You should be able to safely install the website APK over your Play Store installation, but out of an abundance of caution I would make sure to make a local backup and verify it. In addition, please play very close attention to your phone's prompts during the app upgrade, as it should warn you if you are at risk of data loss.

[DeathDragonAW]

I can't create neither verify a new backup as it's not possible to open up the app. 😬

[olumolu]

I am closing this issue as the issue has been fixed if any of you think problem persists let me know. I will reopen this.

[DeathDragonAW]

[olumolu]

Problem started again for my device so it is not fixed yet . Sometime it does not show any error message.But now It is impossible to open signal app.Even opening the account became impossible.
I have tagged you for showing the videos of error @nicholas-signal
Can you look into this. Many users are facing similar issues.

Video proof.

VID-20240831-WA0006.2.mp4

[olumolu]

Provide logs signal settings -> help -> debug logs
Save and provide logs.

[DeathDragonAW]

Dont you see the issue with your request yourself? 🤔😅
Just a have a look at your own video.

[olumolu]

Cant understand can you elaborate what you want me to look for.

[DeathDragonAW]

It's not possible to get any logs when Signal crashes instantly all the time.

[pavlos256]

Same here, on version 7.16.1.

It's very strange as it seems to work some times during the day, but when it starts crashing it keeps crashing no matter how many times I try it. Restarting the phone does not help. Once I received a notification about a new message and when I clicked the notification, it took me to that conversation without a crash. I also tried removing all data and starting fresh (without restore). I thought it solved it but today the same thing happens.

Edit: this workaround works for me, it opens Signal without crashing!

long press and select group message (a conversation)

[nicholas-signal]

If someone is still experiencing crashes on 7.15.4+, or had experienced crashes but they are now resolved, please upload a debug log (or ADB logs if the crashes are still happening).

[olumolu]

If someone is still experiencing crashes on 7.15.4+, or had experienced crashes but they are now resolved, please upload a debug log (or ADB logs if the crashes are still happening).

I am facing this...

It's very strange as it seems to work some times during the day, but when it starts crashing it keeps crashing no matter how many times I try it. Restarting the phone does not help. Once I received a notification about a new message and when I clicked the notification, it took me to that conversation without a crash. I also tried removing all data and starting fresh (without restore). I thought it solved it but today the same thing happens.

The problem is this how i face it right now problem is not happening right now but i know it will start happening after sometimes later and this is impossible to get a log just look into the screen record
I don't know how to do adb i am using fedora silverblue linux adb may not be supported in fedora. So I can't mainly I don't know about how to do adb.

[pavlos256]

@nicholas-signal https://debuglogs.org/android/7.16.1/31c753de63fa1ac0e19e408d828f265d63b3e5851995ef7676c14446a63b9a83

[DeathDragonAW]

Edit: this workaround works for me, it opens Signal without crashing!

long press and select group message (a conversation)

Not possible for me, I'm not seeing a single chat until the crashes.

[DeathDragonAW]

I would make sure to make a local backup and verify it.

Or is it possible to backup the app files manually?

[juddweiss]

I too am having this crashing issue.
A week and half ago, on Monday August 26 (evening PST), Signal android phone app starting crashing. I believe that may have been Signal Version 7.14
Signal desktop app has been working perfectly fine this whole time. Signal Desktop is currently the only way I can use Signal. I live on Signal, I need the Android app working again on my phone.

When the problem first occurred, I was able to start the phone app, and even go into settings. But the app would crash as soon as I opened any chat. I was able to start a backup of chats, but the app would crash before completing the backup.

I signed up for the beta program to get quicker updates, hoping that would fix the problem.
It hasn't. After updating to beta channel, now the android app crashes almost immediately. It keeps backing out. So if I'm quick, I can click my profile photo, click Account, and then click an option before the app quickly backs me back out repeatedly, until I reach the home screen. If I'm fast enough, I can struggle to move forward in settings while the app keeps backing me out, until it just crashes, and I get a message that "Signal keeps stopping".
Clearly this is not usable.

Updating to the recent Version 7.15 or 7.16 has not fixed this issue.

Any help is very appreciated.

Should I create a new issue thread, or is it best to address this matter in this issue thread?

I love Signal, and I've been a huge advocate. I was turned onto Signal in 2016 by John McAfee in person, because he lived on Signal and didn't like to communicate elsewhere. I'm eager to get Signal working again on my phone.

Thank you so much for your help here.

[alex-signal]

@juddweiss Can you try opening the app in airplane mode?

[olumolu]

I too am having this crashing issue. A week and half ago, on Monday August 26 (evening PST), Signal android phone app starting crashing. I believe that may have been Signal Version 7.14 Signal desktop app has been working perfectly fine this whole time. Signal Desktop is currently the only way I can use Signal. I live on Signal, I need the Android app working again on my phone.

When the problem first occurred, I was able to start the phone app, and even go into settings. But the app would crash as soon as I opened any chat. I was able to start a backup of chats, but the app would crash before completing the backup.

I signed up for the beta program to get quicker updates, hoping that would fix the problem. It hasn't. After updating to beta channel, now the android app crashes almost immediately. It keeps backing out. So if I'm quick, I can click my profile photo, click Account, and then click an option before the app quickly backs me back out repeatedly, until I reach the home screen. If I'm fast enough, I can struggle to move forward in settings while the app keeps backing me out, until it just crashes, and I get a message that "Signal keeps stopping". Clearly this is not usable.

Updating to the recent Version 7.15 or 7.16 has not fixed this issue.

Any help is very appreciated.

Should I create a new issue thread, or is it best to address this matter in this issue thread?

I love Signal, and I've been a huge advocate. I was turned onto Signal in 2016 by John McAfee in person, because he lived on Signal and didn't like to communicate elsewhere. I'm eager to get Signal working again on my phone.

Thank you so much for your help here.

I have recently installed
https://github.com/mollyim/mollyim-android
This is really good and find some advance feature also.
Like use openstreet maps instead of gmaps..
Now i have suggested molly because this is a privacy enhanced fork of signal android. I know smae for me as i have uninstalled whataspp my lifeline was signal and as you can see from my video.
Now i recommend you to like this main bug report to enhance and repeated bugreport does not help much but a comment does.

[juddweiss]

@juddweiss Can you try opening the app in airplane mode?

Doesn't work. Signal still crashes just the same in airplane mode.

Fyi, I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

[SaltySolomon]

I have the same issue with the app and I am on 7.16.1 and it also happens with it in airplane mode, it behaves like this for the last two weeks, I am using it on a S22 with the latest security patch level.

[cody-signal]

We have a hopeful fix coming to beta in 7.17.x that we are pushing out today. Hopefully you can get it once it's available to you. I'll drop a link here when it should be public.

[olumolu]

#13685
Similar issue

[morkeltry]

@cody-signal
APK, plz!!!

[sddhrthrt]

Same thing happening on my phone:

Samsung S23, v 7.16.4, android 14. I'm able to get adb logs when needed. Right now it looks like this:

--------- beginning of crash
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: pool-17-thread-1
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime: Process: org.thoughtcrime.securesms, PID: 23985
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: FullCode: 1 | ErrorCode: 1 | ExtendedErrorCode: 0 | Message: invalid fts5 file format (found 0, expe
cted 4 or 5) - run 'rebuild' | ExtraMessage: , while compiling: DELETE FROM message WHERE _id = ?
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteConnection.nativePrepareStatement(Native Method)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteConnection.acquirePreparedStatement(SQLiteConnection.java:973)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteConnection.prepare(SQLiteConnection.java:537)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteSession.prepare(SQLiteSession.java:592)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteProgram.<init>(SQLiteProgram.java:64)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteStatement.<init>(SQLiteStatement.java:38)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at net.zetetic.database.sqlcipher.SQLiteDatabase.delete(SQLiteDatabase.java:1792)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.lambda$delete$14(SQLiteDatabase.java:393)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.$r8$lambda$tw0Fv9xDoZzgnkzgX2fwZPNTwog(SQLiteDatabase.java:0)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase$$ExternalSyntheticLambda1.run(R8$$SyntheticClass:0)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.traceSql(SQLiteDatabase.java:112)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.delete(SQLiteDatabase.java:393)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.SQLiteDatabase.delete(SQLiteDatabase.java:255)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.signal.core.util.DeleteBuilderPart2.run(SQLiteDatabaseExtensions.kt:423)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.MessageTable.deleteMessage(MessageTable.kt:3301)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.MessageTable.deleteMessage$default(MessageTable.kt:3291)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.database.MessageTable.deleteMessage(MessageTable.kt:3287)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at org.thoughtcrime.securesms.service.ExpiringMessageManager$ProcessTask.run(ExpiringMessageManager.java:112)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:644)
09-14 14:48:07.535 23985 24094 E AndroidRuntime:        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1012)

This is repeated a whole bunch when the app crashes.

Without this I'm not able to receive any signal messages, and I'm largely cut off from my community and important work. Would love an update apk, or a way of building it myself. Please let us know!

[olumolu]

I am not facing that issue for last 6days though but can't claim it to be fixed

[ciconi]

Beta (7.17.1) is out now on Google Play. For people without playstore: It can also be installed from Aurora Store (press the three dots, choose version, enter version code 145800).

I had no luck with only the app update, it was still crashing. So finally I had to reinstall the app. Luckily had a local backup of all chats in the signal app. Now everything is working fine again.

[zachpetersen]

The new release 1.17.1 does not resolve the issue for me. Are we to assume that our chat database is corrupted and unrecoverable?

[olumolu]

Why not use https://www.postgresql.org/
Sql lite is bad

[cody-signal]

Thanks folks, looks like the hopeful fix for the fts file format crash didn't quite catch everything. We'll get another attempt out in 7.17.2 soon.

[juddweiss]

Yeah, 7.17.1 did not fix anything for me. Signal android app is still crashing upon opening, just the same.
Signal PC app is still working fine.

Once the app is fixed, will the last 3 weeks of signal messages sync up with the android app?
I've not been able to make a backup this whole time, and I haven't backed up Signal android in a while.

[juddweiss]

Cody, do you need new ADB logs?

[morkeltry]

@cody-signal
Great that Signal is still on it with the fix.
Once 7.17.2 is ready to be approved, could you make it available for APK download asap?
Signal.org still shows 7.16.4 as the latest version, even after the delay for Play Store to approve 7.17.1

[cody-signal]

We are intending to submit the new fix later today to the Play Store. Note that after updating the app will still likely crash once, but afterwards it should have recovered for a second try.

Once the app is fixed, will the last 3 weeks of signal messages sync up with the android app?

As long you are still registered and what not it'll pick up where it left off. However, this crash shouldn't have been impacting you for 3 weeks unless you have another crash.

[juddweiss]

As long you are still registered and what not it'll pick up where it left off. However, this crash shouldn't have been impacting you for 3 weeks unless you have another crash.

Thanks Cody. I'm not sure about "another crash". All I know is my Signal Android app started crashing 3 weeks ago today, and this problem has been logged in several issue threads since then.

I hope this new update resolves the crash. If not, would it be possible to reach out directly to the Signal dev team to identify and resolve the problem?

[jonaskor]

The fix worked, thanks a lot! The app crashed a few times initially after the update but seems to work fine now!

[DeathDragonAW]

Still crashing with 7.17.2 😬

[olumolu]

Still crashing with 7.17.2 😬

Delete your signal account and reopen your signal account i think that will fix the issue at least for me it worked

[DeathDragonAW]

Losing your chat history is not a fix. (for me)

[juddweiss]

Just updated to 7.17.2 and it's still crashing, just the same.
And I'm hearing from others that their app is starting to crash as well, while their desktop Signal app still works fine.
Is there a way I can more directly work with the Signal dev team to help resolve this?

[devurandom]

How often did you try to start it, with it still crashing?

I had to try 4 times, and I have read from others that it needed 10 tries for them, until the app became stable. (Waiting for 10-15 seconds between tries might help. Maybe that is why I only needed 4 instead of 10 tries.)

[juddweiss]

How often did you try to start it, with it still crashing?

I had to try 4 times, and I have read from others that it needed 10 tries for them, until the app became stable. (Waiting for 10-15 seconds between tries might help. Maybe that is why I only needed 4 instead of 10 tries.)

I must have tried opening Signal at least 30 times after updating to 7.17.2. It's the same behavior as before. It backs me out to the previous screen, and eventually the home screen. If I'm fast enough, I can struggle to move forward into various settings. while it keeps backing me out. I even managed to quickly change a privacy setting, while it keeps backing me out to the previous screen, and then back out completely to the android home screen, and crashes.

3 weeks without Signal has been brutal. I've personally helped over 100 people download it to communicate with me, it's my preferred messaging app. I rely on it. I'm desperate to get Signal working again.

[cody-signal]

@juddweiss are you able to capture a crash log with adb? Without logs we can't tell which issue you're encountering. You can email them to me directly as well cody at signal dot org.

[DeathDragonAW]

How often did you try to start it, with it still crashing?

Like 10 times before. Meanwhile much more.

[CarefulGuru]

This fixed the issue for me. Had to re-start the app a few times and then it worked. I made sure to force stop it from the Apps page each time it closed - not sure if that made a difference?

[DeathDragonAW]

I can't force stop the app after the crash. Seems like it's not running anymore then.

[greyson-signal]

@juddweiss @DeathDragonAW I'm assuming you are experiencing a different issue than the one we fixed. I'm jugging multiple GH threads right now, and I'll attempt to merge dupes, but I'm relatively confident the issue most people were experiencing has been resolved. I'll echo Cody's request for logs so that we can help you out!

One tip is that it's not uncommon for crashes-at-launch to actually be in response to some network-related task, so turning on airplane mode may allow you to get to your logs and save them locally to a file (with the three-dot menu in the top right of the log screen).

[DeathDragonAW]

turning on airplane mode may allow you to get to your logs and save them locally to a file

Airplane mode doesn't stop Signal from crashing for me.

[juddweiss]

@juddweiss are you able to capture a crash log with adb? Without logs we can't tell which issue you're encountering. You can email them to me directly as well cody at signal dot org.

Cody, I just emailed you this link to the 56MB logcat.txt ADB file I just created from Signal crashing.

https://1drv.ms/t/s!AnOWRgJLbO9rmpxMG5o9GyGTqJ3o-w?e=bDv2eq

Please let me know anything about what is going on, and what it could take to fix this.
I love Signal and I rely on it.

Thank you for your help here.